Near Horse-Shoe Trail to Hertlein Campsite---May 27th

A good fast trail until the 501 Shelter.  After that, I understood how Pennsylvania had earned the nickname Rocksylvania as the stony ground battered, bruised and beat the soles of my feet.
I passed two locals early in the morning who told me that last night's storm was the most violent they'd seen in these parts in the past thirty years.  Down in town, the power had been out for five hours before finally being restored.  In some outlying areas, residents were still waiting for the electricity to come back on.  Due to the heavy rain, the trail was inundated with collected and running water.  Just look at the photo.  Combined with the wet rocks, hiking was a bit treacherous.  Flat up on the ridgeline, it was great when the rocks disappeared.
Passed a bubble of thru-hikers, one of whom likes to take dumps in open places along the trail like fire rings.  Considers himself quite the funny man for doing so.  Wonder if he's the one that laid a crap just off the porch of Cove Mountain Shelter.  Whatever he considers himself to be, I think he's a total asshole.  If I ever caught him bent over with his pants down, I'd shove my size 10 running shoes so far up his butt he'd find it nigh impossible for him to take another turd in his life.  Where do people like him come from anyway?
When I arrived at Hertlein Campsite, the place had been taken over by a couple of guys who'd obviously hiked in from the nearest trailhead.  They had a couple of huge walk-in tents around the picnic table, enough beer and hard liquor cooling in the stream to keep them in a drunken stupor all weekend and cheap cigarillos hanging from their lips.  One whiff of that noxious smoke would leave me nauseous.  A great divide between our views of what it meant to enjoy the great outdoors.  Could only hope that they'd be courteous enough to pack out what they'd packed in. 
I set up my tent on the opposite side of a small stream, creating some distance between me and them.  I was hoping my tent would dry out, but wasn't to sure of that prospect given the dark color of the sky.  Will it rain yet again?

Walking in Water