Date: 2005-06-01
From: Peters Mountain Shelter

To: Rausch Gap Shelter
Miles today: 17.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Miles hiked today : 17.817.5 AT miles + 0.3 miles of side trailI woke up this morning at 6:10 a.m. and was packed and hiking at 7:10 a.m. My tent proved to be an effective barrier against the invading ants and I slept fairly well, though I did wake up with somewhat of a stiff neck. Most likely because I tried using my partially filled sleeping bag stuff sack as a pillow.The trail was fairly rocky today and I tried playing a game called "Don't Touch The Ground" in which the only rule is that you must step from rock to rock without touching the ground. Unlike other states, this game is often phenomenally easy in Pennsylvania, which is not suffering a rock shortage. I quickly grew bored of "Don't Touch The Ground" and tried to play "Protect Your Sore Feet By Not Stepping On So Many Rocks."I covered 5.8 miles to Clarks Creek, arriving at 10:05 a.m. I stopped for an early lunch and stayed for 40 minutes before moving on. During lunch, several rescue vehicles showed up and we heard about a missing female hiker in the woods. She was only out for a couple days and had been hiking with a pair of thru-hiking brothers. Somehow, she didn't make it to the Rausch Gap Shelter last night. This morning, the brothers split up, one headed north and the other headed south, and when they couldn't find her, they contacted the authorities. We obtained a general description of the mising hiker and headed up the trail.The climb up Stony Mountain was a 1,000 foot climb over 3.5 miles. The temperature was in the high 70s and the trail was very rocky, which made the climb was difficult. I reached the summit at 12:10 p.m. and stayed for a 20 minute rest break before pushing on. At the summit, I found Shades of Blue, a section hiker who we'd previously met just outside of Pine Grove Furnace State Park. He did the southern half of the trail over the past few years and is doing the northern half in one piece.My next stop was at 1:45 p.m. at a mailbox in the middle of a clearing that was one Yellow Springs Village. Along the way, I met a southbound day hiker who had seen a 6 foot rattlesnake earlier in the day. I saw a picture of the rock overhang and made a mental note to watch for it. On the mailbox was a note from the missing hiker saying that she had been found by Bones and was continuing on to Rausch Gap Shelter.   Doc and a female section hiker, Turtle, were at the Yellow Springs Village site and I stayed for a 5 minute break before we departed as a group. It was 4.6 miles to Rausch Gap Shelter and moving as a group, we made excellent time, arriving at 3:35 p.m. I learned that the missing female hiker, Sarah, had been reunited with her friends and that they'd been escorted out by authorities, probably for paperwork and questioning. I also found out that Sarah had been confused by a poorly marked intersection and had walked down a blue blazed trail. Last night, as the sun began to set, Sarah realized she was lost, so she got in her sleeping bag and went to sleep. Fortunately, it had been a very mild night last night. In the morning, she returned to the beginning of the blue blazed trail and waited for somebody to find her. Sometime during the day, Bones had found Sarah and led her to Rausch Gap Shelter. I remember passing the intersection Sarah got lost at and had also found it confusing. It took me a moment to figure out where the trail would probably go before I was on my way. All things considered, I believe that Sarah handled the situation very well by staying put once she realized she was lost.When I arrived at Rausch Gap Shelter, I found the amount of biting, flying insects to be quite annoying, so I pitched my tent a good distance away and commenced eating. One good thing about arriving at camp early is that you get to eat quite a bit and eat quite a bit I did. I helped to build a campfire and while gathering fire wood from the shelter site, I found that Team Vanity had arrived. I'd not previously met them and only knew of them through the shelter registers, but had a good time talking with them later in the evening when I went to fetch water.Upon returning to the campsite, I sat around the campfire for a bit before settling in to journal and read. Tomorrow I've got my sights set on the 501 Shelter, which has a caretaker and is said to have a shower and a telephone, suitable for ordering pizza.Bedtime at 10:35 p.m.