It did rain like hell and it was glorious being inside. Since we were able to get in more than 15 miles yesterday with such a late start, we didn’t feel terribly rushed getting going today since were only planning around 13 for today. Lazee, the caretaker, invited Bunny to sit on the porch when he saw her trying to take pictures of hummingbirds.
Climbing out from Eckville Shelter we ran across a local man, Andy, and his two dogs. Andy is retiring next year and he would like to hike the AT in 2 LASHes (2 Long Ass Section Hikes). When Andy meets thru-hikers, he asks questions of them to help him prepare for the hike. In return, we had a few questions for him—mainly, how does he keep his dogs from going after snakes? Answer, he doesn’t know how they will do so when we hear of snakes ahead, they turn back.
At least two different groups of hikers told us they had personally seen two rattlesnakes in the trail ahead. The second couple of guys (Massholes, I’m sure) were drying their tents in the sun on the rocks. They had tried on the next set of rocks ahead, but the two snakes started rattling as soon as they set their packs down. The rocks are only 50 yards ahead. I was excited, Bunny was apprehensive—together, we were disappointed and relieved when we couldn’t find them.
Water is a bit scarce along the ridge in PA. We knew this, so we check for water sources every morning before setting out and will carry more if we need to. Today, we had a “reliable” water source available at the shelter ahead where we were planning to stop for lunch. By the time we got to the shelter, I was out and Bunny was very low. The source for water was either a quarter mile side trip, or just 0.3 miles along the trail (same source). Rather than walk an extra half mile, we decided to hike forward. I dropped my pack at the other end of the trail and headed to the spring. It was disgusting and not flowing. I was pissed.
It was only another few miles to the Blue Mountain Summit B&B so we started hoofing it. I saw a man sitting in the trail at a table. I slowed down hoping it might be trail magic. Instead of magic, it was Harvey Lewis’ dad waiting for him to pass. Harvey has been on the trail for 24 days today in his quest to set a new speed record on the AT. I have mixed feelings about Harvey because I’m worried about how he will finish on Katahdin. I was very forceful about no celebrating on the mountain. I was thirsty, hot, and out of water so I might have been curt (instead of Curtis). If they had offered me water, I might have calmed down.
It was still 2 miles to Blue Mountain Summit B & B. Hiking nearer to the restaurant, we could hear live music ahead. The last thing we wanted was to be in a crowd so we headed inside for a table away from the noise (are we getting old if we consider live music to be noise?). Jackpot—we were the only people inside. We gorged ourselves in the cool quiet of the inside. The owner wasn’t real happy that we were alone but we could only overeat so much. I drank 6 glasses of iced tea, and no beer—more disappointment for the owner.
We considered staying at the B & B until we realized it no longer had rooms. That meant we had another 2 1/2 miles to go before we could set up camp. It was a dry camp, so we each carried extra water so we would have enough for breakfast. We were in a race with the clouds to make it to our spot before the rain started. No sooner did we roll into camp than so did the rain. We set up the tent quickly and Bunny crawled in. She stayed dry while I got soaked. It was only 7 when we were all set up and ready for bed.
EFG