I'll attempt to summarize the last 2 days, as I wile away the time waiting for my ride in front of a B&B in Andreas, PA. Since I last posted I've fallen from a purist thru hiker, to a normal thru, or even section hiker. No point in waxing poetic before I explain the steps that have brought me here though, so let's go back to Thursday morning.
I woke in the Eckville shelter, as damp with morning few as ever, even with the 4 walls enclosing me. The sun was shining, and I could hear Slow Joe outside mumbling to himself while the SoBo who was in the shelter last night did his best to ignore him. I broke my fast with a few bits of food, but my supply was severely low thanks to the lack of a shuttle in Port Clinton.
Before I left, the SoBo and I shared details about each others upcoming hikes. He told me that the water sources continued to get more scarce, and that the only real option is to refill in each town I pass. This is bad news since most of these towns are 20+ miles apart. He tempered this bad news with a statement about how easy the climb ahead of me would be, and then the beautifully smooth ridge line that awaited after. At that, I filled my water bottles at the spigot, said my farewells, and walked back to the trailhead a third of a mile away.
I didn't even make it into the woods before I started dripping sweat, and swatting sand flies. The worst of omens. It was 11 miles to the Blue Mountain summit B&B, and by the time I had gotten close the sky was darkening and I could see rain in my future. With my water running low, and rain on the horizon I decided to pull into the B&B for a hearty meal.
As soon as I began downing my soda it started raining, and only intensified as I worked my way through a hot meal. With this downpour I decided to call it quits for the day and stay comfortable for the evening. This ended up being the right decision since it rained all night while I was cozy in the room I had procured, watching tv and reading through the night.
Upon waking up I began wrestling with whether or not I should get off the trail. With the dwindling water supply options, the heat wave, swarms of biting bugs, and lack of a group of hikers to bitch with, I was finding that I no longer wanted to be out here.
So I made the phone call I had been dreading making for my entire hike, the one asking for a ride home. Strangely enough I didn't feel downtrodden about my decision. So I'm relaxing here, on the summit of Blue Mountain, and thinking back over my trip so far. I have no doubt that I'll come back and finish the miles yet to go, hopefully sooner than later.
My parents are pulling up now to bring me back to the real world, so that's all I have time for. Thanks for reading up to this point, I'll be sure to continue my journey down the trail sometime down the road!
