Date: 2019-07-27
From: Yellow Springs Campsite (PA)

To: Unofficial Campsite MM1185.3 (PA)
Miles today: 11.9

I slept well in the haunted campsite. There were also stories in the trail register about fearless deer. We didn¢t experience those either. I was the first one up, again. I was practically completely packed by the time SC woke up.An older woman stopped by about 7:40. She had already hiked a few miles and had about 16 more planned for the day. She said she had thru-hiked in 2015, and was out for a 3-day trip. She had started yesterday. She was asking about water, saying she had gotten some here 4 years ago but there¢s nothing in my guides about water here, despite being called Yellow Springs (not sure that yellow water would be that good anyway). She also said the mailbox hadn¢t been here either.Hiking today involved a lot of rocks with a little bit of mud thrown in. We passed a the turn off for a shelter and found ourselves at a beaver dam reroute. The woman I talked to this morning was there saying that she had tried to go down the trail and turned around because it was so wet and mucky. I showed her the sign that warned of a beaver dam and another sign that pointed to the reroute. ¢Well, that wasn¢t here 4 years ago,¢ she informed us. She then was trying to say that the trail maintainers should trap and move the beavers and then blast the dam. Um, okay lady.She, SC, and I started walking down the reroute. It was either an old road or train tracks that was now used for bicycles. It was straight and flat. The 3 of us started out together but eventually spread out according to our paces. SC led, the woman was in the middle, and I brought up the rear. After about a mile, there was a sign that showed where to turn to get back to the trail. SC stopped and the woman kept walking right by her. When I got there, we started yelling for the woman to stop. I don¢t know the last time I yelled that loud. She wasn¢t that far away, but either she didn¢t hear us or didn¢t think we were talking to her. We were not going to run after her, so we turned and stayed on the reroute.When we got back to the AT, we stopped for a snack and talked to the sobo we had passed yesterday. Apparently he was just out for the night and was heading back. He¢s a local and hikes here often. He was telling us about the beaver dam and some other local info. We start hiking again with plans to meet up by a creek to get water as the place we are camping at tonight doesn¢t have any. SC takes off and I start leapfrogging with a few people we¢ve been seeing the last few days. At one point, I catch up with a guy who had just passed me. He¢s standing off to the side of the trail and I hear the loudest cicada ever. ¢Everything okay?¢ I ask. ¢Yeah, it¢s just a nope noddle.¢ I come over to where he¢s standing and he points out a huge rattlesnake at the base of a tree. So, apparently that wasn¢t a cicada! I got a picture and a video. You really can¢t see much in either but I wasn¢t getting any closer.When I get to the creek, I show SC the video and also sent it to Spike¢s Dad. We then press on to our campsite. We cross a road and then a really old bridge. Then we follow an access road for a while. The trail then starts going uphill. It¢s a difficult climb with lots of rocks. I feel like it¢s taking forever, but eventually I arrive and we set up camp and make dinner. Then we look and there¢s a guy we¢ve stayed with at a couple of shelters just downhill from us at a really rocky site. We invite him up to stay near us.As we¢re getting ready for bed we see a couple guys we¢ve stayed with before pass us. They started hiking this morning at 11:30 and are trying to see how many miles they can do in 24 hours. They are hiking with 2 others who haven¢t come by yet.