Day 91, miles today- 14.8, total- 1,228.2

June 18, 2013

Port Clinton to Eckville Shelter.

Four of us were going to call Cabella's in hopes of getting a ride to where the stores are at. It's a service they provide.  There's a Walmart next to Cabella's where we could resupply. Amos called them a little after 8:00. They said they wouldn't be able to send a driver until after 10:00. We decided to try hitchhiking. It was over 1.5 miles away. After fifteen minutes a guy coming out of a side street waved us over. He was the guy that lives down the street from the pavilion. He lets hikers fill water bottles from his hose at the side of his house. Fables was already in the car with him. The four of us got into the car. I had my pack and trekking poles with me. He dropped the four of us off at Walmart. We then walked to the Wendy's to get an early lunch. After eating we went to Cabella's to look around. It's a huge outdoors type store. They are geared more towards hunting than backpacking though. We hoped they would have a driver that could take us back to the pavilion. They told us they didn't have a van today. So, we were back to hitchhiking. We asked people as we walked through the huge parking lot. One guy said he'd give us a ride. He had just finished doing a section hike on the A.T. He is a HS science teacher from Georgia. He drove us back to the pavilion. As we neared the pavilion I realized I had left my cell phone at Cabella's. I was charging it  where I was sitting, near the front door. The guy, trail name Half Life, drove me back to the store. I got my phone and we headed back. When I got back I didn't see my trekking poles. Half Life hadn't pulled away yet. We looked in the car but didn't see them .He said he'd drive me back to the store again. As we were on our way back Half Life looked in his rear view mirror and saw them by the back window. Half Life was definitely my trail angel today.

Half life

It was 1:30 pm before I was able to get on trail. There were several great views today. It was another hot day. I have to carry more water as the temperatures rise. I hiked a short distance with Lucky Strike . He's a young guy from New Zealand. He's a very strong hiker. He started almost a month after me.

Lucky Strike

I got to the shelter at 7:30 pm. The Eckville Shelter has an enclosed bunk room. There's a shower too. I took a quick shower. The water was very close to being cold. The two German guys I met a couple days ago are here. Garbage Man and Caroline are here too. I hadn't seen them for a long time. Hopefully I'll get a chance to talk to them tomorrow. I'm in the bunk room, they are tenting close by. Caroline is now Little Foot. I only talked to Garbage Man , Caroline was at the tenting area. Others there were Doc, Boon, BP(broken pack), and Amos.