Date: 2009-07-28
From: Rausch Gap Shelter

To: 501 Shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Once I got started today I soon passed a sign that confirmed my suspicions about the presence of coal in these here hills. Apparently a community had existed in this place many years ago built around the coal but the mining was uneconomic and the good times did not last. So now all these years later the people are gone but they are not forgotten, not while the coal remains for us to see and ponder.Pennsylvania served up more easy walking today - a bit of uphill to start but then more or less flat all the way. I wonder how flat, flat is these days. Maybe to some, or even to me three months ago, this wouldn¢t quite qualify as flat. But with miles in the legs and a manageable weigh on my back it really does roll past with no discernable effort.Miles is miles though and after crossing a river via an iron bridge and then sneaking under I-81 the effect of all this indiscernible effort had me looking around for a nice spot to take a rest.I climbed away from the road but not unfortunately from the noise of the uneasing traffic as it sped past. One of the great things out here is leaving behind some of the incessant assault that our senses take on a day to day basis. Maybe it¢s not walking away from the noise but from the imposition of other people¢s noise. Nature is after all seldom quiet ¢ the rustle of leaves, the twitter of birds, the crash of thunder, the roar of a waterfall. All of these things are to be enjoyed but the hum of the interstate ¢ that I think is an imposition. Nothing sums it up better, I think, than my watch, or rather by how I have become aware of just how deafening its innocent tick, tick, tick can be. Away from all the other man made noise of everyday life its apparently inoffensive click echoes around my tent. Sitting to rest I cannot clasp my hands behind my head for a moment before that rhythmic crack crashes into my ear and destroys my tranquillity. Next time I¢ll get a digital. It may sound crazy but it¢s definitely one of the things I have learnt out here!The break did provide one moment of near unbridled joy though a sense of euphoria that may, to you in the real world, seem disproportionate to the discovery that generated it ¢ namely that I actually had four Milky Way bars and not the three I thought. I could have danced a wee jig (if I knew how to). I might as well have discovered the Ark of the Covenant. It could not have made me happier. I could have watched England get beat 5-0 by San Marino and ¢¦ okay that might have made me happier, but you get the gist. Yes, it¢s the simple things in life.Moving on I stopped at a lookout where a note had been left to warn about snakes using the area to sunbathe. Apparently it is a regular haunt but, although it was a fine sunny afternoon, none were to be seen today or at least not by me. I was disappointed.Today had been tough. I¢m not sure why. It had been hot and I¢d spent much of the day unsure of how far I¢d travelled (and therefore, how far I might still have to go). There had been quite a few mosquitoes and, I must admit, one or two rocks. Maybe it was some combination of these factors or maybe it just happened to be one of those days. Anyway, I wasn¢t disappointed to arrive at the 501 Shelter, to have a quick chat with the other hiker spending the night and then to head off to bed ¢ making sure my head and my watch were placed at opposite ends of my tent.