Date: 2015-06-17
From: Clarks Ferry Shelter

To: Yellow Springs
Miles today: 20.1

We had a good night for sleeping last night. There was a small breeze and the temperature dropped just enough to make it comfortable for sleeping in our tent. We were both sound asleep at 04:30 when we were suddenly woken up by a tree falling near our tent. It is amazing how much noise a tree falling in the forest makes.   We could hear it crashing through other trees and the loud thud when it hit the ground. As we heard it falling, we were hoping it didn't hit our tent. It seemed to take forever for the crashing sound to stop. But, if we would have had to move to avoid the falling tree, we would have never made it as that seemed to happen quickly. It was only about 10 yards from our tent.   We were both a bit shook up after it fell. We found it hard to get back to sleep but we calmed down finally and got a bit more sleep.    We were awake by 6:20 and had honey buns for breakfast.   At 510 calories each, they are great for the trail. We packed everything up and were on the trail by 0725. Most of the morning we hiked on the ridgeline with just small ups and downs. There were several sections of rocky trail but none we had to climb over so it wasn't too bad. The spiders must have been extremely busy last night because we were constantly wiping webs from our faces. We aren't sure how the webs crossed the trail as the trail was at least 3 feet wide. The spiders must have used the wind to get across the trail.    The only interesting wildlife we saw on the trail was a small toad hopping along the trail. We do see lots of butterflies while hiking. We had no idea the variety and number of butterflies you see in the forest. We stopped for our morning break at Table Rock. This was a rock outcropping with great views across the valley and other mountain ranges. There was a light breeze which helped dry our sweaty clothes during the break. Then it was back to hiking the ridgeline for the rest of the morning.    We stopped for lunch at 12:30 and took a nice long break. Again there was a light breeze blowing. We even took short naps - we were tired from being woken by the falling tree. We had already done 11.8 miles for the day and we only had another 8.3 miles to go, so we weren't in too much of a hurry.   We followed the trail downhill. We saw deer tracks on the trail for over a mile. But, we never saw a deer. We descended 800 feet to PA 325. We crossed the road and saw several persons fly fishing. It looked very peaceful. We would have liked to join them but the bugs were out with a vengeance. We hiked on.   We climbed a giant hill or it seemed like a giant hill. It was a total climb of 1100 feet. We sweated and sweated. We stopped part way up at a stream to filter water. We drank and drank. The sun was not shining. But, there was no air movement and it was so humid. We felt like sponges we were so wet from sweat.   We walked on the ridgeline. We had some rocks. We saw lots of rocks on the sides of the trail. Thankfully, the Pennsylvania trail builders did not have us clamoring over rocks just for the "fun" of it. We took a short break. Then continued hiking. The place we were tenting at did not have water. So, we filtered water into all our bottles and carried an extra two liters for over 3.5 miles to our tent site. We saw no other hikers today. With the stillness of the air, it was very eerie. It felt as if we were the only hikers on the AT. As we were hiking the last few miles for the day, we heard large blasts coming over the mountain. There was at least 20 blasts. Between not seeing anyone and the blasts, it seemed the end of the world was coming.   We set up camp. Then, we cooked dinner for the first time in 11 days. We have been spoiled with not having to have instant mashed potatoes or Lipton rice side dishes. As we were eating, three thru-hikers passed us. At last, we realized we aren't the only hikers out here today.