Date: 2005-06-30
From: 501 shelter

To: Eagles Nest Shelter
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: light rain

With the exception of having to get up a couple of times during the night for a potty run, I slept great last night! The steady drum of rain on the tin roof lulled me right to sleep. We slept in a bit this morning and took it slow as we got packed up to leave. We figured that we owed ourselves at least that after our big mile day yesterday.Redwing and Hopeful talked of doing 24 today and although it sounded like a bit much we didn't rule it out at first. However, after taking a look at Bug's feet, we knew we wouldn't be going all the way into Port Clinton tonight. From the top of his pinky toe, halfway down his foot and across the ball was black. I thought at first that it was just dirt, but apparently not since Bug took a solar shower this morning and tried to scrub them down and it changed nothing.They look bad, but Bug says although they feel bruised, they don't hurt any worse than they normally do. Just as we were packing our things and putting on our shoes, in walks a group of teachers. They were all in a CE class on environmental studies and out on a fieldtrip. The teacher, upon finding out that we were thru-hikers, asked if they could ask us a few questions. For the next 30 minutes to an hour, Fig and Just Visiting and Bug and I answered questions regarding the trail, wildlife, and the hike itself. We all had the greatest time talking with these folks and sharing our experiences, and in all honesty could have stayed all day talking to them. They didn't have all that much time though since they were on their way to Centralia, PA. Centralia has an interesting story in and of itself. I don't have time to go into, nor do I know all the details, but basically it was a coal mining town, the mines caught fire about 50 years ago and have been burning ever since. ! They tried for years to figure out ways to snuff out the fire but finally gave up. It is estimated that the mines will continue burning for the next 50 years.As the class left, they gave us trail goodies. How wonderful! We got cookies, combos, fruit gummies and all other kinds of great things. We did finally motivate ourselves to get going and headed out around 11. The trail was pretty rocky this morning and we were glad to take a break about 5 miles in to the Hertlein Campsite. Here, we took our lunch and visited with friends, Fig, Just Visiting, and Green Kitty.This was their stop for the day and they were trying to convince us to stay. It was tempting, but we felt it necessary to do a few more miles. Bug and I continued on to Eagles Nest Shelter. There isn't much to say about the afternoon. The rocks have come out with a vengeance, and these days we simply put our heads down and walk until it is over. We stopped for a brief time to eat a snack, but other than that it was uneventful. At the turnoff for the shelter, we found a note that Redwing and Hopeful left. They let us know that they were hiking the 24 miles into Port Clinton. We wish them the best, but between 29 yesterday and the nonstop rocks, our feet refuse to let us go that far today.The shelter was another .3 mile off trail, but we didn't care. The water here is a puddle, but we have plenty that we carried in. We met Mudpumpkin and Stats here this evening. The shelter itself isn't so bad, but it is awfully dark inside and from what I heard the privy just needs to be destroyed. We are tenting up the way, and probably about to go crawl in since the bugs are about to eat me alive. Goodnight!