Date: 2015-07-09
From: stealth site on the mounatin

To: View Entry
Miles today: 17.4

Rain started in the early morning and continued until about 7:30. I love the sound of rain on my tent, especially when it is not accompanied by lightning bolts. It is a soothing pitter pat and it always makes me feel grateful for my rock star tent. Because of the rain, we got a late start at 8am.Hiking with D.No and C.Shell again has revived me. I am excited again, I am having fun again. They are an interesting couple, and like the dynamics in so many successful long term partnerships, they are complete opposites. Both highly intelligent, but that is where their similarities end. D.No is a young retired pharmacist. He is the epitome of an extrovert. You never have to wonder what he is thinking or feeling because he expresses himself in a very animated and energetic manner. He gets his energy from interaction with people and talks to everyone we meet. He is constantly keeping us laughing with his mini inventions and consequences of those inventions - like duct tape leg braces which tear the hair off of his legs. He is knowledgable about plants and is constantly picking weird things on the trail and popping them in his mouth. Here- try this- he says- as he holds fiddle head ferns or wild carrots in his hand. He eats like no living being I have ever seen- a skinny guy with the appetite of the starting lineup of a professional football team. Food disappears into D.No and it is almost like a magic trick. He hangs our bear bags, he gets us moving in the morning, he keeps us laughing. And he adores his wife. C.Shell C.Shell is quiet and reserved but has a wit that is quick and so so funny. She is a very beautiful and feminine woman, everything about her is soft and fine; her steps, her voice, her movements. But she is also very athletic and tough as nails. Of all of us, she is the most disciplined and probably the strongest hiker. While D.No and I tend to alternately zoom and crawl, she keeps a steady pace and typically blows us out of the water by late afternoon, no matter how far ahead of her we get on the uphills. She plays straight man to D.Nos and my comedy, but often she gets the best and last joke in and has us rolling. She adores her daughters and her grandson. She is also an artist and a trail gear fixer. She has her hands full trying to keep D.No and I from chasing off to any possibility of a beer. And, I would say she is the most patient and calm person I have ever met. She reminds me of my husband in that way. Today, D.No was feeling great and he took off like a rocket. C.Shell and I hiked together most of the day. At one point the trail became a huge boulder field. We navigated it carefully trying very hard not to slip and fall. There were little flat areas of leaves to step on, but C.Shell discovered that they could conceal holes that fell through the rocks when that actually happened and her foot went through, so we avoided them. At the end of this challenge, we lost the trail. We scanned the area and realized that the trail went right next to that Boulder field in a less challenging but still rocky path. Oh well. We got back on the trail and hiked a muddy path that was overgrown with foliage. Time for a trim! Our shoes got sopping wet walking through that section, the plants wet from rain hitting and our feet.. We were getting hungry as the day went on and still had not caught D.No. He was on fire today! At a road crossing, we emerged next to a parking spot and heard someone call our names. It was Jane, the woman who is section hiking with her husband using their truck. We met them a couple of days ago and they gave us Gatorade. We chatted with her and she told us that their meeting with us had energized them to keep hiking. After a day of getting 8 miles lost, her husband was demoralized when we first saw them. Our meeting made a difference in their motivation. That made us feel great , and actually, we felt the same about meeting them. She gave us a Gatorade, an egg each and an orange. She had passed D.No and said he was just a little ahead of us. She also told us to call if we wanted to meet them at a bar only a few miles ahead later today. We hiked on and still could not find D.no for a few miles. We did pass a southbound day hiker and he urged us to get to town because a big storm was heading to the region. We finally found D.No and made the decision to call Jane and Dave and ask for a ride to Port Clinton. We were already planning to stay there on Friday, so we decided to go in early. So glad we did- the weather as terrible and a tornado touched down only a mile and a half from where we stayed. We went to the Port Clinton Hotel for a beer and food and then to the Microtel. Hanging out with Jane and Dave is fun! They have sold everything and are professional adventurers in their retirement. They are young, both retired military. And both incredibly fit from all of their hiking and biking. Their address is their RV. On the way to the hotel, we picked up a hiker named Ma'am,also headed to the Microtel. There were no rooms available so she bunked up with us. Ah, the hiker life. She treated us to beers and munchies in the restaurant. We mused that while young hikers make big miles and hike fast, older hikers can afford to hotel more. I will sleep inside during storms with no shame! We hve a slack pack tomorrow, and when we hike back in to town we will meet up with a trail angel for pizza, resupply, and a slack pack on Saturday. Excited about all of that, and looking forward to meeting someone who has been following my journal.