.October 15, 2005
I had to admit I was a little nervous on the way to the trailhead today. There were a lot of trucks parked on the side of the road with hunters getting out. It was hunting season, and this section of the A.T. went through a lot of state game lands. I wasn't wearing any orange and getting shot was not on my list of things to do. Lynn would fix this problem for the next two days. She went out and bought some orange flags to tie to my pack. But for today, I had to go without it.
After a climb with an elevation gain of 1100 feet up to Stony Mountain, the trail goes through a very small gap and enters Sharp Mountain. This mountain had a very long gradual descent. I actually prefer this in a mountain. I like steep climbs going up but gradual descents coming down. There were some sections of trail today that were smooth like the picture below.
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This area used to have a lot of coal mines. I found this big pile of coal that had probably been there for years.
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I bypassed the Rausch Gap shelter today. I was running a little behind schedule for meeting Lynn and it was off the trail. Rausch Gap was nice to hike through. A section of the trail follows an old railroad bed with crushed gravel.
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There was a sign stating that I was in the Village of Rausch Gap. There was actually a town here of 1000+ people at its peak. There was very little evidence that remained. Without this sign, I never would have known there had been a town here. I crossed a small stone arched bridge and got off the trail to take a picture of it.
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A couple of days earlier when Lynn and I were driving along side the Susquehanna River, we went passed the longest stone arch bridge in the world. I later joked with Lynn telling her that I found the shortest stone arch bridge in the world.
I made my way up Second Mountain and down the otherside where I came out of the woods.
I noticed the weather was finally starting to break. There was some blue in the sky for the first time in a week.
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I was getting close to Swatara Gap when the trail went under Route 443. It was a reminder to me that while looking for intersections of the A.T. and roads, the trail may not always be visible from the road.
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I met Lynn at Swatara Gap where she took my picture by this footbridge.
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