We were productive today. With a 6a wake up and hitting the trail by 7:30a, we were able to cover ten miles by noon. We ate lunch on a fallen tree at the side of the trail. Another thru-hiker named “Sunny Hedgehog” was already there. He’s probably in his 50’s, is from Germany, and speaks very limited english. Although we still had a good conversation. Sunny Hedghog was making his way into town for a night off. He was particularly looking forward to laundry and a shower. As we were talking about how gross we all feel, Sunny Hedgehog dramatically sniffed an armpit and said to us, “Ah… Chanel No. 5!” Yep. That’s about right.
The tree sat high enough off the ground that our feet dangled. It felt good to have all weight taken off of my soles. Pinpricks stabbed the bottom of my feet as blood came back into them. Warthog joined me. The tree was angled down a bit, so to be comfortable, we sat across the trunk with our bottoms higher and our feet lower. We were lined up like passengers on a bus or train. I thought of a two person plane and started making flying noises while pretending to pull the controls so we would climb in the air, bank right or left, then drop down again. Warthog played along. Finally, hunger won out and we devoured our wraps (pepperoni, cheese, parmesan crisps, black bean crisps, and mayo on a tortilla).
After lunch we pushed another number of miles until we were climbing down into the town of Port Clinton. It was a fairly steep drop with loose rocks under your feet so you couldn’t be too sure of your step. When we finally reached the bottom, our tired legs felt jello. The trail came out of the woods right next to a train station. Snow Monkey loves trains, so he was really excited. We crossed three sets of tracks went across a bridge and into town. We needed to resupply at the Walmart just a mile outside of town. But first, we had to pass through town.
On our way we saw packs sitting outside of a fire hall. We thought it was strange and looked at our guidebook to see if there was anything we should know about what they offer. Wonder Woman said, “Thru-hikers are like fleas… you let one in and a million come in after.” Turns out the building is a members only club that is friendly to thru-hikers. You ring a doorbell to get in, they throw the lock, and you enter. It’s all very back alley and secretive. It felt kind of exciting to be welcomed into a world that a lot of other people pay to be in. Now, by that previous sentence you would think this was a fancy place. Quite the opposite. Picture one of the most dive bars you’ve been in and then play worse music. That’s this place. It was cracking me up. But it sure was hopping. Maybe because their Happy Hour was $1 beers. A local stopped and asked if she could by Snow Monkey a drink (in the guidebook it said they often would). He chose a root beer. In my mind I wondered if that was more expensive than the beer even. Warthog confirmed that it was by a quarter. How ridiculous is that?
Every barstool was full with either a local or thru-hiker. It was only 4p. In the room next to the bar was a pool table. Snow Monkey, Wonder Woman, Warthog, and I made our way there. We played two games of pool, all of us struggled to make good shots except for Warthog. He basically played a game of pool with himself.
We stayed for about an hour and a half before deciding it was time to take care of our resupply. Walmart was only a mile down the road. We threw our thumbs out and after a few minutes a woman stopped. I saw a USAA card and asked if she was in the military. Both she and her husband had served. She was an Army flight medic and had been overseas during similar dates that Warthog had been. Meeting her, I was reminded once again how connected this world really is. It’s a much smaller place than we think.
She dropped us off and even offered to take us back to the trail afterwards. But we wanted to stop for dinner too, so we politely declined. Once we had resupplied and broken down the food (thrown away boxes, etc.), we walked across the parking lot to a Wawa. Wawa is a convenience store and gas station that’s common in this area. Snow Monkey grew up in New Jersey. He and Wonder Woman have been excited about hitting a Wawa since they saw them listed in the guidebooks. There was no way we were leaving town without stopping. Apparently Wawa’s are famous for their hoagies. You walk in, order through a touch screen, a slip prints out, you take it to the cashier in the front of the store to pay, then wait for your number to be called. As you take your sandwich, you submit the slip that now has the note has “paid” written on it. We sat in the front of the store devouring our dinner, packs leaned against the building and us leaning against our packs. In normal life it would be disgusting to sit on the sidewalk of a gas station. In trail life, it’s not too bad of a place to rest. Our standards (or rather, mine) have been greatly lowered.
When we were walking up to the Wawa, I noticed a woman behind me. She was carrying a backpack as well – a nice brand. She said to me, “You are doing this in tennis shoes?!” I looked at her feet, she was wearing tennis shoes too. After I explained how bad I got blisters from my boots, she said she figures she’ll have blisters to pop after today too. She told me that this was her “first day on the trail” and that she was running from a husband who spent the last seven months (of their seven month marriage) lying and cheating on her. It may have been the truth. However, there was something about her that I didn’t trust. She left Walmart when we did (after I saw her turn the corner around the store), followed us to Wawa, had an empty pack and a burner telephone she was setting up. When everyone dropped their packs to go into the store, I decided I would stay back. The woman sat there right next to us the entire time wrestling with her phone. When we finished eating and stood to leave, conveniently, she decided it was time to move on as well. I hate to suggest something unseemly about her, but I’m pretty sure she is a local and pretends to be a hiker so she can steal from real thru-hikers. I plan to spend the next couple of days warning people of her incase she’s working a bubble.
After leaving Wawa, with all gear in our packs, we headed back towards town and stuck our thumbs out. Immediately a man named Jay pulled over. He was on his way home from work. I was surprised because it was almost 8p. He told us that for the next month or so he will be working six, sixteen hour days a week. They want to increase him to seven days a week. He seemed tired, but grateful for the work. Once the season is over he’ll spend the winter off until the summer again.
Jay dropped us off right at the edge of town, not far from where the trail follows the road. It was already 8p, we only had about forty five minutes left of daylight. We still had several miles to hike. We knew it would be a late night.
Evening fell. We held off on turning on our lamps as late as possible, but it was starting to get dangerous. It was about 10p when we arrived into camp – we had met our goal, 23 miles. Our bodies are extra tired tonight from the long miles, late day, and the dangerous Pennsylvania rocks. Sleep should come fast tonight.
-ansel