Day 67 - Thursday, August 18

Linda

Slept all the way until 6:30 this morning. Ronald had a case of the sillies and was really slow, so we didn't get on the trail until 7:40. The trail started out uphill and rocky and stayed that way for a few miles. It followed a ridge for the next 15 miles and was off and on rocky most of the way. The day was perfect for hiking - the rain had cooled things down and the sky was a brilliant blue. Even though the dense trees obscured our view of the sky most of the time, we could see it peek through now and then, so we knew it was there. Stopped about 11:00 at a spring for a quick munch before heading on. By the time we limped down to the road and crossed the river, we were awfully weary of ridge running. We pounded the pavement on the road for 2.4 miles to Ron's Grocery Store and bought a few items for lunches, and noodles and chicken a-la-king for dinner. Also sucked in root beer, plums and ice cream sandwiches before making the last push for Rausch Gap Shelter 3.8 miles further.

We've stayed at some picturesque shelters along the way, but Rausch Gap is the definitive winner so far. It was built around an old mining building, and had a stone courtyard with a fireplace, and a spring running through the chimney and out the other side. In the center of the courtyard was a tree with a table built around it, and a few rusty but functional kitchen chairs for relaxing. The shelter itself was well built and comfortable and even had a skylight. The outhouse was an original 1800's outhouse from a farm, complete with a Sears Catalogue. The area used to be a coal mining town so we had the ruins of many of the original buildings to explore. We plopped down and relaxed in the courtyard, absorbed in the history of the area. This was the earliest we had stopped in a long time, and it felt especially good knowing we had already accomplished 21 miles. Spent a pleasant evening wandering around the ruins and catching up on our writing around the tree table. Fixed a delicious dinner, complete with pudding and cookies for dessert. The chicken made a good meal with the noodles. We'll have to add that to the list of desired dinner fare, since our normal fare is typically lacking in anything more than basic nutrition. At 10:00 we finally called an end to what had been another memorable day.

Ron

We only planned to go a short distance this morning, so we didn't leave camp until almost 8:00. Right out of camp, the ridge was one long pile of rocks. The first eight miles took us over long sections of rocks mixed with nice sections of smooth trail. We stopped for a break around 11:00 when we got to some water. After the break we set out to conquer the rest of the ridge. The trail never improved. Most of our hiking was on stones about the size of one's fist. Sometimes the stones wore loose and other times they were embedded in the dirt. The stone trail was interspersed with several area of boulders. There were sections of trail where I could have sworn that someone came along and deliberately placed the rocks with their points sticking out. We developed a chant to get through the rough sections. "Pave the AT in PA". Repeating it over and over we would conquer each section. At least it gave us a way to vent our frustrations.

Once at Highway 443, we had an easy walk to Ron's Store. We restocked our lunches and picked up tonight's dinner. From the store we had a pleasant hike to Rausch Gap Shelter. The trail went through the old mining village of Rausch Gap. There was nothing left but old roads and piles rocks where I guess houses once stood.

Rausch Gap Lean-to is set in the heart of the old mining area. It is definitely the fanciest lean-to on the trail. To enter, one must descend the from the road into a court yard. There is a fire place with a water pipe coming out the side. In the middle of the court yard is a big old tree with a table built around it. The lean-to itself is large and spacious with a skylight and a large bunk platform. The outhouse was built in the 1830's and brought here from an old farm. We stopped early to enjoy the lean-to, relax and catch up on our journals.

(21.1 Miles - 986.8 Total)