Miles: 1217.8 | A tense, exhausting town day unravels after broken trekking poles, missed connections, and miscommunication push both of us past our limits. Frustration peaks in Port Clinton before hot showers, clean laundry, and familiar trail faces help reset our nervous systems. By nightfall, exhaustion softens into perspective, reminding us how quickly trail stress can snowball—and how necessary true rest really is.
It was a rough morning this day. We hadn't showered or done laundry in about a week. We had decided to stay at the not so great and overpriced Port Clinton Hotel because everything else in the area was booked. I tried all afternoon to get a cheaper and better room in nearby Hamburg, but no such luck. We hiked into town and on the way the Pennsylvania rocks bent Miles' poles (the rocks also bent or broke all 16 tent stakes Miles and I had combined...). He got upset and went ahead of me. When I got down to the town he was there waiting for me, still very upset about his poles.
We walked into the surprisingly noisy but small town of Port Clinton and tried to go to the post office first. It was closed. Miles (exhausted, angry, and hungry) left the post office to go get a room. I yelled up the noisy road to him as he ran away, "Wait! What about this B & B here?"
I called them as he walked away from me, thinking he was going to turn around and come back. They were about $10 cheaper than the Port Clinton Hotel and they had air conditioning. I called Miles' phone but he didn't answer. I texted him to tell him I'd wait for him at the post office, where he had a package coming, and he could meet me there. He didn't respond. I waited there for almost half an hour. I didn't know where the Port Clinton Hotel was; but when he didn't show up to the post office, I realized I'd have to find it.
I left the post office, where a flip-flop hiker generously shared a banana with me, and tried to contain my anger. To me it felt like Miles had run away from me and rage quit. It was so frustrating. He wouldn't listen to me. He wouldn't stop for a second to help me make a decision. And now he wouldn't even answer his freaking phone so I could figure out what room he was in or if even got a room or what was going on.
I angrily walked up to the Port Clinton Hotel along a busy street. When I walked up I saw that the only entrance was through the pub. I went in with my pack on because I assumed I was checking in.
Once inside I recognized Poe was sitting at the bar! We hadn't seen him since Virginia! Like before Shenandoah! He gave me a big ol' hug and said he'd come upstairs and visit us in a few minutes before he took off for the trail.
The woman working the bar yelled to me, "Honey you have to take your pack off to come in here!" and then went into the next room to serve some people in the restaurant before I could let her know that I was trying to check in and the sign said to come in through the bar. I stood there and waited for her to come back for a few minutes. When she did come back I tried to explain to her that I thought my boyfriend might've checked in and I was just trying to find him.
She replied, "Do you want a room or not?" I tried to tell her again that I thought my boyfriend had already checked in and was just trying to find him. "Did you call him?" She asked. I told her I thought his phone was dead. "Whatever, Sweetie." She replied with the wave of a hand and sent me upstairs to find Miles, without even telling me a room number. What was it with Pennsylvania hotel people having such strong attitudes?
I went up the stairs and found the only closed door, room 7, and knocked. Miles opened the door with a huff and collapsed onto the bed. I dropped my pack on the floor and felt my face get red and hot.
I turned to Miles, who was face down on the bed. "Are you done with your little tantrum now?" I asked him with stinging anger. "No!" He said. I was so mad. "Are you kidding me?!" I responded. I tried to explain to him that we could've gotten a slightly cheaper room (not that it even freaking mattered anyway, my dramatic self was being ridiculous on principle). I tried to ask him what was wrong. I tried to be there for him but I was also mad. But I could tell he was going through something.
He grunted through the pillow, "My poles are broken and I can't replace them. I just wanted to shower. I'm cooked, ok?" I got all of his points but I still didn't understand how that qualified for a temper tantrum and why that made it okay to just run away from me. I prodded him more. I tried to show him how he was making me feel. I was anxious and on edge now because of him and I was also just as exhausted as he was but now I had to coddle his feelings instead of taking care of myself.
What I realize now is that I didn't need to coddle his feelings. He's an adult. I should've just dealt with myself and left him alone to deal with his issues. I can't go back, though. Eventually, he came around. He calmed down and realized he was being irrational. I went and showered and got all our laundry ready to go. I found chafe all over my back. It stung badly but it definitely could've been worse. Around 2pm Miles and I got our wallets out and went out to the road to get a hitch 3 miles up the road to Hamburg, where the resupply options and food were located.
Cabela's was huge, the largest Cabela's in the world. They were very accommodating to hikers and even offered a hiker shuttle. It was huge and overwhelming. There were stuffed animals and vast aisles of jumbo freeze dried meals and ridiculously large tents.
We found what we needed, a dirty water bag, on the top floor in a back corner. The only thing they sold that would work for me was a Platypus water bag. It would work but they had been known to leak a little bit because they couldn't make a proper seal with the O Ring inside of my sawyer. I went for the $12 solution anyway because it was really my only option.
We stood on the street for about ten minutes before a man pulled up to a nearby intersection and offered us a ride. He told us he had hitched across the country in the '70's and all about his vagabonding young adulthood. He once even got a hitch on the back of a motorcycle! He dropped us off at Cabela's, the only 'outfitter' in town.
After Cabela's we stopped at Five Guys to get burgers, fries, and shakes. On our way to WalMart to get our resupply and new shirts we ran into Knots and Stripes. They needed a place to shower and I offered up our shower. They said they'd text us when they got back to town. After we gathered what we needed at WalMart we went back to Cabela's and they gave us a ride to the Port Clinton Hotel.
I showered again when we got back and put our laundry in. Poe was still at the bar when we got back and he came upstairs to hang out with us for a while before he left. Knots and Stripes also came up to use the shower. We hung out with our fellow hikers for a while and went to bed late after a long day.