Date: 2014-09-04
From: Eckville shelter

To: Port Clinton, PA
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: clear sky

The next day everyone set out for Port Clinton and since everyone needed to resupply we all planned to stop there. Port Clinton itself has no resupply options, but nearby Hamburg is a descent size and has most everything you could need. No one was going to stay in Hamburg though due to lack of affordable sleeping options. The plan was to stay in the town park in Port Clinton for free after hitting the grocery store and outfitters in Hamburg. Stack left another note for Thor at Eckville letting him known where we would be.Latin and I hiked together and took a blue blaze trail after leaving Eckville. I was concerned about going so slow that I wouldn't have enough time to get to town to resupply. The route we took cut off a little less than five miles. Now I know that some people are purists and see this as blasphemy. I'm not a purist though. I don't need to pass every single white blaze to consider myself a thru-hiker or having hiked the entire AT. There are enough extra miles that we hike, such as the extra 0.6 to Stempa spring or the 0.2 to Eckville, to make up for it. In the end I will have hiked far more than 2185.3 miles so don't feel guilty about blue blazing as long as I'm still hiking the miles and not getting a ride. Chicken Fat, Knives and Unplugged did hike the whole thing and got to town the same time as Latin and I did. That told me that I made the right call because those boys are so fast. If I hadn't blue blazed it would have been early evening before I got to town. Instead we got to town in the early afternoon. Latin had decided while we were hiking to get a hotel room at the Port Clinton Hotel rather than sleep in the town park. He offered to let me share the room with him. A chance to take a shower is not something to be missed so I accepted with the understanding that he wasn't expecting anything in return. Stack ended up getting a room too but the other fellas stayed in the park. After checking in we found a local trail angel to drive us to Hamburg. I hit up the local Cabella's but their camping section is kind of a joke so didn't get much. Cabella's is a huge store with lots of items for sale, but they stock for people who are car camping not backcountry. My sole purchase was some MSR tablets to purify water. I really prefer AquaMira drops, but Cabella's didn't carry that. Latin and I then walked over to the Five Guys for a late lunch. I should have gone to eat somewhere with a huge salad bar to fill up on leafy greens and vitamin rich vegetables. Instead I got an enormous hamburger loaded with just about every topping they offer, a ridiculous amount of fries drenched in ketchup, and two very large sodas from their cool flavor machines. Thoroughly satiated we went to Walmart for groceries. It is always a good idea to eat before going grocery shopping to make sure you don't overbuy on impulse and then end up with way too much food to carry or stuff that doesn't really go together as meals. Then it was back to the hotel room to repackage food, shower, and do hobo laundry in the sink.Latin, Stack and I went in search of the firefighters social club. We had heard about this place from other hikers and just had to see if the rumors were true. The social club is attached to the local fire station and is a private club. A member has to sign you in to be allowed entrance. The local who signed us in let us know that he also had the right to throw us out if we step out of line. The great thing about this place is that you can drink for ridiculously cheap. Draft pints were $1.25 and shots were $1.00. Perfect for a hiker on a budget! Many hikers told tales of getting so sauced they couldn't hike out the next day because they were too hung over. We all agreed that we were heading out in the morning though so limited ourselves to just a few beers and games of pool before heading back to the hotel. Thor finally turned up, a great relief to me. His shoes had blown out which is why he had never made it to Bake Oven Knob several nights ago. Instead he had hiked back out to a road in his Crocs and made it into Palmerton where he found a trail angel who shuttled him up to Port Clinton. I was really happy to see father and son reunited again and slept a lot easier knowing Thor was safe and sound rather than hurt and injured alone on the trail. There was only one single bed in the hotel room. Gentleman that he is, Latin let me have the bed, even though he was the one who paid for the room. He said that the bed was too soft for him and sleeping on the floor would be better for his back. I suspect that is a load of malarkey but was still thankful for his kindness. We packed up everything we could the night before and set multiple alarms. Tomorrow was a big mileage goal for me. Setting an alarm is not something I normally do. If I was going to even have a chance of making it though I knew that I would need to get a good night's rest and be out hiking early in the morning.