Date: 2007-06-30
From: Earl Shaffer Shelter, PA

To: creek by Rausch Gap, Pa
Miles today: 17.0

"Shadow" was the last one asleep and awoke when the first bird chirped. He looked up in the loft to see that I was awake as well. I went down and joined him where he said that he was wondering what was wrong since I did not talk to him last night. I told him that I was asleep. He is a funny guy. He is an ex special forces soldier during the Panama invasion era. He is hiking with his wife "NumbToe". We have so much in common and I enjoy hanging with them. Pretty soon everyone else was awake and several people had to make the 300 step, .4 mile, steep descent down to the spring that was just trickling. It took me about 30 minutes the day before to get about a gallon if water. Soon we were all hiking. "Red" left before we did with her friend, Carl. I wondered how much they could do; being section hikers and all. Shadow, Numbtoe, and I headed out around 7 am and hiked together most of the day. We would move around 3-3.5 miles an hour for about an hour and then take a long break of about 20-30 minutes. We were stunned at how cool it was, 70 degrees. Shadow kept calling it, "AT/AC"(appalachian trail air conditioning). I was also eating like a mad man. I carried about 20 pounds of food out of town. I hardly noticed the weight. We also kept commenting on how beautiful Pennsylvania is. Even though Shadow looks like a common drifter, like all of us now, he is still a special forces guy at heart. He has 2 speeds: on and off. His "on" has very high RPM'S. He could do 40 miles a day if he wanted; but, his wife could do less and they together like to enjoy their surroundings. They stop and look at most views and points of interest. We figured that it was best that NumbToe or I lead because Shadow would just bust our butts with his pace. And even though the rocks our not as bad as we have heard; we still slide all over all day on egg size to watermelon size rocks. It is just incredible how strong our bodies are. The twisting and turning that we do now would have resulted in terrible injuries in Ga. Down at Pa 325/Clarks Valley we stopped beside a stream to wait for Numbtoe's brother to show up. He was going to hike up to Rausch Gap and spend the night. While we were waiting; a swarm of black flies descending on us. I sprayed bug spray on me and it did not do a thing. Shadow started a real small smokey fire that drove them away. I re-learned another good trick. NumbToes brother showed up and Shadow and I drank 3 beers in about 10 minutes and were begging for more; but, Numbtoes brother said that he was carrying the rest up to our campsite. He had a suitcase that had straps on it. He has run marathons; so, he was up for the challenge. As we climbed, it was evident that there used to be a mining community near here. One spring spewed out this yellow orangish water and the ground had alot of coal residue that made the landscape black. We got to the Rausch Gap Shelter and found it full and no water. "Rhode Island Red" and Carl had made it. They are some real troopers. The was a guy real sick here with the flu. Recently, there have been alot of people sick with the Flu that I had. I wondered if I was the "typhoid Zero" of this epidemic. I felt sorry for these guys because they had to go through what I did out here all by themselves. Thank you so much "Tamborine" for allowing me to avoid this! Without water we had to go back to the trail which was flat. We camped at a loud, gorgeous stream. I love P A ! Down here I met a guy named "Fireman" AT '06. I knew him last year and hiked with him for a day or so with "Roni, CanMan, Big X(later Big Easy) around Max Patch. Of those mentioned; he was the only one to finish last year. We started talking and I said, "dude, I know you!". We drank the beers, ate fresh green beans, and Oreos and I went to sleep while they stayed up awhile playing with the fire.