Appalachian Trail SOBO Day 62 – Puff and Shred reunited
26th September 2023
Port Clinton (978.3) - William Penn Shelter (1006.1)
Daily miles: 29.2
Total miles: 1011.5
Inspecting the damage
I left first. My friend from 2018, Shred, is going to try and come and meet me towards the end of the day and I didn’t want to be late.
It was a half mile back to the trail from the pavilion and I was back on trail at 7:00am. After a short walk through town, over the bridge and over the railway tracks there was a steep ascent, which I remember not being fun going down, and unsurprisingly it wasn’t that fun going up! But it was easier this way.
Port Clinton
This is the vibe in Port Clinton
Early morning road walk back to the trail
Port Clinton train station
Crossing the railway lines
It was over quite quickly but it did slow me down. It was actually pretty warm this morning, I didn’t need any layers on.
There were some weird things on trail today. A backpack hung on a tree which was full of cans of tuna. Then there was this weird statue. The trail alternated between being very rocky and not rocky and the not rocky parts were an nice reprieve from the rocky parts.
A random backpack filled with tins of food
A strange statue
Very rocky!
Around 10am my waterproofs went on because it started to drizzle and they stayed on for the rest of the day. It was a nice trail. It went through a burn area and the trail was rerouted for ‘environmental issues’ in one part but that didn’t make any mileage difference.
I saw a hiker who looked a lot like the Escaped Child Rapist we were alerted about yesterday. It wasn’t him, it was a hiker with a trail name and lots of good looking hiking gear, but I spoke to him whilst staring at his chin the whole time and I thought he was too well spoken to be the mad man, but then I didn’t know what he spoke like. Also, he could be into backpacking and be a child rapist; I guess those things aren’t mutually exclusive? It could have been him but the chances are slim.
A break from the rocks
Burn area
The colour of the ferns really pop
Old AT closed
I found a balloon on the side of the trail so I packed that out. Balloons are the worst – people, stop buying helium balloons.
Helium balloons…
…are the worst
I saw another hiker. A NOBO who started in March and had only made it to just over half way. He said he was going to try to get to New Jersey. He also have me loads of unsolicited advice about things I didn’t want advice on. He told me I had to carry a spot device and I had to hike with micro spikes. (I later found out that all my friends had the same lecture).
A very rocky afternoon
There were some rocky sections and after the rain they were all slippery and with very little grip left on my shoes I was sliding about all over the place.
I passed the 1000 miles marker.
1000 miles!
I took a fall and bashed my left knee. I sat in the trail a burst into tears. They only lasted about 30 seconds but I was just so frustrated with falling and hurting myself constantly, and I was tired, I had been walking continuously with only a few micro breaks.
AT goes this way
There were a couple of road crossings today and one of them was a 4 lane highway which was super sketchy because the road bent round on each side behind you so it was impossible to see what traffic was coming so you just had to cross and hope for the best.
I was listening to podcasts all morning and I had an audio book in all afternoon. I hadn’t seen anyone. I was expecting Pyro to pass me but no sign of him.
I came to a lookout point and there was graffiti all over it. Someone had written penis. Classic.
The view vs…
…the reality
It got cold up on the ridge, I could see my breath at some points, but I was happy and warm enough in my layers.
Saw a few deer today.
I was messaging with Shred about where he was going to be and I thought he would get to the road 2 miles before the shelter, and he said there was a parking lot by the shelter. He said he would be there at 5:15pm. So I got to the road 2 miles away at 10 past 5 and waited 10 minutes. I didn’t see Shred so I figured there must be something closer to the shelter. So I carried on up the trail. I had gone 0.4. miles and I get a message saying he was at the road. So I ran (literally ran) back down the trail to see him.
It was so nice. He looks so good! He said I didn’t smell which was nice. He brought trail magic; vegan cookies because I told him 2 of my friends were vegan. They had pecan nuts in. I hate nuts but I ate a couple of cookies anyway. They were nice, apart from the nuts, but don’t tell Shred I hate nuts…
Puff Puff and Shred reunited for the first time sine 2018
It was nice to catch up with him for a bit and then gradually my friends all caught up and we sat in the parking lot for a while chatting, and they all ate their dinners there so there was less to do at the shelter.
He drove up after work for about 3 hours just to see me!
We FaceTimed Peaches and Jukebox and that was awesome.
The crew is almost back together!
Then it was getting dark and we had to do our 2 miles to the shelter. I was in the lead, hiking by the light of my very dim headlamp. I have no idea what time we left the parking lot, but it must have been around 7:45pm.
I hiked as fast as I could to the shelter. There were a few blow downs over the trail; there have been a lot of blowdowns today, and I was on a mission and my friends said I was hiking really fast… which pleased me. That’s a weird thing to be pleased by isn’t it?
We got to the shelter junction and it was 0.1 miles downhill (not looking forward to going back up that in the morning!).
So I have done 27.8 trail miles today. Plus the half a mile out of town. Plus the 0.8 miles extra I did to see shred. Plus the 0.1 miles to the shelter makes 29.2
Everyone was comparing their feet in the shelter and actually mine are doing pretty good in comparison. I’m getting new shoes in a couple of days and I can’t wait. I just hope they fit.
Late night foot inspection
I haven’t eaten any dinner and that’s bad because I feel hungry. And my legs are zinging like they have done a near 30 mile day. We have a 31.4 mile day planned for tomorrow and I’m sure it’s going to kick my ass.
We think Cal – who is attempting the FKT (Fastest Known Time) of Pennsylvania – will pass us in the night or the early hours of the morning so we probably won’t see him.
