Date: 2004-07-01
From: Bake Oven Knob Shelter

To: Leroy Smith Shelter
Miles today: 23.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Lehigh GapMileage Countdown: -931.7Today was another long day, packed with high spots.The main high spot was definitely the climb out of Lehigh Gap. This is the deepest gap north of Port Clinton, and may even be deeper than the gaps holding Port Clinton and Duncannon.Lehigh Gap is the site of an extensive zinc processing operation early in the 20th Century (or maybe late 19th). The fumes from this operation were generally carried east by the prevailing winds. Since they were loaded with zinc, eventually the whole east side of the Gap was denuded of all vegetation. With no vegetation cover, all soil was soon washed away, so the whole slope consists of rocks, mostly the size of a car or larger, but some as small as your head. The climb out of the Gap is the steepest extensive climb I have seen on the Trail so far, about 1000' elevation change in around 1/2 mi (My threshold for 'very steep' is 1000' per mi. This is nearly twice that, so I feel comfortable calling it 'extremely steep'.) The climb is mostly a giant boulder scramble, tiring enough in itself. But the bare rock face of the mountain is facing southwest, and I didn't begin until after 10AM, so I had the full sun beating down on me the whole time. With stopping often to figure out how to go, and stopping occasionally to rest, it took me nearly an hour to cover that sun-drenched 1/2 mile, where normally that distance is negotiated in about 15 min. Needless to say, I was thoroughly whipped by the time I reached the top (I was a little disappointed, but also relieved, that I didn't have to climb up the rebar steps everyone has mentioned.). When I got there, Cocoon (long distance section hiker), who had breezed by me coming up the slope, was taking advantage of a little patch of shade to rest a bit. He fell into step with me and we walked together for the next 3 or 4 miles. This whole stretch was pretty level, but almost totally without vegetation, because it too was covered by zinc fumes during the smelting operations. I think this is one of the country's larger superfund sites, but don't know how adequately it has been funded.We were pretty dehydrated from the climb and the sunshine by the time the terrain began to sustain vegetation again. That marked the only reliable spring we were to encounter along the Trail today. So even though that spring is called 'Metallica Spring' (referencing its high zinc content), we really had no choice but to take on water there. (I also risked a high zinc uptake earlier in the day on the east side of the Gap. The denudation is not so bad there, but there are no large trees, so it was sunny everywhere. That sunshine supported the largest fruiting of blueberies I have seen so far on the hike, and I helped myself to probably several handfuls. I promised myself I wouldn't be so foolhardy on the east side, but could have saved myself the trouble because there were no blueberries over there.)We had to scramble down a rocky slope to the spring, which was in a base streambed. Fortunately, it had quite an adequate flow. As I was taking off my pack up top, Cocoon scrambled down into the streambed and started filling his water bottles. He let out a shout, 'Rattler!'. Sure enough, across the spring, not 8' away was a big rattlesnake. It was 4+ feet long, very thick in the middle (3" to 4", I wonder if all rattlers are that thick, or if he was just full, which could explain his later behavior), with about a half dozen rattles on his tail. It appeared to be a velvety black, with a criss-cross pattern of orange lines from end to end. I came down to look. The rattler lazily moved toward us for a bit, then slowly turned and climbed up a downed tree lying on the other side of the streambed.I filled my water bottle and went back to my pack to prepare my water treatment. That preparation involves mixing two substances together and waiting 5 minutes. By the time I had finished mixing, Cocoon had left. Since I had 5 minutes to kill, I decided to have a second look at the snake, expecting he had made it to the other end of the tree by now. I skirted that area well, and looked across the streambed from the tree. He was no longer there, so I figured he had given up on cimbing the reclining tree, and had gone up his side of the bank. My time was up, so I went back up and finished my treatment. As I started the 5' back down the hill to stow the water in my pack, I was startled by a loud buzzing in that vicinity. It was the same snake, who had travelled much farther in that 5 min than I had given him credit for. I myself had somehow magically landed about 6' laterally from where I had been when I heard the buzz. The rattler was about 3' from my pack and heading for it. He took his time, slowly moving past my pack, past where I had treated my water, and eventually onto a rocky area up the hill and a bit to the side. As for myself, I breathed a sigh of relief, hastily put things into my pack before warily heading back to the Trail where I stowed things more carefully. All the while I was wondering how close I had come to him during my second trip to the spring, and why he didn't rattle at me then!Afterwards, I was amazed at how calm I was throughout the incident (except for that instant when I was literally and figuratively rattled). The snake was never aggressive (I'm sure his rattling was purely defensive) and throughout acted as if he were completely in control of the situation (which of course he was). And I had to admire both his physical beauty and his aplomb.I ran into many local hikers today. In fact there have been many people on the Trail all week. Unlike my southbound leg, where I was mainly interested in meeting northbound thru-hikers, now I really appreciate the locals. They usually have an intimate knowledge of the section of the Trail they are hiking, and the surrounding area, adding a great deal to the bare facts that are found in references like the Handbook or the Companion. Today I met someone who lives near the 501 shelter (2 or 3 days back) and was doing a 5 day section hike to warm up for a thru-hike next year (Didn't catch his name.). He was very knowledgeable about water sources and camping sites in this stretch. And as I was going down into Lehigh Gap I met Little Toe (97 or 98 thru-hike) and a friend who were walking up the mountain to give out fruit and beer to any thru-hikers they met. I took a peach and an apple. Thanks for the Trail Magic, guys.Today was long, and full of UPs and DOWNs. I'm thinking of taking a nero day (only 5 mi) tomorrow and resupplying in Wind Gap.