May 12 Peters Mountain, Pa to Rausch Gap Shelter 18.1 miles

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It was a long night and a longer day! One of the guys in the shelter was a human wood chipper. We went to bed just after 9PM. The two men stayed up for a little longer and then turned in. In those few first minutes of quiet I went into my simulated death sleep mode. CC takes longer to get to sleep so she said the snoring started before she could get to sleep. I remained in my death sleep mode until about 2AM when I was waken by less than angelic singing and the wood chipper. CC had her headset on trying in vain to drown out the chipper, the music wasn't enough so she was singing also. Without a headset on she sounds beautiful. Headset on, well let’s just say now two of us weren't sleeping. This duet went on until 5AM when the birds joined in. At 5:30 I had had enough and it was light enough to cook, pack and walk. The one fellow was already awake as I climbed down from the loft, he hadn't slept much either. We were not quiet while packing and the wood chipper went on unphased.
When we did our town resupply we chose not to have hot oatmeal but breakfast bars and a hot drink. This was done and CC and I were first out of camp at 6:45AM. The morning was cool both of us were dressed a bit warm as we headed north the temp was in the low 40s. The first half of the day went smooth with little change in the trail it was mostly ridges or downhill.
By 10AM we had reached Clarks Creek the bottom of the day. The next four miles were a gradual climb with many large stone areas. The temp had gone up to the mid 60s by now and CC and I were slowing down. Climbing 1,000' vertical even over four miles in two hours is a smoker. We made the top at noon where we took our lunch break for some 20 minutes.
After lunch we trudged onwards. The trail was in a slow descent with lots of sharp stone. Both our feet were feeling the miles and the extra food weight along with sleep deprivation. Isn't that considered torture in some countries? We met a couple of south bound young men and a couple about our age. We passed a younger couple who were headed to the same shelter as us, but other than those tidbits, the afternoon just hurt!. The south bound couple extolled the shelter area as quite the beautiful place with tent sites near the shelter, a brook running in front of the sites and smoother trail ahead of us. The smooth trail was only the last 3/10 of a mile from the trail to the shelter. CC thought better of the shelter area than I did but that was not real good. She wanted to hear the water not snoring. Back 3/10s mile to the trail and the stream to find a tent site.
After some looking a fine place was picked, tent erected, gear stowed, supper cooked - eaten and cleaned up from. Now we are both in the tent about to go out and it is just 6PM. We did the walk in 9 hours, finishing at 3:45PM. The 17.5 mile day stretched to 18+ so we could be near the stream. Tomorrow we will attempt a second 17 mile day as the shelters are spread far apart. Time to try and rest.

Patrick, Deborah Mooney aka OD & CC
All Who Wander Are Not Lost

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