Date: 2004-07-10
From: Peters Mt. Shelter

To: Rausch Gap Shelter
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Start Peters Mtn. ShelterDestination Rausch Gap ShelterI forced myself out of my tent early this morning. Today is going to be my longest hike this year. I wanted to get an early start. I did not cook breakfast, but settled for a couple granola bars spread with peanut butter. The terrain was relatively level, some patches of rocks along the way to keep your mind on where you plant your feet. I took a break after I had been hiking for three hours. After checking my data book I was dismayed to see I had hiked less than five miles. At this rate I would be hiking after dark. Not a pleasant thought. I have night hiked on occasion but not by choice but rather by necessity. Swan came by about then and we compared notes. She too thought we had hiked farther than what the book said. In the distance we could hear the traffic on a road. "Does that sound like it is a mile and a half away?" I asked. Once again the book was wrong. Either that or I hiked 1.5 miles in ten minutes! I crossed Clark's Creek still muttering to myself. Some how I missed the cold drinks that were in the creek. However I did see the mesh bag hanging in the tree with empty drink cans in it! Sometimes my brain just does not process things very quickly! This was just before the hour long ascent. At the Pa.325 road crossing there was a sign posted by a couple who would give you a place to sleep, feed you and more or less take are of you if you needed a break from the trail. I was sorely tempted to go there, not so much because I needed a break, but just to experience another bit of trail magic. But I didn't. The whole way up Stony Mtn. I went back and forth with myself. All I got for the long hot climb was a very angry rattlesnake lying along the side of the trail. He was coiled up and letting everyone who passed him know this was his territory. Now snakes don't bother me like they do some people? I have killed many rattlesnakes in my lifetime. It comes with living in the country. I know that as long as they are drawn out and sunning they are of no threat. It is the ones who are coiled and rattling that you need to watch out for. A south bounder had fore warned me that the snake was there. Also there was a note in the trail about 50 feet from where the snake was last seen. Chris and Elly who had passed me earlier were waiting just past the snake, to make sure I saw him. I had missed the snakes on the trail earlier today. Once again there were notes letting hikers know the snakes were there and I looked carefully but did not see any. I eased my camera out and snapped a picture. I took a step forward and was rewarded with the sound of rattles. By this time there were two south bounders with a dog waiting to see what I was going to do. There was no room on the other side of the trail to really get around him. I took another step, heard more rattling. This snake was not happy at all. I stopped and waited until the rattling stopped again, then slowly took another step and another. They say a snake can only strike half of their length, but I could not really tell how long this fellow was. I counted at least 7 rattles on him though, making him a pretty good size fellow. Finally I was out of his range. If the dog saw the snake, he made no attempt to investigate. Everyone made it by him safely and the adrenalin rush got me up the rest of the mountain. I ate my other pancake with peanut butter for lunch and hiked on. I stopped and tried to help Ursa Minor with her blisters. She was in some kind of pain. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't seem to, ¢zone out¢. The day wore on and on, and my feet felt worse and worse. I am so discouraged with this blister problem. Until this afternoon I thought I had the situation under control. Finally, I saw Swan's hat laying on the trail just as the trail to the shelter turned off and went uphill. It was .3 miles to the shelter. Uphill. She had found several nice camp spots just across Rausch creek. I don't think I could have made it uphill to the shelter anyway. I can't remember ever being this tired. I have new blisters on top of blisters. I soaked my feet in the creek while I was filtering my water. Yep, that is right. I filtered my water while I had my feet in the creek. I am too tired to care about getting hoof and mouth disease! Today was Swan's birthday, so at supper Ursa Minor stuck a match in a Nutty Buddy bar, lit it and we sang Happy Birthday to her. All you have to do is improvise a little bit! I crawled in my tent and propped my feet up on my sleeping bag. I hope another Tylenol PM will ease the throbbing.   Total miles 17.5