Date: 2003-08-12
From: Union House Bed & Breakfast, Port Clinton, PA

To: Eckville Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: light rain

An early start this morning. I woke up and realized that I was the ONLY person in this whole building last night. Somewhat disconcerting ¢ what if something had gone wrong? No one told me what to do if it did. I checked in here in a rosy glow, glossing over the shortcomings of the service; now it¢s all leaving a bad taste in my mouth.Jenn warned me last night that the lady who does breakfast likes to be done by nine, so I had to be packed and ready to check out by then! The ONLY PHONE IN TOWN, however, is located in the hotel (which is closed Mondays), and that doesn¢t open until 11¢¦ This is a very frustrating feeling. When I asked the breakfast lady if there was anywhere in town I could make a phone call, she let me use theirs for fifty cents a call ¢ even though I was using a calling card. She said, ¢We stopped letting hikers use the phone because they stay on so long.¢ Then she hovered over me until I finished the most important two I needed to make.So after a hurried breakfast with very little atmosphere and even less customer service I preceded Kathy (the breakfast lady) out the door of the building and she locked it behind me. I stopped at the PO and sent my bounce box, then sort of wandered around trying to decide what to do.I walked down to ¢the Pavilion¢, a covered picnic-type area designated for hikers to stay in. There¢s a register and hiker box in there, outhouses across the street, but no shower. If you do stay in Port Clinton, this would be the place to stay ¢ as long as you don¢t need a shower or laundry! I browsed around and finally settled down and wrote for awhile.At eleven I went to the hotel and made all my phone calls, arranging a stay for tomorrow night with a friend¢s parents that live near Lehigh Gap. I¢m looking forward to that.A final browse through the outfitters (nope, don¢t need anything) and I left town about 12:30pm.I pushed this afternoon ¢ except for a break at the Pinnacle ¢ because a faithful reader, new friend, and Trail Angel, Dusty, is bringing me some food at Eckville Shelter tonight! He described a sandwich from his favorite sandwich place ¢ I¢ve been thinking about that all afternoon.At Pulpit Rock some other hikers pointed out three copperheads curled up in a big crack in the rock. I probably wouldn¢t have seen them otherwise. At the Pinnacle ¢ a beautiful and peaceful overlook ¢ I laid down on the rocks for awhile. The view was therapeutic and again I felt overwhelmed and glad to be out here. It¢s pretty awesome. A part of me will always be bummed I didn¢t do the whole Trail like I set out to, but what I¢ve done has still been the adventure of a lifetime. A great learning experience, too.When I sat up, I looked over to my left and discovered two more copperheads were intertwined with each other down in the crack about a foot and a half from me. Five in one day, after not seeing any! It¢s kind of a pretty snake, brown & tan, in almost a leopard-type print, and, as could be expected, a copper head! These were very docile, just lying there, so I didn¢t get too worried.Soon enough I headed back out to the Trail and pushed on to the shelter, eager to meet this new friend in person. Little did I know there were three other surprises awaiting me there as well!I fell in love with Cephas, Smoky, & NanoWolf almost immediately. Three adorable, goofy guys, SOBOs (unfortunately for me!), from North Carolina. They¢ve been together for almost the entire trip from Katahdin. Call themselves ¢Team Sphincter.¢ Once in awhile you meet people out here that click instantly ¢ these were a click. And I think it was mutual, although I felt obnoxiously giddy at having such fun company!Dusty arrived, bearing gifts, that dreamed-about hoagie sandwich (worth every moment of dreaming), bananas (which each of us ate and enjoyed more than any other banana we¢d eaten in our lives!), and etc. What a treat that was! He drove an hour and a half just to do that ¢ SO nice.We chatted for awhile (while I ate¢¦), and I confessed my new plan to get off the Trail at Delaware Water Gap. He was great and supportive, but I saw some disappointment in his eyes. Maybe it was just a reflection of my own; that¢s possible. At any rate I never had the courage to admit to the other guys my thoughts of getting off the Trail. They were too enthusiastic and committed to thru-hiking!Eckville Shelter is basically a shed with bunks inside located behind a former hiker¢s house. Another shed houses a solar-heated shower and real toilet! On his back porch he keeps a refrigerator fully stocked with sodas, cookies, ice cream sandwiches, etc. Score! Cool place ¢ except the shelter soon reeked of hiker funk once we all got our gear in there, and Smoky & NanoWolf insisted we sleep with the doors closed to keep out mosquitoes (which, I admit were miserably relentless!), so NO FRESH AIR FOR EMILY! Ugh. It was bad.