Date: 2014-06-25
From: Raven Rock Shelter

To: Rocky Run Shelter
Miles today: 20.6

I originally planned to stay in bed late today because morning thunderstorms were in the forecast. However, when I checked the forecast, their expected arrival was moved to noon. I jumped up and took off in order to get as many miles in before it started storming--maybe even to the next shelter.The first monument to George Washington lay along my trail route today. Located atop South Mountain, Washington Monument State Park is named for the first completed monument dedicated to the memory of George Washington. The Washington Monument is a rugged stone tower that was initially erected by the citizens of Boonsboro in 1827.I climbed the interior spiral stair case for a view of the region which included an interpretive plaque. I remember it pointed out Antietam Battlefield, West Virginia, and Sideling Hill. The hill has 810 feet of strata in a tightly folded syncline that was exposed when Interstate 64 was cut through the mountain. "Although other exposures may surpass Sideling Hill in either thickness of exposed strata or in quality of geologic structure, few can equal its combination of both." I was familiar with the mountain because of traveling the highway and stopping there at a visitor center. Of course, all I could see were the locations of these sites they were so far away.The State Park also had services for hikers like water and restrooms. There is also information about South Mountain Civil War battlefield, the first major Civil War battle, the Battle of South Mountain, fought in Maryland.Since all the NOBO hikers I met during the day were unfamiliar to me, I decided all my acquaintances had passed. However, around two o'clock, I saw a guy with a familiar looking yellow tank top striding along. It turned out to be Achilles, whom I had assumed was way north of me. It turned out that he had gone into DC for 4 days sightseeing to take advantage of being this close, since he is from Albuquerque.We could have chatted the whole afternoon but finally I took the initiative to walk away. It is second nature for the first step forward to be to tap the ground ahead with the trekking pole. When I did, I heard a scream, "Don't tread on me!" Well actually, it was just a soft hiss and a rattle sound but could just as well been a scream. Seems that while we were focusing on our conversation, Ms. Diamond Back decided to sneak across the trail three feet ahead of where I was standing. She certainly put an exclamation point at the end of our conversation.As I went in my way and was lost in my thoughts again, I was thinking I would like to have turned around and went back north for the afternoon to spend more time visiting with Achilles. I wished I had asked him for contact information so I could stay in touch after the trail. The probability of catching up with him are slim, but the trail does its magic when you least expect it.I reached my possible shelter but it was only early afternoon and still no thunder. I took a chance and set out for the next shelter. When I arrived half a dozen hikers announced to me "looks like you beat the rain!" They had stayed holed up at the shelter all day, having heard of the 70% thunderstorm prediction. Near dark we began to hear a few rumbles of thunder, but still no rain. They were dying for the rain to start since they had spent all day sitting around asking,"Where are those storms?"Around 8:30 PM a text message came across the screen of my phone from the National Weather Service stating my area had a flash flood warning. In a few minutes it started and turned out to be a real gulley washer. We watched from the shelter as the trail in front of the shelter in matter of minutes turned into a small muddy river. I was already in bed, so I watched for a while then went to sleep to the background sound of torrential rain on the metal roof.