Date: 2018-05-21
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Mon Day 98 5/21So we're up and we get a shuttle down to the emergent care. We are the first ones there before they even open. We r both seen pretty quickly. The doctor prescribes antibiotics for myself. He recommends keeping my feet dry and walking in my Crocs for ventilation purposes. Like there's any chance of me walking in Crocs across the rocks in Pennsylvania. I didn't say anything specific to the doctor about how foolish and dangerous just walking across Pennsylvania Rocks could be. From there we walked to the Walmart and resupply. We ate a big breakfast at Walmart. We then walked to Cabela's Flagship signature store. It's a very impressive store with a lot of stuffed Wildlife. Cabela's is 4 hunters, fisherman, and car campers not thur hikers. There is a very limited selection of hiking boots. I go for a new pair of cut down Merrill's low tops of the same size that I'm wearing. Ibex found some trail Runners which are big change for her. We both abandon our smelly shoes, socks, and Superfeet that we were wearing before. We just left them on the floor and walked out. Neither of us want to transfer whatever germs - fungus growth opportunities in r old to r new Footwear. At this point I'm pretty concerned about foot fungus getting out of control and taking me off my hike. I have open sores on both feet on the bottom side of where my toe joints meet the ball of my foot. It's very painful to walk on every step. We then hike out to the road on a hot sunny day. The very first car immediately pulled over and drives us directly to the trailhead. Both of us are pretty anxious about our new Footwear. We're anxious cuz we're not sure how our feet are going to respond. We are also anxious cuz we're not sure how our footing may change with new Footwear. We have a solid climb up out of Port Clinton on a hot day. I've been hearing about Pennsylvania rocks for quite a while. There was a warning in the AWOL guide a couple days ago about the sharp Rocky Trail in Pennsylvania. We have had sections of the trail that are uncomfortably difficult to walk on. The problem is it's the edge of sharp rocks that does not allow your body weight to be equally distributed on the all of your foot. So one very small section of ur foot takes all the weight. There's a cumulative effect that is very painful. We didn't start hiking until 12:30. That's a ridiculously late start for us. Our goal is the Eckville shelter. We hike well and make good time. The shelter is 18 miles away. When we come to the road crossing it is time to look for this shelter which is on a paved Road. This is the first time I've walked on a paved road to get to a shelter. We found the Eckville shelter 3 tenths of a mile down the road. At first we thought it was the house. There was a house in front of the shelter. The shelter had a door that closed and glass windows. Close the door and windows are very unusual for a shelter. First time I seen a shelter w glass windows. Carpet was nailed down in the sleeping spaces for a little comfort. Turtle and one other fella were already there. We were coming in about 8:30, almost dark. They were already in bed. They got up with our late arrival to hang out and talk. We did a quick set up. We washed our feet with alcohol and went out to the picnic table to eat out there. Turtle said he'd be happy to leave at 5 with us tomorrow. We get to sleep long after hiker midnight. I did my stretches before I fell asleep.