Date: 2018-06-23
From: Port Clinton

To: Windsor Furnace Shelter
Miles today: 5.7
Weather: overcast clouds

DAY 109We didn't get up too early after a long day yesterday, and a late night last night. Fortunately check out time was 12 noon, and we ended up needing all of that time. We had a quick cup of tea and breakfast at the motels continental breakfast. After breakfast we decided to walk over to Cabela's to see if they could do anything with my air mattress. Even though you can see Cabela's from the motel it's quite a walk as you have to cross a busy highway and several other parking lots. We  arrived about 10 minutes before they opened and there were already 30 or so people waiting at the doors as we got there. When they opened we went upstairs to the camping department where I checked out the price of new air mattresses. Once I saw the price I decided that I better see if I can fix mine before I buy a new one. I approached two women working in the camping department, and asked if they could help me try to figure out where my mattress was leaking. They looked at me like I had two heads, saying they have no way of testing anything. When I asked if they had some water or something that I could try to find the leak they directed to me the bathroom, telling me I could get some water there. I just thanked them and moved on. I tried again with the greeter at the front of the store, asking if there was any way they might be able to test the mattress. When I told him I was looking for a tub or a pool of something to put the mattress in to test it, he suggested maybe the fishing pond out front. Frustrated, we left Cabela's and headed to Walmart to do a resupply, Walmart was within seeing distance, but it takes you about 15 minutes to walk there when you go through all the parking lots and connecting roads. With our resupply done we headed back to the motel to check out. We realized when we got back that we didn't have much time, so we quickly tried to get all of our gear together. Soon housekeeping was knocking on our door, and we told them just a minute and would be right out. We finished packing our resupply up in the lobby where a lot of other thru-hikers were watching the World Cup soccer match. Red Panda, Sherpa, Knotty Boy and Sourpatch were all there watching the game along with several other hikers, most of them were zeroing waiting on another hiker to celebrate his 30th birthday. We weren't sure how we were going to get back to the trail, but we heard Cabela's offers to shuttle hikers back, so we headed up again in that direction. We decided to stop at Red Robin for a burger before we headed out. At Cabela's a couple other hikers were waiting for the shuttle, and it seems they are having trouble finding the keys or even the vehicle that was supposed to be used for shuttles. Once they found the keys we did get shuttled back to the trailhead. Soon we were on our way. Of course our packs are heavy and we have a very steep up heading out of town. With full bellies, a steep uphill, and rainy, humid weather we went very slowly. We only went a few miles to the first shelter and decided to call it quits for the day. We were surprised to see Taylor and Murph, they're also camping. I did blow up my mattress and bring it down to the nearby stream to see if I could find the leak, I had no luck, and now my NeoAir is all wet. Later in the evening we heard a couple of day hikers come in and set up in the shelter. They made quite a commotion as they were setting up and preparing for the night. They say this is when Pennsylvania rocks really start, so we'll see what tomorrow brings.