Date: 2004-12-11
From: 501 Shelter, Pa.

To: Rausch Gap Shelter, Pa.
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: light rain

17.3 miles todayRausch Gap Shelter, Pa. FRIED CHICKEN TRAIL MAGIC TODAY!!!!!!, but more about that later. I had plenty of sleep and woke up at 4am to do some journaling. It rained litely most of the night and it was very noisy on the tin roof at the 501 Shelter, but at least I was dry. I went out and got water and made my coffee. Hippie got up and made tea and we sat around in no big hurry because it was very wet and so foggy that you could only see about 50 feet at times. My backpack was still wet from yesterday's rain even though I didn't walk any. It was in the back of Tripods truck and got soaked. We finally got packed and left about 10am. We rewalked the .1 miles that I logged on yesterday's journal...do I get credit for that??? This is the last day of deer season. We started seeing hunters right away. The first two were sitting right on the trail. I was a little more worried today about being seen by the hunters because of the thick fog, but we tried talking more so we could be heard coming. The third hunter I saw today had the best quote of the day. When I said to him; "Have you done any good hunting this year." He said; "I'm not hunting, I'm just taking my gun for a walk." I got a good laugh out of that one. I really think that's what he was up to. It was so foggy that we didn't even bother to go to any of the lookouts to see any views. We hiked on to William Penn Shelter and ate a couple sandwiches. We are really going to be eating good. We packed out real food and sent the processed crap back with Tripod. It's cold enough that we can carry real food without worrying about refridgeration. We hiked on and got down to Swatara Gap and Hippie actually finished her thru hike when we walked across the old iron bridge...yoo hoo!!! hey, hey!!! Ok, let's keep walking... It didn't seem like a real big event because she is still hiking another 400 miles with me. At least it was nice for me to be there for the finish even though it really isn't the finish of her walking this year. I got her a Yuengling hat for her for finishing her hike. It should keep Yuengling on her mind. The fog started to thin out early in the afternoon and the sun even came out for 10 minutes today at 2pm before the cloud cover came back and we didn't see the sun again. We hiked on and when we got to Rt 443, Cisco came running up the trail wagging his tail. He was real happy to see a couple of hikers. He is Underpant's dog and I walked alot with them last year when they did a sobo thru hike. Underpants was there at the trailhead with fried chicken and cokes in his truck!!! That was fantastic!!! I started eating the chicken and it was still steaming hot...how is that for timing?? Underpants had just bought it and drove to the trailhead when Hippie and I walked out. Trail magic at it's best!!! Thanks Underpants!!! It was good seeing you and Cisco again...and the fried chicken. Hippie and I have been very lucky with timing lately, meeting Underpants today as soon as he got to the trailhead and Honey Boy's wife the other day as she was crossing the A.T. on another trail. Hippie and I sat on Underpant's tailgate and ate our fried chicken dinners. When we were done eating, Underpants, Cisco, Hippie and I all headed south on the trail. Underpants wanted to let Cisco run some before he went back home. We walked about half an hour before we sat down for a break. We talked for another half an hour and then Underpants headed back because the sun was going to set in about half an hour. Hippie and I still had 3 to 4 miles left to get to Rausch Gap Shelter. We ended up walking in the dark for about an hour. That was nice until we hit a long stretch of muddy trail, then it was a pain in the butt. We were coming up on the shelter and I saw a light on inside it. When we got there we met Brian. He just came out for an overnight trip. That's the first person that I've been around at a shelter for a long time...I think since October. He's a college student and just wanted to get away from town. Poor guy ran into a couple of thru hikers and had to share the shelter. He made a comment later after listening to us talking and said that we eat better on the trail than he does in town. Hippie made some spagetti. I had told her I wasn't hungry until it was done and I helped her eat half of it. It sure is nice to eat decent food on the trail. This shelter area is a muddy mess, but it has a great spring right out front. We finally turned in about 8pm. Thanks again Underpants...it was GREAT trail magic and it was really good seeing you and Cisco again.Another great day on the A.T.