It all started at Port Clinton on Friday at 5pm. Leroy Bernard (LB), Jack Masterson (John), Athena (John's Dog), and I, Cowboy Dan were racing against the sun so that we could have a shelter to sleep in. We started with a 1600 foot climb and about 500 feet up we saw a man taking care of business behind a tree. Athena ran up to him and disturbed his peace. We finally made it to the shelter at 8pm after 5 miles. We had to share the shelter with atleast 9 boy scouts. I always wanted to become a boy scout, until I met that group. Made Louisiana red beans and rice. All the food we had was dehydrated, so we only needed to add boiling water. Long night with the noisy boy scouts.
4-16-11
It was about 7am as we prepared for the long day. We made oatmeal with milk and blueberries. Weather forecasts predicted heavy rain and 35 mph winds. We had to do 11 miles to the next shelter. All was well until we made it to Dan's Pulpit, about 6 miles in. It was now 12 pm. Beautiful view... until the rain came of course. We got our rain gear on and prepared for a miserable 5 miles. We were on a ridge, which basically means there is no protection from the elements and there are many rocks. This was easily the worst time of my life... I was disoriented, visibility was about 20 feet, and I was far behind from Leroy and Jack. My hands were numb and my vision was blurry. All this while walking on large, slippery rocks. We saw a sign that read "Welcome to Rocksylvania!". I was ready to shoot someone at this point. We ate lunch behind a tree, the food was frozen. Tastycake, pb and j, apple, and trail mix. All delicious.
4-17-11
Got up late. Everyone was exhausted. We made a fire and had breakfast. Maple sugar oatmeal. Nice to have a hot meal after a cold night. Packed up and moved out at 10:30 am. We had a 16 mile day ahead of us. None of us had ever done 16 miles in one day. Ate lunch just after Route 309. Chicken noodle soup, ginger O's, and a cliff bar. Refilled water and continued.
Made it to Bake Oven Knob at 4 pm, which is just a massive pile of boulders. It was the halfway point. We had to do 8 more miles in less than 4 hours. We realized how screwed we were. We began doing a faster pace. It was hard to keep up. Leroy Bernard kept slowing us down. He couldn't keep the pace. So we left him a few times then waited further down the trail. Saw 6 wild turkey while in the state game lands. Very beautiful overlooks. However, the sight of the sun going down made it impossible to stop and enjoy the sights. The last 3 miles were the longest. We were all tired, and we could see the end. Our knees hurt from the long descent. It was rock after rock. We stopped for water at a stream. Used the filter of course. Later I found out that the water was tainted with pathogens.
We finally finished at 7:30 pm, loaded the car, and went on our way to get Leroy's car at the start. On the way, I threw up the water from earlier. Sucked a lot.
Went to a steak house for dinner. I got a 6 oz. steak with ribs. My god it was delicious... Good way to end a 32.2 mile trip to the Appalachian Trail.
