Date: 2015-05-18
From: Clarks Ferry Shelter

To: Rausch Gap Shelter
Miles today: 24.7
Weather: scattered clouds

What a tough day. It was hot and muggy...and then came the rain. Ugh, what a disaster. It was as expected, rocky all day. Plus I was feeling a bit tired. I THINK it's because I changed my trail food a bit. My typical snacks during the day are generally granola bars, honey buns, peanuts, Snickers bars, brownies, raisins, etc. it has faired me very well this far. I have since tried tortillas and peanut butter as a replacement. I'm not sure it's giving me the calories I need for the miles. I'm going to go back to my previous snack items and see what happens. With lower energy, the one large climb was surely a butt-kicker! I was hiking with Giuseppe so he set a really good pace and I followed. If I was in my own my pace would have been slower. It's good having a hiking parter sometimes. It's good motivation and good to have conversation. It's pretty laid back though. If one person pushes on or falls back at any point, there is no "need" or obligation to hike right with them. You are heading to the same spot later or may catch up at lunch or a break along the way. About 17 miles in I was near to crossing a stream at Rattling Run. All of a sudden I hear a rattle. It was a Timber Rattler! It was a couple feet off the trail and was a bit scary. I had never seen one before. I walked a couple more steps and just stopped to see if there were any more. I didn't see any more but talking to a couple other hikers, there were up to three that were seen. How ironic, at Rattling Run. The trail kept going and eventually into coal country. There was the Yellow Springs Village Site. It was off trail but was an old settlement when the coal industry in the area was big. I didn't take the .7 mile detour but right next to the trail were ruins of a house or something. I'm sure there were plenty more around but I still had more walking to do. At about 6:00pm, just a couple miles from camp, it started to rain. Then...it started to pour. I didn't even put on my rain jacket because it would have been useless. We just walked faster to get to the shelter ASAP. By the time we arrived, we were 100% soaked down to underwear. Oh, the shelter was full too. Giuseppe and I walked to a spot to set up our tents. Frodo from the Rhode Island Express also showed up and was going to set up his tent with us. However it was pouring so hard that we couldn't set up out tents unless we wanted to get the insides soaked. When there was actually a break, we started to set them up. The break lasted about two minutes because half way in to setting up it started to pour again. Lovely. There the three of us are: me, Giuseppe and Frodo. Tents set up, pouring rain, and can't get into our tents until it slows or stops. We literally just stood around and I dug trenches for the water around my tent to drain away. The ground wasn't able to absorb the water quick enough so there were just huge puddles now. When the rain finally stopped it was nice to be able to take out my food and enjoy a warm meal. As hot as the day was, the rain really made me chilly.It wasn't a fun day but hey, it happens sometimes. Oh well. It will be better tomorrow!