Date: 2009-05-25
From: 501 Shelter

To: Port Clinton - camping in Town pavilion
Miles today: 23.7
Weather: broken clouds

Mon May 25, Day 76: Staying tonight at the town pavilion (camping for free!) in Port Clinton. A young gentleman by the name of Adam came in. He is from a little town near where I live. He introduced himself and said he had hiked the trail back in 2006 under the trail name ¢AT¢. He said ¢Hey, I¢ve got a car, you want to go get something to eat?¢ So he drove me down into Hamburg to the McDonald's. We had a great meal, chowed down there. I tried to buy him dinner, he wouldn¢t accept it. Then he even took me to the grocery store to pick up some snacks for later on that night. Adam, thank you very much, I hope everything is going well with your music festival that you are working. The Trail Magic is much appreciated. Tidbits and Observations:T&O One:I¢ve been asking questions of thru-hikers about whether or not they think their sensory acuity has increased since they¢ve been hiking the trail. What I mean by that is:Are you more aware of your surroundings? Do little subtle things stand out as you hike along the trail? Or not? Couple of examples. Recently I have noticed that every time my sightings of reptiles increase, whether it be toads (especially toads) or snakes, or that sort of thing, within 12 to 24 hours it starts to rain. Now there may not be any scientific basis for that observation but by golly I believe when I start seeing toads or reptiles, more often than not it¢s going to start raining. I cannot read the clouds, I have no clue what a cumulus or nimbus is or whatever, I just can¢t do that. It seems that those little things stand out, especially the animal behavior. T&O Two:The other thing everybody talks about is an increase in olfactory sense. People have said ¢Hey, I can detect the approach of an upcoming shelter¢, ¢I can smell a fire that¢s burned the night before¢ or even ¢I can smell somebody if they are cooking with Coleman fuel from far off, I just get a whiff of that and I know that a shelter is nearby or somebody¢s camping out or cooking.¢ Very interesting stuff. I have noticed that I can detect a hiker coming in the opposite direction way before I see him, especially if the wind is coming from that direction. If they smell worse than I do I can definitely detect it! Even if they just put on bug spray or any kind of perfume you can pick up the scent way before you see the people. Now I¢m not ready to start wearing a loin cloth and go traipsing through the woods, smearing bloodroot on my face, and making weapons out of small saplings out here and do that sort of thing; but...everybody I¢ve talked to really says yes, your sensory awareness does increase the longer you¢ve been out here. Very intriguing stuff. It has really piqued my interest since I¢ve been on the trail. T&O Three:Quick update on the left ankle situation. It¢s much better. I attribute it to megadoses of Vitamin I, practicing Five Season Chi Qigong (which I¢ve done for a couple of years now, a fantastic Tai Chi type exercise), and a little bit of Pranic Healing going on with that as far as helping the left ankle. Swelling has gone down, I don¢t have nearly as much pain, everything is going well. Click here for audio journal