We're keeping Hershey's in business."Īs Middlebrooks whittles away, the porch grows more crowded. "Last year they ate about 400 gallons of ice cream. "About seven out of 10 hikers, they try," says Tony Balios, the glad-handing Greek immigrant who has owned Pine Grove for seven years. His belly is empty now, but is it ready for 16 helpings of butterfat and sugar? He folds back the lid, eyes the flawless field of white and takes a deep breath. Four hours ago he ate two Pop-Tarts for breakfast. He pays his money, plucks a block of vanilla out of the freezer cabinet and settles down at one of the picnic tables on the porch. Middlebrooks-a 22-year-old student who goes by the trail handle "Secondhand"-is going for the spoon. clogging," says a June 9 entry in the Half-Gallon Club logbook kept by the store. On the miles leaving Pine Grove, however, they talk very little, and they walk very slowly. The miles leading up to Pine Grove are filled with psych talk ("Halfway, dude, we're almost to the ice cream!") and strategy (go for bland flavors skip breakfast). The Half-Gallon Club has become an AT sacrament, a binge-purge ritual marking one of the great semi-accomplishments of outdoor life. ![]() Then he came in and said, 'My mouth is numb. ![]() He just opened the carton and started cutting blocks off with his knife. "The record is 12 minutes and 10 seconds. Club," a cold headache that would fell an elephant and campfire bragging rights for about 100 miles. Your prize? A small flat wooden spoon stamped "Member of Half Gal. It's a cold cholesterol jolt, packing 3,520 calories and 496 percent of your recommended saturated fat for the day. No, if you want to join the Half-Gallon Club, you pay your own way-$5.75 for the privilege of gorging yourself on a brick of Hershey's finest. Rumors spread fast along the Appalachian Trail, and the myth of free ice cream at Pine Grove is one of the most dogged. The girl behind the counter shakes her head apologetically. "If you eat it all, you get it for free, right?" "So, like, what's the deal with the half-gallon ice cream thing?" says Middlebrooks, walking into the Pine Grove Store, a one-time livery stable that now serves hikers and park visitors with short-order burgers, fishing lures and canned goods. Halfway to Katahdin-it must be time to barf. Middlebrooks has just reached Pine Grove Furnace, a pastoral state park in southern Pennsylvania and the midway point of the Appalachian Trail. It's not yet noon and Kevin Middlebrooks has already knocked another 10 miles off his 2,167-mile walk from Georgia to Maine.īut these were not ordinary miles. Sweat shadows remain where the 60-pound load hung from his shoulders. ![]() With a groan, the hiker drops his backpack on the porch of the general store.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |