Saturday, June 2nd had been forecasted to be rainy. Heavy downpours and thunderstorms were predicted all week for Saturday. On Friday night, Cecily Tynan reported that the storms would likely hold off until after 5 p.m. They did. However, the humidity that would precipitate into the deluges to come was present all day. Add in the sun and it was one very soupy day. We were lucky to be in the woods for a good portion of the day but that only slightly diminished the effect of the conditions.
I chose to schedule the piece from Chantilly Lane to French Creek first - on Saturday - because it was longer (10-ish miles) and the elevation was higher. There is a section here that our trail running friends call Stegosaurus. Click here to remind yourself what this dinosaur looked like. No sooner do you get down the hill then you are going steeply up again. Many of the ups deceive the climber as it looks like you are done but nope around the bend it keeps up a little bit more. We kept each other occupied by remembering that our trail running friends RUN this portion in both directions in the same run. It was a challenge and we both felt pretty proud finishing it on this soupy, hot day.
I have finally managed (I hope) to get the straps on my back pack appropriately set. I had no shoulder or back issues after this hike. YAY! :) I was also pleased that I hydrated enough as well. We hiked for 5ish miles before stopping to refuel on a stone wall at a farm called Seventeen Acre Wood Farm. I had stopped at Wawa on the way to meet Sara and picked up a Sausage, Egg and Cheese Sizzli. I took it out of it's cardboard container and placed it in a sandwich Tupperware container in my back pack. At 'lunchtime' it was only warm but it still tasted as good and the combo of food in it the spot and held me over nicely to the end of our hike. With that in mind I'll have to create my own hiking sandwiches in the future.
On day 1 of this hike, the only humans we encountered were on bikes. We had to make way for a gaggle of geese crossing the road as we shuttled from end spot to start spot in the early AM. And we hiked right next to a bevy of bovines.
One of them looked like she was going to follow us along the fence-line. The path here was overgrown and extremely swampy. We both were literally sucked into the mud several times.
Day 2- Sunday - Charlestown Elementary School to Chantilly Lane.
Today we met at yesterday's starting point and drove back to Charlestown Elementary school. Part of the section is one we did with two others - Mike and Naomi - about 5 years ago. We were pleased to see that the HST conservancy folks have moved a lot of this portion off road now. About 3 of the 7 miles were on road but spread out enough that it wasn't annoying. I enjoy an urban hike but not in my hiking shoes.
This section is - relative to yesterday - flat. The rains came last night and with them brought a front that lowered the temps abut 25 degrees. There was a noticeable breeze the entire time and significantly less humidity. What a difference all that makes on the experience.
The deer that were likely hiding yesterday were everywhere today. No photos because they are too quick for me but we crossed paths with them many times throughout the day. We also saw a LOT of horses at Rainbows End Farm. I couldn't resist informing Sara that we were following the yellow blazed trail at the end of the rainbow.
Next up - 15 miles along the Appalachian Trail. The elevation will be more than yesterday but not as much as our longest day hike coming up.
Keep smiling and keep moving.
-Paula
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