There was rain overnight and while our tent was on wood chips the rainfly and groundcover were wet. We packed those separately counting on being able to put them out to dry at the end of the day.
We left our car at Swatara Gap and went with Jerry to the start there the AT crosses Rt. 183. The trail started in a meadow and then went into the woods staying level for about 3 miles of easy hiking. During this time the narrow dirt trail was running parallel to a rockier swale with a carpet of ferns under the trees. Jerry, the Rabbit who bounds ahead, was sitting under a tree waiting for us. When he and Klaus, trail name Sweeper, continued walking, Gale heard a prolonged rattle! She froze and looked beside the trail. There in the low scrub was an Eastern Timber Rattlesnake. It had been very close to where Jerry was sitting. We waited for it to calm down before Gale moved past it.
A little further on we met Grasshopper (a long distance hiker we had met the first morning) coming north. This was the third time in as many days that we had seen him and today we had a longer conversation learning that he had lost 40 pounds since he started at Springer Mountain, GA on April 7. He said his biggest concern was to take his time on the rocks since it was easy to have an injury.
The only serious elevation change we had was going in and out of Schubert’s Gap. At the bottom there was one tenter and a small creek. Everything was very idyllic until a hiker came up from a blue blaze trail with a barking dog. We continued on finding the white blazes after an initial error. We noted the sign for Showers Steps on a crossing blue blaze trail – 500 steps down to a spring. We did not need water and certainly were not eager for a steep downhill despite rough stone steps to make it easier.
We had lunch at the 501 Shelter with a caretaker residence next door. This was a very nice set-up with a shelter with bunk beds, hinged windows, skylight, table and chairs. A solar shower as well as a water faucet, a very clean porta potty with toilet paper supplied are located nearby. There is pizza delivery available for thru hikers on certain days of the week. We ate our lunch at the picnic table.
Jerry, our Rabbit, stayed in the lead each day. About 30 minutes after lunch Jerry stopped at a viewpoint about 40 yards off the trail to wait for us. We skipped that viewpoint and kept going. At that point Jerry decided to have some fun and play cat and mouse. He slipped in behind Klaus to see how long it would take for us to realize he was behind us. After a mile of following us, by his account sometimes closing to 15’, he decided it was time for a heart check and let out a roar. He was lucky we didn’t swing around with out trekking poles and stab him because it certainly was a blood curling roar. Once our hearts recovered from the shock we had a good laugh and continued.
By now the rocks on the trail increased and we came to several areas of rock piles. We met Musher (another thru hiker) for the second time. He had bought new shoes and told us the rest of the trail was flat. His two hiking buddies were still behind him. He got his name because he was always urging them to keep moving. The trail continued with lots of rocks – some sections of little rocks and some areas of very large rocks. We then met Captain Red Beard and three other young guys who were all headed for the 501 shelter. We told them it was going to be a crowded shelter but they didn’t seem concerned because they said they could camp near there if needed. It also turned out that Musher’s idea of a level trail to Swatara Gap did not mesh with our experience which included more ups and downs. By the time we reached the iron bridge at Swatara Creek at 6:30 pm we were all tired.
We had dinner at Subway and then continued on to Paul Fabian’s log cabin. Paul is our former neighbor and had asked us a decade earlier to come up and spend some time with him at his log cabin house north of Port Clinton. We had one wrong turn on the last road direction but Klaus figured it out and we arrived about 8:00 pm. He gave us a tour of his yard, garden, and woods as the sun was setting. Then we toured the log cabin which is beautifully designed and decorated with numerous hunting trophies as well as two black bear skins. We talked about the next day’s arrangements since Paul would be shuttling us to the trailheads. Paul said we could spread out our wet tents on this long porch railing which was able to accommodate everything for a good airing. After that we had a shower. Jerry had his own room and we had another with a double bed. Sleep came right away!
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