Packed up and was on the trail by 7 am (5/13), my destination was a campsite 11 miles up the trail. I would rather have planned to stay at a shelter but the next shelter was over 16 miles away and I knew I could not do that many miles right now, the rocks really slow me down. I was the second one out of camp so someone else was breaking the morning spider webs. There was severe thunder storms forecasted for about 5 pm. Seeing that I probably would not get to camp until 5, and not wanting to set up a tent in the rain, I decided to make my days destination a hostel. As I hiked, I came upon a sign that marked where the village of Rausch used to be, it existed from 1828 to 1910 and had a population of 1000. The inhabitants were coal miners and when the mines became unproductive everyone left. I did not see any signs of a previous settlement other than a sign that read cemetery.
The rest of the day was full of its usual ups and downs and rocks. There was a few nice flat parts of the trail that made hiking much easier then having to maneuver around rocks. There were several nice views along the way. I arrived at the hostel around 4 pm, Blue Jay and Tonto were also there, they too were calling an early day due to the upcoming storm. The owner Eric was there to help check me in and showed me around the place. Our sleeping arrangements were in a big tent with about 10 cots inside. The hostel had a nice bathroom with a shower, washer/ dryer, and plenty of snacks to purchase. There ended up being 5 of us in the tent and we were all glad to be there because that was a big thunderstorm and lasted a couple of hours. Another trail day completed.
Got going around 8 am (5/14) heading for a camping area around 12.5 miles up the trail. The climb out of the gap was very tough on this old Florida boy. The climb was about 2 miles up and it took me almost 2 hours to get to the top. It was so nice to see the trail flattened out in front of me. But don’t worry about them rocks, they were still there at every step. I met a local out for a 2 mile up and down, hiking with his dog. He is 73 years old and gets out and hikes a couple days a week. There were lots of beautiful views today and there was a small flower that seemed to have just bloomed and they smelled oh so good. I made it to the campsite about 4 pm and started setting up my tent right away because it seemed like it was going to rain. At first I was out there by myself until Earl showed upped. Earl Swift told me he was a writer and was doing the AT in sections. He said he had five books published and a new one coming out that he will be starting a book tour to promote, and he will be in Tampa sometime during the tour. I looked him up and one of his books was a New York Times best seller, he did not mention that. You meet all sorts of people out here. It never did rain and I got a decent night’s sleep.
I woke up to a cold morning (5/15), the temperature was 43 and the feel like temp was 33. I packed up in a hurry and got back on the trail. I changed my plans for today. I was going into town tomorrow to get resupplied but decided I would do it today instead, I was low on food and did not want to chance it. I would hike for awhile and then call a shuttle to inquire about being picked up at a road that was 9 miles from the day’s starting point. Guess what I found on the trail today! You are right if you guessed rocks. I was in one big mess of rocks slowly picking my way through and along came a couple of young hikers up from Georgia, Winnie the Pooh and Grit. They were going over those rocks like mountain goats. I went by where someone had put stones down to show that those coming up from Georgia had hit 1200 miles. I was walking along the trail and someone heading south came along and I stopped to talk with him. His trail name was Doc, he was a retired doctor. It was kind of funny because while we were talking I looked to the right and there was a monument erected in 1934, this was three years before the trail was completed. The name on the monument read Willam Shanaman, he and several other men had already built sections of trails in Pa. before the AT was built.
Those trails would eventually become part of the AT. Around mid morning I reached a shuttle driver and arranged to be picked up about 2:30 and be driven to Hamburg Pa. Zoom Zoom was right on time and dropped me off at my hotel. I walked to the Walmart and got my supplies and had a big supper at a restaurant nearby. It feels good to be in a real bed, but back on the trail tomorrow, Zoom Zoom will be picking me up at 8 am. Until next time Happy trails!
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