Day 91: Blueberry Harvesting

Hiked 24.1 miles, staying at Port Clinton Hotel.

 

Today everyone got off to an early start.  It was going to be another hot one and it is so nice to beat the heat for a few hours. Everyone felt much better today and was dragging so much less.  We ran into Still Don't, Muffin and Mr. Dallas a few miles after the shelter.  They had poked in last night to check it out, but decided to get a few more miles in.  I stopped to chat for a bit and get water and Why Not caught up to me there.

 

Today the trail was still overgrown in many places by thorny bushes, but added to that were tons of wild blueberry bushes and all just starting to bear fruit!  For the next twenty miles of the day I stopped every twenty minutes or so to pick a handful of blueberries to eat as I walked.  I easily ate a couple quarts worth.  The blueberry bushes were everywhere, it was so cool.  If I had been willing to brave the poison ivy I could have picked even more but I easily got my fill on the less dangerous ground.  Spending all day picking blueberries certainly made my pace slow down but the hours went by quick!

 

Round Head

Overlook just before Hertline campsite

9 AM photo

We stopped at a shelter for lunch.  This was partly because it was the only place to get water in the span of about 18 miles.  The downside was that it was 0.3 miles off of the trail.  The stream was good and it was revitalizing to sit in the shade and take your shoes off for a while, making the extra half mile totally worth it.  I even had some leftover pizza for lunch.  I debated taking a nap there, but I have an important package waiting in Port Clinton and wanted to try to get there before the post office closed.

 

About 20 minutes after leaving the shelter the heat gave way to a short burst of heavy downpour.  The rain helped cool off the day so much that it was actually really nice.  It remained overcast for the rest of the day and was almost a pleasant temperature for once.  The rocks were still densely packed in places and even when they weren't there was almost never a piece of flat dirt path the whole day but with the sudden cool temperatures I hardly even noticed.  There were rumbles of thunder for most of the afternoon but it never hit me.

 

The descent into Port Clinton was the most nerve racking part of the day.  It was steep and a lot of it was loose scree.  I would normally take my time down something like that, but I hit the top of the hill with fifteen minutes to go before the post office closed, so I slid down a bit quicker and hoped for the best.  I made it to the post office with two minutes to spare!  The postal worker was super friendly and gave me a bunch of tips about town and then gave me my box.  He then allowed as how he had a cold pizza he wasn't going to eat and did I want it?  Absolutely!

Fort Dietrich monument

Blueberries!

A view from the ridgeline

I sat on the steps and ate a few slices while I waited for Why Not to show up and she came up the street shortly.  We checked into the Port Clinton Hotel and split a room.  The place is nothing special and the hotel owner is a dick, but it was worth it for a shower and laundry and a room with AC.  We ate dinner there as it was convenient.  While the hotel is not special the food there was fantastic.  The portions were huge, which was awesome as a thru hiker but is a sad statement about your typical American.  As we sat there we ran into Brownie and Still Don't and chatted with them at the bar after eating.

 

Once our laundry was finished we procured a ride to the next town over to head to the Wal-Mart to get resupply done.  We all want an early start tomorrow, it is going to be our hottest day yet, at a predicted sweltering 95 degrees.  We wanted to get as many errands knocked off tonight as possible.  While at Wal-Mart we ran into Ledge, Bogie and Mess, all doing the same.  Except for the hotel owner, everyone in Port Clinton has been super friendly and nice and we very quickly got a ride back and called it a day.