After Ron and I returned to the shelter area from Walat's, we were greeted by another hiker who was just planning to stay for the night. He didn't seem overly prepared with most of his gear hanging out from his pack and a handgun tucked into his backpack strap. He was nice enough and eventually we heard him pumping the water pump at the shelter area which we knew was going to be a chore. At some point we ended up helping him get water after about 60 pumps. We met the park ranger (Barby) who came around to check reservations and she spent some time talking with us in general about the job and working a part-time job at a local PD, family and the fact that she graduated a year before Ron from slippery rock. She was very nice to spend a few minutes with us answering questions about the trail and maintenance & tomorrow's forecasted stormy weather. We could tell the humidity was building and the bugs were getting active so we decided to make fire to keep the bugs at bay with the smoke. It was a rough night sleep with the heat and we had a 16 mile day ahead of us - maybe that weighed too heavy on us. We started off at 5 AM and were on the trail by about 5:45. This section of trail was very scenic and you have the opportunity for some nice overlooks and rock formations as you go through beam rocks. Beam Rocks is a cluster of 70 foot tall climbing rock that some of the local climbers use ropes and equipment to climb. There were several different patches of these types rocks as part of the trail which makes it interesting. We had a few climbs to make on this trail what seemed one after another. We made it to the turnpike bridge took a few photos and grabbed a bite for lunch and processed some additional water to make the last seven or 8 miles. By about noon we could start to hear thunder and by 1230 we had a constant downpour the last a few hours as we needed to make it to Route 31. The blisters on my feet became more excessive on my left foot pinky toe second toe and back of heal all were becoming more challenging on this section of trail. Felt like a snails pace up until about the last 2 miles and I was able to find some motivation & knock these last few sloppy miles quickly.
Today was probably one of the more challenging experiences for me. Not having hiked any more than 12 miles on any particular trail (aside from day one of course) this is the longest I have ever hiked. My feet reminded me of that throughout today. I enjoyed the section probably the most of all three that we did on this trip for the views in the varied terrain. I will probably do this section of trail again sometime in the future. Probably after all the bandages and ointments wear off :)
After we were done Ron and I drove my car that was parked at the route 31 parking area up to Johnstown into the trailhead at Seward. Fortunately when we arrived no damage to the car and no break in. The storm was quickly approaching the trailhead and we parted ways. This was a great trip and it was good to finish what we started back in September and knock out the last 40 miles this weekend.
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