Adventures in the bustling metropolis of Port Clinton, PA

6-18-09 day 16
start: Eagle's Nest Shelter, PA
end: Pavillion @ Port Clinton, PA
daily mileage: 8.8
total mileage: 194.4

It was a short hiking day today as we hiked into Port Clinton to resupply. A tiny little town with no grocery store, it has a great pavillion that it lets hikers stay at free of charge! About 10 or 12 other hikers were all staying there as well, a lot of faces we knew and a few we didn't.

The biggest outfitter in the US, Cabella's (250,000 square feet) was a mile and a half away, and the grocery was about a mile and a half beyond that. We were getting ready for the unpleasant walk down the highway to cabella's by asking a woman for directions, when she said "You know, Fred takes hikers down that way sometimes, let's see if he'll drive you." Sure enough, Fred was sitting there watching his chickens, and was more than happy to drive us there! At Cabella's, we got insoles for our boots and some other knick-knacks (the insoles have been fantastic, incidentally). It was huge... we later heard that the taxidermied deer and bears and stuff they used for decoration, of which there were literally hundreds, were worth more than all the merchandise in the store. I beleive it!

We hitched to the grocery up the road, got some food, and hitched back to the shelter. People are SO friendly to hikers around here! It's really easy to get rides and such. We had dinner and a few drinks at a cool little place in town with massive burgers and an order of fries that must have weighed 2 pounds. Another great day in the life!