Date: 2023-06-05
To: Hamburg, PA
Miles today: 6.0

Pretty cold last night, probably made worse that my stuff was damp. The hammock, sleeping quilt, clothes and me all stink to high heaven. I got up after an hour and washed off with a little soap and water just so I could sleep.Looking things over I had three options. I could keep hiking up the service road and hope to finally find the AT. I could take a blue blazed side trail that is supposed to intersect the AT and find it that way. Or I could turn around and go back to the highway, hoping to find the right route this time.I decided to walk back to PA 183, then head south to the interstate about 3 miles away, then try to get a ride into Hamburg or Port Clinton where I can resupply and get a hotel. I was done with that stretch of Trail.I get packed up and 5 minutes after I start walking four Forest Service guys come along in a pickup truck and give me a ride back to PA 183. I can't believe how far I walked it must have been five or six miles. I hike down to the interstate and there's a strange gas station/ sheepskin store. Like a convenience store crossed with a Wilsons or Sheplers. I end up having a couple cups of coffee with the old ladies who run the place and got my phone charged up.I had no luck getting a ride in the Hamburg but with my phone charged I could see there was a state road that ran parallel to the interstate to Hamburg, about 10 miles. I walk about 3 miles and in the middle of nowhere where it has no right to be is a coin-operated laundromat. There's nobody there. I get quarters and detergent and wash all my clothes. At my last stop, I bought a cheap pair of shorts and a shirt so I have something to wear while I wash my dirty stuff. While I'm waiting for my clothes to dry, this old guy comes in to wash his whites. He sees my pack and starts asking questions and I tell him what I'm doing and where I'm headed. I get all finished up, I'm getting ready to go and he offers me a ride. Awesome. He takes me to Hamburg then up to Port Clinton, shows me around, then back to Hamburg and he drops me off at the hotel.Bad news though, the hotel has no vacancies and this is the only hotel open in Port Clinton or Hamburg. But the girl says check back after 3:00 maybe they'll have a cancellation. So I walk next door to the Cracker Barrel where I wolf down a roast beef dinner. I was so hungry only shame could keep me from ordering a second one.I get over to Walmart and replenish my supplies. There's a Cabela's here that runs a shuttle up to Port Clinton for hikers, I think the last one leaves at 5 pm. I can't get anybody at the hotel on the phone but I have just enough time to walk back down there and check. If they don't have anything, I'll have to walk over to the Cabela's, catch the shuttle, camp in Port Clinton tonight and then two more days before I get a chance for a shower. Hallelujah, they have one room and I get it. I don't even care what the rate is. I get a shower, clean up all my gear, repack everything and go out for a burger. I get a bunch of phone calls and other business done. The shuttle out of Cabela's leaves at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow so I'll get up, eat breakfast at Cracker Barrel and be back on the trail by 10:30, more or less on schedule.Strictly speaking, I'll bypass about 14 miles of trail. But I probably wandered around for six or seven miles last night trying to find blazes that weren't there and I had to walk another five or six miles before I got a ride to Hamburg. So I'm not going to feel too bad about it. I will have missed Jukebox in Port Clinton, which is disappointing as I rather liked her.Saw four more deer before the forest guys picked me up this morning. Man, they were thick back there.