Date: 2009-06-25
From: Port Clinton

To: Eckville Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: broken clouds

We had planned to get up extra early, get in another good breakfast, and still hit the trail by a reasonable morning hour. Before last night, I had been thinking about hiking with these guys for the next couple of days. Now, all plans were off. No one arose early. I no longer even wanted to go to breakfast with them. I felt so uncomfortable and disturbed. I wondered (wanted, expected) Gaspard to apologize to me, but he had no intentions of doing so. Instead, I had to try to pretend that everything was normal- that nothing had happened. I couldn't very well say something in front of Tinman, as I didn't know if he knew what had happened. I wanted to run away and be my myself again. If I couldn't be with my real friends (who were far ahead of me), it was much better for me to be by myself. Why do people have to act this way? These guys came across as friendly, seemingly pretty aware people, at first, but it didn't take long to discover their ulterior motives. So disappointing!   The long walk to the breakfast place was extremely uncomfortable for me. I wished I didn't have to go (I didn't have to- but a real breakfast makes hiking easier). When we were finished eating, Kog walked in. I was relieved to see him!   We walked back to the hotel, now after 8:30, finished packing, and I figured that since it was already so late, I might as well stop in at the outfitters to see if they had gotten anymore denatured alcohol in. The minutes ticked by as a crowd of hikers gathered outside the door, in the now already hot sun. So much for the early start. Meanwhile, Gaspard and Tinman walked past on the way to the trail. I was glad they were not going to wait for me. The outfitters were supposed to open at 9am, but at 10 after 9, the door was still locked. Finally, the owner drove up with slackpackers in tow. I waited for her to unlock the door and get settled before asking if any alcohol had come in. She told me (in an irritated manner) that nothing had come in- it was too early. I put on my pack and headed toward the trail with enough fuel for only one meal. I wasn't the happiest camper... Later other people would tell me how bad they thought that outfitter was. They didn't even sell shoes! I wished there were some REIs along the trail. These small outfitters were not providing us with what we needed to hike the trail!    After I returned to the trail proper, approximately 50 yards in, I saw a red tin with a Santa image on it, sitting on the ground under a tree! Trail magic! The note said that it was Christmas in July- provided by a "thru-hiker's mom." I opened it up to find home-made chocolate chip cookies! How wonderful! I don't know whose mom provided these, but I am very thankful to her! The trail is usually crowded on the first stretch after a town, and today was no exception. I soon came across several hikers taking a break at a stream, including Gaspard, who was smoking, and Tinman. The twins were taking a snack break, and I asked them if they had any extra denatured alcohol to spare, noticing their fuel bottles in their side pockets. They looked at one another and agreed to each give me a little of each of theirs. Thank you so much, girls! This relieved my worry about how I was going to eat over the next 4 days. I stopped at the first shelter for a quick break. Minnesota IPA and Pusher were already there and about to take off. Later, Kog came in, on his first day back on the trail after being diagnosed with Lyme's. On my way out, I passed by Ewok and Joker who were looking for the reservoir to go for a swim.   I walked alone for awhile and as I neared Pulpit Rock, I heard voices. They belonged to Fly-By (who I had just met at breakfast), and a group of day hikers. The leader of this group clearly knew a lot about this area, mentioning a hawk sanctuary that was a half mile off the trail, and caves near the Pinnacle. I wanted to see both of these sights, and hoped I wouldn't miss them!I tried to keep relatively close to the dayhikers, so as not to miss the caves. Kog and Porkchop both passed me. I had to stop to eat a power bar. I have to stop a lot to adjust my pack, which causes me pain about every half hour or so, and snack, whereas the guys seem to just keep going without any breaks. I finally reached the Pinnacle to find the day-hikers on the rocks, Fly-by relaxing against a tree, and Kog strumming his guitar. I found my own space and ate some tuna for lunch. When the day-hikers were ready to go to the caves, Fly-by and I went along with them. If they weren't there at the same time that I was, I would have never even known about them. I felt lucky! We had to climb down some steep rock faces to get to the cave, and then we entered the wet cavern, one by one. I did not bring my headlamp, but the group lent me a flashlight when it was my turn to go in. It was pretty cool.    Back on the rocks of the Pinnacle, I noticed Fly-by's bracelets, and commented on them. I had been wanting some jewelry of my own for quite sometime. He told me they were friendship bracelets made out of bear bag rope and asked me for mine. I told him I didn't have any rope, as I had an URsack (earlier, he had asked if my bearbag was from Pottery Barn!). Then he asked if I had any rope at all. I said the only rope I had was on my hammock. He said that would work. As Ewok and a few others rolled in, Fly-by got out his bear rope, and cut a piece to fit my wrist. Ewok did the same. He wanted to put his rope on me first, as he was the first "friend" to many other hikers. All of a sudden, I had two new bracelets. I was so happy! My day was turning around!   I left the group in a much better mood and headed back to the trail. Fly-by eventually passed me, bopping along to his ipod, asking if I had seen the spring. I told him I hadn't. Soon enough, however, I heard it, and looked up to see the sign pointing to it downhill. Fly-by sped on by it, oblivious to its presence, as he was immersed in his music. Oh, Fly-by...   I collected and steripenned some water as Ewok, Bee fight, and Joker came along and went down the hill to retrieve their water. Then I looked up to see a familiar face walking toward me! Could it be? "Sir Richard!" This day was getting better and better! I hadn't seen Richard since Erwin! I got wind that he had gotten behind me after taking a lot of time off in Harper's Ferry to visit with his girlfriend. He seemed happy to see me, as well, and said "Give me a hug." We chatted for a few minutes and after he collected some water, we hiked together for awhile. It was so nice to see him again!    We planned to stay at the Eckville Shelter, but ended up continuing on right past it, as we didn't realize it was on the road! No other shelter had been on a road. I alerted Sir Richard to our potential mistake and asked if he wanted to go back. Unsure whether it still might be ahead in the woods, we continued on for awhile. We were both tiring and when we came to a swampy area, knowing we were definitely well past the shelter, Sir Richard decided he was going to turn around and go back to the road. The area was mosquito- infested and there was no place to set up his tent. I said I would go back, as well. He took the lead and we quietly retraced our steps (never a good feeling). Upon reaching the road, a car slowed and stopped. We didn't know what it was doing. We wished it would just drive on. It turned out to be a family of three adults, who were excited to come across some thru-hikers. They asked us a bunch of questions, including what wildlife we had seen, and asked us if we needed anything. We both said, "no", as we were almost at our destination. However, after they left, Richard said they he wished for a coke, but didn't want to put them out of their way.   The shelter was a hot, bug-infested garage-like space on the care-taker's property. The care-taker was a little rough around the edges, and seemed tired of dealing with thru-hikers who did not respect his rules. Fly-by, Kog, and a few others were sitting at the picnic table having dinner, and I decided to join them before setting up my shelter. Fly-by made me cut off a piece of my hammock line to make his bracelet in exchange for the one he gave me. The hammock line was stronger than any bear rope and once fused, was "never coming off", according to Fly-By. Kog was complaining about having almost no food left. I offered him some of mine, but he wouldn't accept. The caretaker shouted out that he was going to the general store and asked if anyone needed anything. I ran to get Sir Richard. Now was his chance to get his soda! I then looked for a place to set up my hammock. There was a nice field for tenting, but only two trees next to a bush that seemed to suit my hammock set-up. I made it work. The couple from the Port Clinton bar had set up their tent to the right of my hammock. The woman asked me if I wanted any of her extra food. I said I was all set, but that I knew someone who could really use it. She gathered some power bars, mac and cheese, and tuna for me to take to Kog, who was the only person to have chosen to sleep in the shelter. "Knock, knock. I have a gift for you!" He was thrilled! I told him I didn't think it was smart to run out of food, especially given that he was recovering from Lyme's.   The couple next to me had their radio on, and this was the night we found out that Michael Jackson had died. A thunderstorm was predicted for midnight, but all remained calm.