Mile 1,109.0
Elevation 764 feet
Miles Hiked 17.1
Late last night a hiker came into the shelter, and I thought I would have company after all. However, it turned out that he just stopped to get something from his backpack. He was night hiking. We talked a bit, and I found out he is a “yo-yo” hiker. In other words he already hiked the entire trail north and now he was going back south. All totaled, when he finishes, he will have hiked nearly 4,400 miles on the Appalachian Trail in one year.
I woke up early at the Birch Run Shelter in order to get a fast start to what promised to be a long day. After breakfast I was off by 7:15 AM. The trail was easy at the start and that helped me do some fast miles.
The first item of interest I came across was the 2017 official halfway point for the Appalachian Trail. That’s right! I’m halfway done. Next I arrived at the posted halfway point, which was a bit more ceremonial in the signage.
I continued on to Pine Grove Furnace State Park. This is a large park with camping, a lake for swimming, concessions and a store. Unfortunately, most of it was closed for the season. I had a Sprite from a soda machine and a nice conversation with a lady who was RVing nearby. The park also has an Appalachian Trail museum, which was open, so I looked around before moving on down the trail.
There were 7.4 more miles left to go before arriving at this shelter, so I moved as fast as I could. I was hoping to arrive by 5:00 PM and I did. No one was at the shelter until four SOBO through hikers came in around 6:00 PM, so I’ll have company tonight. I hope none of them snore!
