Mission Out of a Backpack: Days 70-72, 6/8/14-6/10/14

6/8: Day 70

Rocky Run Shelter (1035)- Raven Rock (1055.6)

Total: 20.6 miles

Catching Up With Old Friends

We slept in this morning since we didn't get to bed until 10:30 last night. We broke camp around 9 am. It was really nice to just relax and slowly pack everything away. Two miles from the shelter was a campground that had showers, so we got to take showers in the middle of the woods. It was amazing. Today was a bit rocky terrain. There were plenty of flat sections but also several mile-long section of sharp, butt biting rocks. One of the things we were excited about today was to see the original Mount Washington Monument. It's this huge rock cylinder that had a spiral staircase going up the center if it. From the top you could see the a plentiful view of farmland and mountains. It was pretty amazing. Our stay their was short because it was a sunny Sunday around 11 am, which is prime time for day hikers. After, we headed about five miles we had a quick lunch. By the 12th mile of the day, it started to drizzle. We hit more rocky sections which even more difficult when wet. It's like trying to walk across a slimy, wet river bed. By mile 14 we had had enough. Our ankles were ultra tender from the slippery rock beating we had put them through, so we decided to slim our total mileage for the day by five and just stop at the next shelter. When we got to the Ensign Cowall Shelter, we were greeted by some sectioners. We chatted with them and they asked us if we met the Kallin family. We told them that we started the same day and hiked with them for a while in the beginning and asked where they were headed. They said to the next shelter. So we make a quick decision to catch up with them tonight otherwise we might not be able to again. That motivated us to do the extra five miles we had originally planned to do. We got to camp by 7:40 pm, and greeted the surprise and excited Kallins. We shared hugs and said we'd catch up in the morning since it was past the kid's bedtime. It started to downpour just as we were eating dinner in the shelter. We second guessed our decision to set up our tent instead of sleeping in the shelter. None the less, we headed to our tent and enjoyed a peaceful nights rest while the rain fell heavily upon our tent home.

6/9: Day 71

Raven Rock Shelter (1055.6)- Caledonia Campground (1079).)

Total: 23.4 miles

Hello Pennsyvania

This morning we woke up to a highly condensated tent. It down poured until 2 or so in the morning last night. We had another slow morning of getting around. We played catch up with the Kallin's sharing stories back and forth. We all broke camp around 8:45 am, and headed on the days adventure. We ended up hiking with the Kallins all day which made the day fly by. We stopped by a park and played for a little bit, and shortly after we crossed the Mason-Dixon Line/ the border into PA. We joined the Kallins in there rituals of sitting in a circle and passing out candy to each person while saying something nice about them. It was a neat tradition and gives recognition to the ones your thankful for and love.

Around 1:00 pm. We stopped for some lunch and chatted about our final goals for the day. Jeremy and I planned on hiking at least 23 miles to make it to a pizza place for dinner .3 miles off the trail. The Kallins agreed that that sounded like a great reward for a decent day of hiking. We cut our lunch short, so we could knock out the next 13 miles before 7:00 pm. A little down the trail, we doubled checked that the pizza place was at the right road crossing we had in mind. Sure enough it was, but it ended up they were closed on Mondays, which happens to be today. We were super disappointed. Robinhood was the fist of the Kallins we caught up with and we broke the news to him. He replied, "Aw man. Well, we can still hike the 23 miles." Haha, I thought it was a pretty mature response for a 9 year old. When we broke the news to the rest of the Kallins, they were positive and still anticipated we could find some way to get some pizza. We got to the campground around 7:00 pm, and Jeremy and Mama Bear (Kallin) ran off to check in at the office, while I stayed with Cartwheel soaking my feet in the creek. Jeremy and Mama Bear came running back rejoicing that they found a ride to get some pizza. We waited around until they got back and low and behold they bring pizza, ice cream, and chocolate milk. We all feasted as the sun set, very thankful for a fulfilling meal and the generosity of yet another stranger. God is good.

6/10: Day 72

Caledonia Campground (1079)- Campground (1099)

Half-Way to Katahdin

This morning we woke up to another highly condensated tent. The weather has started this pattern of down pouring every night for the last couple nights. Going to bed last night was mildly difficult because the humidity was at 91 percent. In laymans term, it was hot and sticky. Thankfully, the rain was over with by the time we woke. When we woke, we had no motivation to hike. We discussed taking a zero day but that didn't pan out. We decided to move on around 10 am. After 30 minutes of walking, we were back in the rhythm. We were excited to reach the official half-way point, and do the half-gallon of ice cream challenge. We had lunch at a quaint little cabin about 8 miles into the day. Then we pushed on taking little to no breaks. We caught up with the Kallins at the half-way marker--mile 1092.5! They were getting ready to light some sparklers, and they gave us two also to celebrate. We took some memorable pictures, and moved on to the other halfway point (erected in 2011, so the mileage isn't 100 percent accurate). The next half-way point we reached was a lot more realistic. It was a big wooden sign with the miles to Springer and Katahdin. We took some fun pictures next to it, and hurried on to the Pine Grove General Store for the half-gallon challenge! We made it to the store by 5:30 pm, so we had 1.5 hours to finish our ice cream. The four that participated in the challenge were: Me, Cartwheel, Robin Hood, and All In. Out of the four I was the only one to successfully finish the whole half gallon (the "half-gallon" was actually only 3.5 quarts, so about a pint short of a real half-gallon). It was way more than enough ice cream though. I felt nauseous for about 20 minutes then it passed. I made the mistake of getting mint chocolate chip, so I spit out the chocolate chips while I was eating the ice cream, and ate them after I was done to make it fair. At that time a 2011 southbound thru-hiker by the name of Bob White came to see the Kallins and give them a dog pack. She also brought some salad, tomatoes, feta cheese, and watermelon, and she shared it with everyone! It was so nice having fresh food on the trail! Thanks Bob White! We had dinner by the lake where there is a swimming hole, bathrooms, and showers! Everyone jumped in the lake, showered, and then we had dinner. After dinner, we hiked about one mile up the mountain and made our tent homes there. It was an awesome and very rewarding day.