So a little overlap here on the AT mileage…but picking up where I’d left off on Woodrow Road wasn’t really possible. Woodrow Road is pretty far back on a gravel road. This was a Trail Dame hike and I didn’t want anyone to get lost on the way to the trail head!

The day started out with a few sprinkles but quickly dried out and remained sunny and beautiful for the duration of our hike! Boomerang was along for this one and was kind enough to pick me up in Frederick for the ride up to Pine Grove, our meeting place for the Dames. It was a long drive, maybe an hour and twenty minutes! There were four dames coming along on this trek. Boomerang and I got to Pine Grove and promptly found the bathrooms next to the AT parking!!! While there we decided we would go back up to the store to wait for the other dames to avoid missing anyone. We saw one woman getting out of a car in the AT parking lot, but decided she wasn’t one of our group since her car had PA plates and everyone we knew was coming up from Maryland. So up to the store parking lot we went! This store is the famous “half gallon challenge” spot for AT thru hikers. If they choose to take the challenge, then they buy a 1/2 gallon of ice cream and sit on the porch of the store and try to eat the entire thing in one sitting! I am sure their stomaches and their shelter mates thank them several times over…

At this point, one of our Dames had shown up and we were still waiting for the final Dame. A woman drove up and asked if we were with Trail Dames…YES! We are! And oh look…it is the woman with the PA plates we had seen down in the AT lot!!! LOL! 😀

We were off. We took one car down to the Shippensberg Road trail head and started our hike.

The trail starts nice and flat. Hard to believe this is the AT! We found a nice break spot south of Woodrow Road so we took off our packs for a minute or so and had a little snack. While there we found a hornet’s nest! How cool! We continued down the trail and crossed Woodrow Road in no time.

We headed down hill now, at times steeply, until we reached Tom’s Run Shelter for lunch. We took a moment to read the map and the trail journal. Many comments had to do with reaching the half way point and taking the half gallon challenge at Pine Grove Furnace SP store! One young child had written that he was taking his first AT hike with his dad. 🙂 🙂 Love it!

It was a wonderful day with great company! But perhaps the best of the hike came at the last…a bear! He is a big, gorgeous guy and I walked right by him! Boomerang started hissing at me and only then did I look up and see this handsome bear!! 🙂 🙂 Made my day!!!