Date: 2018-05-19
From: Yellow Springs campsite

To: PA 72 mile 1180.9
Miles today: 9.3

Last night I was awakened several times by chill, heavy rain and heavy wind. Unsettling. I know that the forcast was for heavy rain and flash flooding. I wake up fully around 6am and I can hear someone packing up. I think it's Rx. I also hear Thumper tossing and turning in the tent near me. These noisy sleeping pads! I stretch with a little yoga and then open the valve of my sleeping pad to begin the process. Its 6:30 and It's still pouring rain out. I don't want to look but I can't help but see it and from inside I can see all the black dirt splashed up on the sides of my tent. I dread cleaning it, it's a very messy thing and I'll have to pack it out filthy and soaked. But it's a great tent and I'm safe and dry in it for which I'm extremely thankful. I packed up everything inside and stuffed it into my pack then went outside and emptied the gallon Ziploc I peed in at 1:30am ( glad I kept that handy!). I said good morning to Thumper thru her tent and she was surprised I was up and nearly ready, she hadn't heard me. T-Bird was up and came over to see when I thought we'd be leaving. He'd grabbed his food bag but left mine and the bear line out in the woods. I asked him if he wouldn't mind fetching them for me and he did and brought them back to my tent. I unhooked the top of my tent from under the fly and released the corners from the poles, released the clips and stuffed the tent into it's bag. With the copper spur 2 I can erect and take down the tent while keeping it dry under the rainfly. Unfortunately the sides and bottom we're soaked and muddy but the inside remained dry. I then took down the fly and shoved it in the exterior mesh pocket of my backpack so it wouldn't get the tent soaked. I put the mud covered footprint in it's bag, stowed the poles in the outside pocket and put my pack cover on.  Standing in the rain I ate a fruit leather and something else out of my bag that was convenient but I knew it was only about 200 calories combined and it wouldn't get me far. Rx and Field Trip had already left. There was one tent left in camp when Thumper, T-Bird and I hiked out together just after 8am. We stayed together all the way in the pooring rain, T-Bird in the lead with a determination and 2 MPH pace. Like soldiers we marched over 9 miles ( which felt like 20) down the sodden and mostly flooded trail thru huge puddles and boot sucking mud. We tested our ankles by walking on the sides of the path, sometimes straddling it trying to keep our feet as dry as possible for as long as possible. It was cold, only in the mid 40's and I had my base layer on under my rain jacket and my t-shirt on as well. We were all getting soaked right thru rain gear and we kept the pace to stay warm. We stopped only once at the blue blaze trail to Rausch Gap shelter 5 miles down the trail. I tossed 2 cheese sticks and another fruit leather down and we threw our packs back on. T-Bird was already cooling down he said and it hadn't been 5 minutes. Wet and cold are a terrible combination. The water in the trail became so deep and with no way around it and no rocks to step on we had to finally give in. It came over and into our boots and trail runners and the sponge like squish remained for the duration of the hike. At the bottom of Rausch Gap the water was screaming across the trail and down to the river. The sound of the volume of water down the river reminded me of Diana's Baths up in Franconia Notch. Loud and voluminous water. It is a very powerful sound. The state game preserve was next, where a controlled burn had recently been conducted. You could still smell it. It had a good climb to it and lots of fresh blow down that had to be climed over or routed around. With the continuation of the artillery fire it felt eerie.  I felt like a contestant on survivor or naked and afraid ( but with clothes on) looking for the extraction point. The plan was to get out to PA 72 and get an Uber, but to where we didn't know yet. Thumper had called the Fairfield yesterday but it was $200 a night and Day's Inn said they were booked and the KOA required 2 nights stay and we didn't know if they even had a cabin available. When we made it out to 72 at 12:30 the rain had let up. Rx and Field Trip were waiting for us at a turnout on the side of the road knowing we weren't far behind. I called the Comfort Inn and they had 2 rooms left so I took them and got a discount rate of $130 each after asking for a hiker rate as mentioned in AWOL guide. We summoned 2 Uber, one for the guys and one for me a Thumper because there wasn't an XL Uber available that would take all 5 with gear. The guys ride picked them up in 10 minutes. We had a wet, cold 25 minutes to wait. I texted the driver and let him know we were wet hikers with packs, out of courtesy. We did jumping jacks on the side of 72 to stay warm enough. Then Rodney, our Uber driver surprised us. Rodney pulled up in a Chrysler 300 with the heat on high and a thermos of hot coffee he shared with us. He received a really nice tip when he dropped us off at Comfort Inn and helped haul our wet packs out of his trunk. Rodney had never picked up hikers before. Great service and very thoughtful! Rx and T-Bird were wet and waiting in the lobby because the rooms were held in my name and they couldn't check in without me. Field Trip had been dropped off at another hotel. At the same time River, who stayed at Rausch gap last night and had a shorter hike out was dropped off by her Uber. Her wife had called ahead and reserved her a room. Sweet! River's driver had taken her to the post office and to Moose's for lunch so she was warm and fueled when she walked in. Plus she had her resupply box which made her the most happy. We roomed next to and across the hall from each other. Tramily, sharing laundry, first aid supplies and support. River shared beer and extras from her resupply box. It was a very long afternoon and evening. It's not relaxing in town like you might think. Everything takes time. We rely on Uber, shuttles or angels for rides. We showered and changed, did laundry propped our boots on hiking poles by the heater (cranked on high) so our rooms smelled like wet boot saunas. This is not glamorous! We took turns wiping the mud off our tents outside at a back entrance area with old newspapers that we got from Crystal at the front desk and also used some to absorb some of the water from our boots. We took a break from the drying out and cleaning to eat and get resupply at the grocery store. I needed 2 days cold food because until I get fuel I can't cook. Waiting for rides takes forever. Fueled up we returned to our rooms to finish taking turns drying out tents and rainfly over the shower curtain rod and propped up on anything we can find to place in front of the heater. I'm exhausted. I'll deal with packing it all up in the morning. At least for tonight it's dry and ready to go. I need rest now. Tomorrow morning we'll be back out there! It's almost 11pm, well past hiker midnight.