Days 77-78

Day 77, 7/14/23

Kind of Outdoorsy Hostel to Rausch Gap Shelter

29.3 miles, mile 1,178.7

I truly cannot believe I made it 29.3 miles today. We got woken up around 5:45am because someone in the hostel decided to turn the light on when he woke up. I was not anticipating to actually hike 29 miles today so we decided to wait for the coffee place to open at 7am so I could get a latte, and then go across the street to get breakfast. Kev got french toast and I got an egg scramble with ham, peppers, onion, and potatoes. We finally started hiking around 8:15am and braved the big climb out of town. On the way up we saw our friend Flight Risk slackpacking south. We hadn’t seen him since before the Shenandoahs. Turns out he broke a bone in his foot and was hiking on it and the bone healed funky so he had to take some time off. He skipped the Shenandoahs and will finish his thru hike there after continuing to Maine. About 8 miles in there was some trail magic! I ate 2 bananas and drank a Powerade. It is always so appreciated to have some fruit and a cold drink. We got moving again and hiked another 10 miles to the next road where there was more trail magic! I drank a Coke and had 2 clementines. They were the sisters of another thru hiker who was a bit behind us. I was very thankful for the sugar and caffeine. At this point it was 4pm and we kind of decided to shoot for the shelter. Especially after a guy came down and said he saw the biggest black bears he had ever seen up the trail heading north. We figured it would be best to go to the shelter with other people instead of stealth camping alone, just in case. I was on the struggle bus for the last 4 miles. I like to stay in the 18-26 mile range and 29 was really tough for me. I don’t think I’ll be jumping to hike this many miles again, but I am proud I did it.

Day 78, 7/15/23

Rausch Gap Shelter to 501 Shelter

17.7 miles, mile 1,196.4

Today was rough. The rocks of Pennsylvania are really starting to get to me. It makes it difficult to move fast. It is also extremely hot, buggy, and both Kev and I got stung by bees. Early in the day there was an area that was flooded from bevers back in 2018. It resulted in a boggy area and when we got there a man was waist deep in the mud off the trail and his dog was struggling in the water. All of us helped get the dog out and then took his pack so he could get out. I don’t think he was a thru hiker, and we aren’t too sure he is taking great care of his pup.

We are also going to fall behind our friends Kicks, Tadpole, and All Star. We are in a weird spot where we either camp right before Port Clinton tomorrow, and the day after go into Port Clinton to resupply. Or, we push to Port Clinton tomorrow and get there late, try to find a ride to and from Walmart and hike in a couple miles and stealth camp. I have a feeling we will be camping before Port Clinton tomorrow. I would hate to have to possibly walk back to trail from Walmart late and find somewhere to camp. I’m definitely bummed about being behind our new friends but that’s how the trail goes. On the bright side, there were two trail magics back to back today! We got an apple and a comic about Jesus (mine was about how evolution isn’t real). He was an interesting guy. Then we continued on and got Gatorade at the second one, and he had postcards of the bridge we walked over to send to whoever we wanted! The rest of the hiking was uneventful and rocky. We are at the 501 shelter and some rain has come so we are sleeping inside with a lot of other hikers. This is earlier than we wanted to stop today, but that is okay. I hope I can sleep through the inevitable snoring that will take place tonight.