Guest Blog by Mb for The Three Amigos on Day 28 (Sunday, April 24th)

We woke up today with a million things to do!  Bubbles and Sprout have been carrying around these Sawyer Fast FIll adapters.  We needed to figure out how to use those, cut Bubbles and Sprout’s hair, pack, and worst of all, catch Sprout up on all of his blogs!

We started with the haircuts in the parking lot of the old mall.  Dad’s van has an outlet in it so it worked perfectly.  Sprout went down to a 1 on the clipper and Bubbles went to a size 3 clipper.  She felt a little bit better about her hair being all one length rather than a bunch of different lengths.

Sprout getting his hair cut

Sprouts new hair cut

Bubbles new hair cut

This is the Sawyer Quick Disconnect.  Now they don't need to unpack
to take their water bags out of the packs when they filter water!.

We left the hotel and started back towards the AT.  Dad drove while I furiously typed Sprouts blogs.  We decided that we would visit the Appalachian Trail Museum before dropping the kids off on the trail.

The museum is really cool.  I wish we could have spent more time there and I hope to go back and visit.  There is a shelter that was dismantled and rebuilt inside the museum.  It is the last shelter that Earl Shaffer (the first man to thru-walk the AT in 1948) built in early 60s.  It’s so different than the shelters of today.  It is much smaller, only sleeping four.  It also originally had a dirt floor.  This was so that rodents could not hide under floorboards and make a home out of the shelter.

There is also an original sign from Katahdin in the museum.  It was so cool! They replace the sign about every 10 years because it becomes worn from snow and wind.  The last time they replaced it they sent it to the museum!  The Three Amigos were excited because they know the next time they see that sign they will be at the top of Katahdin!

There were also a lot of different relics from some of the more famous trail stories.  Grandma Gatewood has a really interesting story.  She left home telling her family she was going on a walk.  She went to the AT and thru-hiked, in 1955, wearing Ked tennis shoes and carrying an army blanket, a raincoat, and a plastic shower curtain!  She hiked it two more times for a total of three times in her lifetime!

The Three Amigos and dad in front of the Appalachian Trail Museum

A little bit of history on Earl Shaffer

The shelter that Earl Shaffer built in the early 60's

Sign from Katahdin

Grandma Gatewood

We decided after we went to the museum to have a picnic.  While walking to the picnic area (right next to the Pine Grove Furnace Park General Store) Bubbles and I talked Smudgy Cheeks into completing the Half Gallon Challenge.  At first he said he wasn’t up to the challenge because it was his first day back on the trail, after being off for nine days, but we were successful! He chose Raspberry ice cream and pounded it in 19 minutes and 18 seconds!!  That is really fast!!!  Bubbles still didn’t complete the challenge.  Her plan is to complete it when Smudgy Cheeks is dropped off on the trail after they summit Katahdin.

I took a picture of the log book.  Mayhem was here before Bubbles and Sprout on Friday!

Smudgy Cheeks about halfway through the challenge.

After our picnic we headed back to the intersection where we picked up the kids.  It was really sad!!  We will be getting together again at the end of May for a wedding, so it will not be too long before we get to see them (hopefully this time they won’t have two weeks worth of blogs to catch up on!)

Dad checking out the Mayapples

Saying goodbye!

The Three Amigos together again!

The Sprout Day 26 (Friday, April 22nd)

I woke up with the mindset of being a champ and completing the half gallon challenge.  I didn’t even eat breakfast (I had some apple leather).  I was worried that the Pine Grove Furnace General Store would not be open.  While walking to Pine Grove we came across a second halfway point.  There are a few halfway points on the trail because the length of the trail changes almost every year.  There was a log book there and we signed it.  We also saw some entries from people who we followed on youtube last year.  That was really cool.

Looks like a little faerie

Box for the logbook

Halfway mark

Could be a "famous" youtuber?

As we were walking into the park we came across houses.  I wasn’t sure if they were state park employees or if people actually live within the park boundaries.

I thought this sign was funny.  It's such a dead end the sign has almost been taken over by foliage

Who gets to live in this state park?  Pretty cool!

Relaxing brook

Bubbles being a goof

We were excited when we got into the park and the general store was open!  I was able to do the challenge!  All the flip flop hikers that we met yesterday were there.  No one else was doing the challenge but I was ready for the battle.  I picked moose tracks even though I knew I shouldn’t have because of the chocolate and because it is so sweet.  I picked it because I know we are going to see a moose in Maine and the carton of ice cream was eyeballing me!  I thought we connected.

I was the third person to complete the challenge this year!  Towards the end of the half gallon it was getting really hard.  Then, two thru-hikers showed up and I got my second wind.  I felt like I ate the last pint in half a minute!  I got my wooden spoon and I’m part of the half gallon club.

Trying to finish the MooseTracks

Still have a pint to finish!

I did it!!

Third one this year!

My Half Gallon Challenge Club Member Spoon!

After I ate we walked an additional 7.7 miles to Fry shelter.  We hung out there waiting for our ride!

Bubbles by a lake

Almost to our pick up spot!

Found a spring

Day:  26

Miles hiked:  10.9

Total Miles hiked on the trail:  247.7

Bears:   0

Butterfly:  8

Chipmunk:  2

Crawfish:  1

Deer:  20

Really Big Dog:  1

Mouse:  1

Nest of bugs:  1

Skunk:  1

Snail:  1

Snake:  1

Squirrels:  11

Trout:  2

Turkeys:  4

Turtles:  107

Vulture:  6

Woodpecker:  1

Sprout Day 25 (Thursday, April 21st)

We reached the halfway point on the trail for thru-hikers from Georgia.  I sent Nugget (a thru-hiker that we met who started in Georgia) a picture of the sign because he missed it.  I wanted to press on but Maggie’s feet were really bothering her.  We only walked six miles today and spent the day hanging out enjoying ourselves at Tom’s Run Shelter.

We had another awesome fire, organized our stuff, and talked about how excited we are about tomorrow.  Not only will we get to see Bubble’s dad and one of her sisters, but tomorrow I might be able to participate in the half gallon challenge.  I really hope the place is open!

We saw a sign today about how they are going to do a control burn.  Everyone’s been talking about the wildfires in Shenandoah and I’m feeling horrible for any hikers stuck down there.  They are trying to regrow certain trees in the area.

The trail today

The trail today changes based on elevation

Bubbles on the trail

Official 2016 halfway point (for those who start at Katahdin or Springer!)  Our halfway is in Maine

Bubbles was happy to be finished hiking today

Footbridge over a stream

Controlled burn near the trail

Day:  25

Miles hiked:  6.2

Total Miles hiked on the trail:  236.8

Bears:   0

Butterfly:  8

Chipmunk:  2

Crawfish:  1

Deer:  20

Really Big Dog:  1

Mouse:  1

Nest of bugs:  1

Skunk:  1

Snail:  1

Snake:  1

Squirrels:  11

Trout:  2

Turkeys:  4

Turtles:  107

Vulture:  6

Woodpecker:  1

Bubbles Day 26 (Friday, April 22nd)

We woke up and were super excited because A:  The Three Amigos are going to be reunited.  B:  My dad and sister are picking us up on the trail today, and C:  New shoes are in my near future!

It didn’t rain last night (just sprinkled).  We were looking forward to getting to Pine Grove Furnace Shelter today.  We wanted to go to the Appalachian Trail museum but it was closed.  Not everything on the trail is back to regular business hours yet because we are ahead of the bubble (hikers leaving from Spring Mountain Georgia.)

It was the quickest that we packed and got out of camp (we were still the last to leave camp though!)  We walked 3.7 miles to Pine Grove Furnace Park.  The walk into the park was awesome for me because there were evergreens everywhere.  My heart was jacked.  When we got to Pine Grove we were really excited because the General Store was open!

Sprout was jacked to complete the traditional half gallon challenge. (Side note: The General Store sits in the valley where the halfway point of the AT is. Hikers who stop through the General Store are challenged to eat a half gallon of ice cream in one sitting. You can pick from the Hershey's ice cream they sell in the store. When you finish with the carton you still have another pint to go! Since hikers can burn up to 5,000 calories a day you can pretty much eat whatever you want without gaining weight.) I knew that I couldn't eat half a gallon of ice cream and finish my hike for today so I got the cowboy burger (in honor of all the cowboy coffee) and fries.

We sat at the picnic table out front and started the stopwatch for Sprout's challenge.  Like a true hero, Sprout ate some fries before he started the challenge.  All morning we had been talking about our Viking characteristics and how they would help him overcome this challenge.  There were a bunch of people around when Sprout started.  They were super negative and were saying that he wasn’t going to be able to finish.  I felt like I needed to encourage him.  I had to pull out the big guns (I told those Negative Nancys that they could get off the porch if they weren't going to encourage my hubby!) I got to the point where I put on the Rocky Theme song.  I’ll let Sprout's blog tell you if he was able to finish.

After resting for a few hours we started back on the trail.  We walked past three facilities while hiking out of the state park.  As soon as we got back onto the Appalachian Trail, out of the state park, I had to take a dookie.  I contemplated walking one mile back to the nearest bathroom but I didn’t have time!  To make matters worse, the destroyer (Sprout) broke our trowel.  Have you ever dug a hole with a stick when you really need to go?  #stressful!

After that debacle we made it to James Fry Shelter where we met two brothers who are walking from Harper’s Ferry to Maine.  We had a good time with them until we had to walk down to the road to meet the family.  I hope to run into them again on the trail (I think their names were Rocky and James).  They were carrying a bunch of stuff that their grandma made them pack.  One of them had a kit for if they lost a cap on their tooth!  He said, “My pack is 50 pounds but I’m carrying stuff in my pack for my grams!!”  Talking about their grandmas made me miss my Nanny!

Dad found us around 8:00 just after it was getting dark.  We had our thumbs out.  It was our first attempt to hitchhike and can you believe it, a family member picked us up!

The Sprout starting the Half Gallon Challenge!!

Two other thru-hikers joined The Sprout