Date: 2016-05-18
From: Stealth Camp

To: Campsite, Licksdale, PA
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: few clouds

Day 2813.5 miles in 7.5 hoursStealth Camp (Horse-Shoe Trail 1167.9) to campsite before Lickdale, PA (1181.4)Weather: Sunshine a.m., drizzly, thunderstorms and showers p.m.Dinner: Veggie mac and cheese with Mexican flavored tunaWildlife: Usual birds and forest crittersHikers: NOBO ¢Johnny Walker¢ and two flipfloppers The sun was shining when I got up. It took longer than I intended packing up this morning. I made coffee, wiped down the tent and did other morning rituals that ultimately took over almost two hours. Finally was on the trail a little before 9 a.m. Wouldn't you know it, not 200 yards further up the trail was that (more) perfect campsite nestled under pine trees at a former fire tower site. The concrete footings were all that remained. About an hour into my hike I heard Johnny Walker approaching. We talked briefly and I moved over to let him pass, but we kept on talking and I fell into step behind him for the next two hours. By noon, we had done 7.9 miles and stopped at Rausch Creek where there were campsites. He needed to dry out his hammock in the warm sun and I needed to soak my feet in the cold stream. We are both headed to another campsite 5.9 miles up the trail. I left before he did, saying I was sure he¢d pass me up again or I'd see him at the campsite. The lunch break had once been part of the Village of Rausch Gap, the site of a former coal mining community in the early 1800s. At one time, more than 1000 people lived here. Now it is nothing but forest and trails. And a stream purification well built upon a Swedish model. The rehabilitation is helping to bring back brook trout and other life to the stream where acids still leach from those old mines. The same stream wear I had been soaking my feet. And gathering water to carry. The process adds lime as water washes through crushed gravel to help normalize the ph balance. I read all about this at the informational kiosk. Partly due to my stream educating side trip, Johnny Walker again caught up to me. Those NOBOs are so darn fast. Within minutes we heard thunder. We kept walking. Closer thunder. We kept walking. Raindrops. I pulled out my umbrella and he donned a poncho. We kept walking. The raindrops started to pummel us. Johnny Walker took off trying to make it to a underpass (which turned out to be quite a bit further up the trail) and I ducked under some hemlocks to wait it out. And the thunder did pass and the rain did slow down. Onward I went. Despite the trail having turned into a stream, I needed to collect another quart of water before heading to my final campsite destination. The AT guidebook points out things like shelters, campsites and springs. There was no water (ha!) indicated at my ending point. When I reached the last water source, a stream, it was muddy from all the afternoon rain. I'm using a Steripen water purifier which uses ultraviolet light to (magically!) sterilize the water. I stick the pen-like instrument into my water bottle and 90 seconds later, clean water. Except when the water is turbulent and muddy. There is no filter to trap sediment like other water purification systems. Not only that, this water was flowing under a road¢and I make it a rule to avoid those water ¢opportunities¢ along the trail for such reasons as pavement runoff, plastic crap, bottles, old t-shirts¢all things I saw trapped along the shore after I skimmed the cleanest water I thought I could. I¢ll just boil it in addition to Steripenning it and I'll never notice in it in my dinner tonight. Or coffee tomorrow. Back on the trail, I noticed a hammock and there was Johnny Walker setting up at a nice clearing the woods. By a much better looking stream. Out dumps the urban effluent and in runs spring water. I told JW that I didn't think this was the designated campsite and even though it was a nice spot, and even though we were hearing thunder again, I wanted to get further along the trail. And because of that, I got to set up my tent in the rain.But the sun is now out again. I am dry and had a yummy hot dinner lacking any trace of transmission fluids, plastic or t-shirts.