Date: 2018-07-21
From: Rausch Gap Shelter 

To: PA 625, Pine Grove, PA
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: scattered clouds

The forecast, last time I checked, called for a chance of rain over the next few days starting today. I hopped out of my hammock this morning at 4:00 when I heard tiny pitter-patters on my tarp to pull my hiking clothes off the clothesline (bear bag line) and stow them safely under my hammock. Of course the rain stopped immediately. But just after noon the rain began and soon became heavy and nonstop. It was too warm to wear my raincoat so I put the rain cover on my pack and hiked on. Soon I was soaked through. I don¢t mind hiking in the rain so long as it¢s warm and it stops before I need to make camp. Three things slowed me down in the morning. The first was a beaver dam which flooded the trail for about 200 feet. There was no way around, so I got to walk in water and mud. The second was a dumb mistake. I crossed a stream by carefully moving from one slippery rock to the next wondering why the trail maintainers hadn¢t done a better job placing sturdy rocks for the crossing. I managed to get to the other side, climbed up the embankment and... no trail. No white blazes. I pulled out my phone and checked the GPS app and sure enough I¢d left the trail. So back across the stream I went. The trail had turned a hundred feet back. I wish I¢d looked for a blaze on the other side of the stream before I forded it. The third was another stream crossing. This one was real and had two logs spanning its banks. The longer of the two was a big tree, one I could have walked across with some level of confidence. However the first log, about five feet in length, was much smaller. About the circumference of a soccer ball and bare of bark, looking slippery. Were I to slip I¢d fall about four feet and land on some big rocks in the water. Another option would be to slip and get rewarded with a nutter worthy of a Jackass episode. I had zero confidence I could make it. So off with my hiking shoes, gaiters, two pairs of socks and my calf compression sleeves and on with my camp shoes for an easy walk through the water. Then back on with the hiking shoes. Just after that I met a nice man who paints small stones for thru-hikers. He offered me one and it¢s quite nice. I failed to admit to having converted to being a section hiker. That¢s probably why the rain was so heavy this afternoon. I¢ve added pictures of the stone. I thought I¢d stay at the first shelter at 13.4 miles. But when I got there and fetched water, the rain was coming down so hard that I couldn¢t bear the thought of setting up camp. So I checked the guide and saw the PA 645 crossing 2.1 miles away. I decided I¢d get there and call the Rock ¢n Sole hostel and ask to be picked up. When I called I learned that they had no vacancies but they¢d be happy to drive me to a local hotel. Bless their hearts. On the way to the road crossing I met Bloodhound who turns out to be the guy I¢d heard about who started his thru hike as a family affair. Mom and dad and their four children. I think he said his youngest was 6. Since starting on March 1, all but he have dropped out. But they shadow his hike and get together with him every four days. Bloodhound told me that the forecast for the next four days was rain. That¢s since been confirmed here at the hotel. Having no desire to slog on through another four days of rain, I¢m calling quits on this section and Mike, my shuttle driver, is taking me back to Carlisle and my car tomorrow morning.