Date: 2015-06-19
From: William Penn Shelter

To: stealth camping at Hertline
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: overcast clouds

I was hoping to make it to the Port Clinton post office before it closed at 11 on Saturday, 6/20, but it soon became clear it was just too many miles and I just did not have enough juice or daylight to get the job done safely. I even considered calling for a shuttle to pick me up and drop me off at a cross road, but it was going to be $90 round trip. Too much! I had plenty of food, so I changed my plans, and decided to arrive on Sunday, stay over in Port Clinton, and stop by the post office Monday. I also wanted to be on the trail for at least a little while on Sunday, the 1st day of summer and naked hiking day. I planned to count the "willies". I figured the women are too smart to hike naked - at least this one is.We thru hikers downstairs considerately and quietly left. We never saw the 3 young boys who were still sleeping upstairs.Initially the trail was WONDERFUL. It was a smooth old dirt road, with lush ferns and an occassional turtle with beautifully patterned orange shells. I unintentionally also spooked a large hen turkey with at least a dozen young. The small birds flew off into the trees. The mother hen, who was the size of a sandhill crane, strutted away from me and into the woods, never taking flight. As I checked out the view at Fisher Lookout I could hear the young birds calling out to their mother. I felt terrible for disturbing them.I stopped briefly at the 501 shelter and checked out the shower. I did not take a shower because I had no clean clothes to put on and I would soon be in Port Clinton. I ate lunch from my pack to lessen the weight. Other hikers ordered greasy pizza, which was delivered to a nearby road crossing - remember the lesson I learned about greasy pizza?The good trail conditions did not last long. I continued on but decided to call it an early day when I reached the campsite just south of the creek at Hertline. A nice young woman named Super Moon likewise decided to camp there. When I said I was Winston, she immediately said she heard all about how I made the young hikers at the last shelter clean up their mess and follow the rules. (Immediately I thought oh great, I am going to be known as the crazy old lady who thought she was the shelter police.) But Super Moon assured me that the other thru hikers were really glad I spoke up and took care of the situation. Then the 2 hikers who came to the shelter late and soaking wet came through. Likewise they had heard about Winston getting after the boys at the previous shelter, and it was all positive. They also told me about their experience with them. And they told me about other instances where non-thru hikers have taken over shelters and have been less than considerate to other hikers.Thru hikers are often referred to, and frequently call themselves, hiker trash.   I have decided to call the folks who fail to follow LNT and just common trail etiquette "Trail Brats." I went to sleep cozy in my little tent listening to the water in the babbling brook. No Trail Brats for miles.The AT is calling. Sometimes it is good to be alone, out of the shelters and away from other people.