I woke up this morning to a nice, cool room, in a bed with real pillows, and to the sounds of friends sleeping nearby. A peaceful way to start the day before the hustle and bustle of activity takes over.
Returning to the horse
I was the first to start stirring and go downstairs to get more towels and start the shower cycle before going down to breakfast. Then everything was packed and ready for Zoom Zoom to pick us up and take us back to the trail. Zoom Zoom arrived early and once again we all squeezed together. We had a great trip back to the trail, shooting some Shania with the windows closed (even though we just showered and did laundry, our stuff still stinks…). He first dropped off the others at Port Clinton where they dropped him off and then dropped me off at the trailhead 15 miles back where I got off 2 days ago. My goal for the next few days was to cover the miles and catch up with my friends in the next few days, hopefully…
Back on the trail, I was moving decently. Fortunately, the terrain for the day wouldn’t be too bad, which would help me get back to taking care of things. My right leg felt fine, it hurt to the touch but other than that minimal discomfort and it was well bandaged. But my left ankle was really sore from the fall and would be my main obstacle for the rest of the day and beyond.
I made decent time for the first few kilometers until the climb to a viewpoint that offered a good spot for a quick rest.
Most of the day’s walking was flat or slightly uphill, which was helpful for my ankle. That is until the steep descent towards Port Clinton. That was pretty brutal and hard on my sore ankle, but I did it anyway. The trail leaves just before Port Clinton and along some railroad tracks before heading into town.
Vortex
When I entered town I saw some people on the river on paddleboards and quickly recognized them as my friends. They didn’t get very far today… Apparently they stopped at a local establishment after being dropped off and befriended a local firefighter who offered to lend them his paddleboards on the river, as well as telling them about a spaghetti dinner at the firehouse that night. So one thing led to another and here, at 2:30 pm, they were still in town. He still couldn’t get into the river because of the stitches, but they quickly convinced themselves that some cold drinks would be nice right now anyway. So we headed to the Firefighter bar for a few drinks before having the spaghetti dinner outside.
At some point we realized we had been swept towards Port Clinton and decided we were going to spend the night and not go out for a walk. But tomorrow we promised ourselves great kilometers. So we headed to the park to set up our tents and sleep in the pavilion run by the town church on donations for the night.
Day 90 Statistics:
14.8 miles
1,122′ ascent, 2,142′ descent
Residence Inn at Port Clinton
36 DSLC…
Stove use times: 14
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