Rausch Gap

May 1-2, 2025

Rausch Gap shelter

Mile 1179.2

Rausch Gap, the next shelter, is about 18 miles beyond Peters Mountain; I wasn’t yet ready to do that kind of mileage, especially coming off the embankment fall of the day before. An easy goal to shoot for would be the reservoir at Clark’s Valley Road, about 7 miles out; beyond that, there were more than a few options for campsites. I told myself I’d take it easy. 

Goodbye to all that

The scrapes on my hands and bruises on my legs were making themselves felt a bit, but overall my pace stayed the same. As had been the case for the last stretch of trail since Duncannon, water sources on the ridge were scarce, with side trails to springs that involved steep extra mileage. So when I ran across a flowing spring with a smooth campsite just before Clark’s Valley, I abruptly decided to make camp and stop for the day. It was fairly early, and I was alone for the first time in quite a while. The 12 miles to Rausch seemed eminently  doable the next day, so I took my time with my routines, and focused on loafing.

As it turned out, the reservoir was just downhill and along the road from where I’d camped, and though it also had some campsites nearby, I figured my own spot the night before was a quieter and more peaceful one. No regrets there, then. 

Once I got back up to the ridge, the miles came a bit more easily, at least at first. By the time I hit the Rausch Gap area, my feet were sore, and I had to go to the bathroom. I was so close to the shelter that it seemed a waste (no pun intended) to dig a hole—and besides, there were not a lot of places on the ridge that were both out of visual range and far enough away from the stream that served the Gap. So I was mighty happy indeed to see the sign for the shelter spur when I came upon it.

Oh, sweet mystery of life, at last I’ve found you

I was the only one there for a short time, but eventually joined by two section hikers, and then by a thru hiker, trail name Dutch, with his friend Click. To my great surprise, Jim, whom I’d first met at the Bears’ Den down in Virginia, showed up shortly thereafter. Jim had been going south, but decided to flip north to avoid the glut of hikers coming up in ‘the bubble’—the largest cluster of hikers every year that starts in GA in March and defines the high point of the AT season. Sometime during the night, while I slept, another thru hiker, trail mane Bridges, came in; to avoid waking us, he set up under the roof overhang on the stone floor in front of the shelter. (Unfortunately, that meant I almost stepped on him when I got up in the middle of the night.)

It was the most packed shelter I’d ever slept in, but for good reason: the rain came down pretty hard that night. Thankfully, it was only a bit drippy the next morning—light scattered showers. Dutch and Click were headed to Click’s car since he’d be ending his section that day, but most everyone else planned to stop at a resupply/hiker rest place just off the trail at Swatara Gap. We said our farewells lightly, with the expectation that we’d catch each other later.