Port Clinton is a welcoming trail town even though there’s not a lot here. We walked to breakfast at the only diner in town. We ran into several other hikers we knew and met a few more along the way. After breakfast we split up to take care of town chores to speed things up. Bunny went back to our room while I went to the barbershop. My hair is getting quite long, I can now wake up with “bed head” and this must stop.
Frank is the barber and a bit of a trail legend. If a hiker needs anything, word is head to the barbershop and Frank will help you out. As soon as I walked in, Frank directed me to the coffee pot and donuts. He offers charging stations for hiker use and will solicit his customers to help out if needed for rides. After Frank’s dad gave me a new, shiny dome, I asked Frank if he could help me get a ride to Walmart for some food. Fred, who was just finishing up getting his hair cut, offered me a ride to Walmart.
Fred told me the story of Hermy and Frank (Frank had apologized to me when I said we had stayed at Union House last night). Frank’s shop used to be in the lower level of the boarding house which is right next to the trail. He was always a big advocate for hikers; he claimed Hermy wasn’t. Hermy tripled the rent on Frank and that created the bad blood between them that still exists. All I know is that they were both very friendly and accommodating to us.
Just as we got all of our town chores done and were ready to leave shortly after 11, it started to rain. We donned our umbrellas and began our walk. We were a little apprehensive about what to expect from the trail ahead because we have heard nothing but horror stories concerning the rocks of Pennsylvania. Another mother and daughter sobo hiking duo told us about the trail ahead. They claimed that they have not had any smooth trail since they started at Delaware Water Gap. Once again, this proved to be total BS.
Bunny was nice enough to point out that the backs of my legs are hairless. This didn’t really concern me because I don’t ever recall having had cold calves. Truth of the matter is that the only place I have ample hair is in nose and ears. There may be a few other places on my body, as well, but even I know the limits of TMI.
Climbing to Pulpit Rock, we passed 2 different Boy Scout troops out training for trips to Philmont. Both of them told us that Philmont had a 36,000 acre forest fire this year and they had to cancel a large number of itineraries this year. No troops are allowed until July 15 so they just got notification that they were still going but have no idea where they will be hiking in the ranch.
After going over Pulpit Rock, we could hear a large number of people in the pods ahead. A church group was looking for a trail to return back to the reservoir to complete a hiking loop back at the base of the trail. We tried to help them out, but Guthook doesn’t include side trails around the AT. For our efforts, they offered to pray for us. I never turn down a prayer from any denomination, I might get lucky and get the only religion that actually is THE right one.
Arriving at Eckville Shelter, we found only 1 person inside and only 1 outside. We were afraid that with our late start today, we would find a full shelter and have to camp. I hope it rains like hell since we have gotten spots inside.
EFG