Date: 2016-04-30
From: PA 325

To: Swatara Gap, PA 72
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I failed to mention yesterday that after leaving Duncannon we moved on to Pine Grove and we¢re staying at the Hampton Inn for several days while we hike the AT sections in this area. We¢ve stayed here before and it¢s good for us: clean, laundry, wifi, tub, roomy, quiet, etc. There is a diner across the street which is fine, but there¢s also a good Irish pub a couple of miles away. After a couple of days of hiking together, today we were back to key swapping. The section today was 16 miles with no reasonable vehicle access anywhere along the trail. So I dropped Princess off at Swatara Gap (the northern end) and then I drove around to where we finished yesterday and parked the car. Then I started hiking NoBo. I met her a couple of miles before I reached the mid-point of the section since she was hiking while I was still driving.The weather was vastly improved over yesterday, the rains quit last night and the temp was in the mid-40s when we started. The sun almost poked through several times and it managed to warm to the upper 50s later in the afternoon. Unfortunately, the improvement is short-lived. The probability of rain is 100% tomorrow and nearly as high on Monday and Tuesday. So it will be a wet week. As long as the temps don¢t drop much below 50, it¢s not too bad, just unpleasant. I didn¢t see many thru-hikers today since I was going NoBo. I only passed one - Smudgey Cheeks. He said he got his name when he was trying to light a campfire by blowing on it. He appeared to be a strong hiker and kept a pretty good pace considering he had a large backpack. I did pass a large group of boy scouts later in the hike, two dozen or more. A quarter mile later I met their scoutmasters trying to catch up with them. I also encountered a group of adults, perhaps a dozen in the Bausch Gap area. And of course, Princess passed by mid-way through the 6-hour hike. I didn¢t see many hikers, but the area was full of hunters. I didn¢t count, but there were 50 or more trucks parked along the road between the end points of this section. Almost the entire area is under the jurisdiction of the PA Gaming Commission and today was the first day of turkey season. While I was pulling on my hiking boots in the parking lot, a hunter parked his truck and headed up the trail. Princess saw 2 hunters walking along the AT. She said they looked surprised when she told them they were on the AT. I think their only concern about hikers was that they would scare off the turkeys. I heard plenty of gunfire. The trail is in good shape and well marked. Starting at the south end, I had a long uphill to the high point for the day, around 1600 ft, then a long walk along an old forest roadbed. Eventually the trail descended slowly to Rausch Gap. The hike down to the gap was pleasant and the last part followed Rausch Creek through a very nice area. I¢ve included a photo of a sign posted at the gap that tells the story of a village that once stood here. After the gap, there was a climb up to Second Mountain and then a descent to Swatara Gap. Most of the hike was pretty easy, with only a few rocky sections. Perhaps the most interesting part of the hike was at the end where the AT provides a tree trunk across a small stream. The trunk is pretty big, so it¢s not a big challenge - but it¢s fun and it¢s different. Princess had already retrieved our car and driven back to pick me up, and she got a pic of me crossing the log.