Date: 2022-09-06
From: Rausch Gap Shelter

To: Powerline at SOBO 1036
Miles today: 20.3
Weather: moderate rain

We had to put in miles today! We stopped short of a full day yesterday to get out of the rain. Rausch Gap Shelter was a great place to stop and stay dry. Homework was a fun shelter mate. We started the day just shy of 30 miles away from Duncannon and have bunks at the hostel there tomorrow night. Our original plan was to be at Clark¢s Ferry Shelter tonight so that we¢d have a short 4-mile walk into town. With the short day yesterday we¢ll have to camp somewhere short of Clark¢s Ferry. We don¢t have the 25 miles needed to get there in us yet, certainly not in the rain. We fixed a hot breakfast and rolled out of camp slowly. I started texting with Tim last night on the Garmin to make a meet-up plan with him for today. We were out of cell service and under thick cloud cover (not good for satellite texting) but we were able to make a plan to meet about lunch time at PA 325. He offered to bring lunch, too! I spent the morning keeping us on track to make the 12:30 meeting time but didn¢t tell the boys that Tim would be there (Joni needed a mid-morning pick-me-up so I let her in on the secret). We arrived at Clark¢s Creek on PA 325 at 12:35. Tim was unloading his SUV setting up for a tailgate party! A table and chairs awaited. He had brought Wendy¢s bacon cheeseburgers, Body Armor to drink, and Hershey¢s candy bars for dessert. We sat at the table and relished the burgers while it rained steadily. We traded stories of National Park adventures as he talked us through his family¢s sticker collection on the SUV windows. Tim returned the JetBoil, sorry he couldn¢t help more. I let him know that JetBoil did return my email and it looks like they¢re going to help me out. What a great treat! We were all thrilled and very thankful for the help Tim gave us. We waved goodbye as we walked off in the rain and headed south. Homework caught up with us and we had a fun afternoon walking and talking with him. He¢s a southbounder with a similar pace and mileage to ours. We all pulled in to the Peter¢s Mountain Shelter about 4:30. Homework planned on staying here for the night. We needed water. ¢0.2 miles - 300 steps¢ read the sign. ¢Steps¢ is a squirrelly word. Does it mean ¢footsteps¢ or does it mean ¢stairs¢. Turns out this one means 279 rock steps off the ridge and way down to the water. I found out after carrying 5 empty quarts down to the spring. This one was rivaled only by the descent into Ice Gulch for water way back at Tom Leonard Shelter in MA. We cooked dinner when I got back up using the JetBoil kettle on the Pocket Rocket stove. Tim had given the boys Ramen Soup Cups. Joni and I shared a Knorr side with pouch chicken. We were still more than 12 miles out from Duncannon and wanted to get closer before camping so we said goodbye to Homework and newly-arrived Dodo Bird (who brought news of Stretch and Lotus close behind) and headed out. As night was falling we found an abandoned road south of a powerline right of way and set up tents for the night. We expect to be dry tonight but looks like we won¢t be able to beat the rain to Duncannon in the morning. We¢re about 10 miles away and can probably make it there by 10 if we¢re up early and keep walking. We¢re all looking forward to packages and showers.