Summary: Port Clinton: 1218.1 Random Campsite: 1233.1 Total miles: 15 We headed down for breakfast with Grant since Dean had already eaten. Grant also said that Scribbles, a friendly face we hadn't seen since mile 150 but who Grant had hiked with for most of the trail, was staying in room 101. After kicking butt down the trail, he got laid up with Lyme Disease. He's probably the fifth case we've heard of so far. Now that he's on antibiotics, he feels human again. He's definitely looking forward to getting back to the trail in a few more days. After breakfast, we spent a little more time in the room as everyone packed up. Then we decided to go to Dunkin's one last time. It also gave Scribbles an excuse to see the sun and for us to catch up with him a bit. He joined us on the walk to Dunkins.
When we were all ready around noon, we ended up calling Steve, a shuttle guy. Heading to the trail at noon, for us, is pretty solid. We would easily be able to get fifteen or so miles. Steve was a character, and talked about not being able to shoot animals while hunting, from adorable does to mama bears. He also said he stopped drinking forty years ago after drinking white lightning all night with some polish guys. He charged five dollars a person, as opposed to five dollars for the shuttle, which seemed steep for a two mile ride. Oh well, supporting trail people is good, right?
The rocks we cruised over on the way down to Port Clinton thankfully stopped on the new part of the trail. We climbed our way to the beautiful Pulpit Rock and Pinnacle.
We made it to a campsite by a creek at around six, which gave us some actual time in the evening to enjoy a fire. Grant and Tyler engineered a pole hook out of an old tree to get down our trapped bear line. The evening was somewhat bittersweet since Grant and Dean were planning on getting up early the next day. Grant is heading to a boat building class with his dad for a week and wants to put in some thirty mile days to get ahead of us. Dean is sort of doing the same, though his five day trip is a couple weeks down the road, he just decided he prefers morning hiking. Either way, it's unlikely the four of us will be together in camp for a while. But, in the end, everyone has to hike their own hike, and hopefully we will celebrate on Katahdin (or at the base) together.
*Grant sewing his shoe
