May 13 Rausch Gap, PA to 501 Shelter 17.6 miles

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What a good night’s sleep will do for a body! Rausch Creek sang to us all night covering all other noises, well except for Blackhawk helicopters hovering a few hundred feet away doing fast rope training. Our camp site was just outside Ft Indiantown Gap training center. It dropped down to the low 40s and the wind was brisk all night. As from the start we were toasty in our down bags. After yesterday we both slept in until 6:30AM. Just having to heat water for coffee and cocoa is much quicker than cooking and cleaning up. We were out of camp by 8AM.

Today was like yesterday in a couple of ways. The distance is almost the same and we had strange company both days. Yesterday CC was listening to her music and heard a noise so loud she stopped dead in her tracks. She wanted to know if we had walked through a time warp into Middle Earth or the Middle Ages and if Dragons were attacking some small helpless village. Every few minutes the same roar would sound, sometimes long and others short. I thought this funny as it was the PA Air National Guard A-10s doing 20mm chain gun (real high speed Gatling guns) gunnery at Indiantown Gap. Today as we neared the last I81/AT crossing the Dragons came back. We did the 6.4 miles to 81 in three hours. Crossing under the freeway the trail made a sharp upward climb. The next hour was all up hill, 1,000' in just under two miles. Once on top we stopped for lunch and to send out a SPOT.

After lunch is was on to the William Penn Shelter (13.1 miles from our camp of last night) for a break and decide if we wanted to continue to the 501 shelter, another 4.1 miles for a total of 17.4 + .2 on a side trip. Being only 2:30PM we tanked up on water and settled in for two more hours of walking. Temp had climbed to the mid 70s by now and we were drinking lots of water. This stretch of trail runs parallel to I76 going east. The ridge is quite tall and the wind was brisk cooling us off some. The poison ivy and oak here is real thick and it seems so are the ticks. I pulled two ticks off my legs within 10 minutes today. We did a grueling boulder section working out the ankles and knees with all parts surviving in good shape.

The last two miles were over a real rocky section making the going slower. My feet felt like they had been beaten with a rubber hose and CC's weren't much better. We went the extra four miles today so the next shelter (15.1 miles) is within reach in a reasonable time. Rain is forecasted and we would like to end at a shelter when it is raining. That way we can cook, eat and sleep out of the wet and not try to do it all from inside a tent with your arms and stove outside.

When we arrived at the shelter it was 5PM, nine hours total time for the day. There were two guys inside and I mean inside. This place is a complete building including doors and a huge skylight! We were not bashful with the first question being do you guys snore! The answer was no so CC and I are going to try sleeping inside tonight. The wind is picking up and it seems like a good idea. We were trying to choose which epicurean delight we would dine tonight when one of the fellows pointed out some menus and said they were ordering out for supper. This is some kind of dirty fighting let me tell you. How could we eat the stuff from our packs when these guys were pounding down Calzones? Well we to ordered out and within 20 minutes the truck pulls up and hot supper and cold sodas was delivered. Never had a better $25 meal (including tip) that I can remember. The small items would feed any normal person above full, the large is two meals. CC and I will both be eating Italian for breakfast!

9PM, the four guys and CC are all asleep. All is quiet except for the odd vehicle out on Hwy501. As one of my favorite cartoons used to say.... "Trissel trassel trouble trome time for this one to go home" or in my case into bed. A short day only 15.1 miles :-)

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

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