I got a late start today but I still managed to hiked 22 miles. I slept in and hung out at Dave & Kay's house until 1100am. Dave prepared a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs made with the chickens he raises. Dave and Kay sent me off with some trail food - an apple, banana, some cheese, hard boiled eggs and zucchini bread.
I made a quick stop at the post office before getting back on the trail. I bounced a package to Cleveland with an extra shirt, bandana and sweat band. I wanted to lighten my load as much as possible. Today's weight savings is 12 ounces.
I could tell it was no longer the weekend. The trail was barren of trail users. I had the whole trail to myself. I only saw one cyclist and one runner the whole day except for a few walkers near the towns.
Twice I came across garter snakes sunning themselves on the trail. They looked very content so I left them alone. Yesterday I came across a snake on the trail but I shooed him off the path. He was bound to get run over by a cyclist. Today there was little danger of that.
I came across a guy driving an SUV down the bike path. We stopped and chatted a bit. He was with a New York company and was investigating the bike path as a potential route for a fiber optic line. He admired what I was doing. And I admired his job. As I walked along I saw many abandoned telephone poles along the path. They were the old style wooden, t-shaped poles with wooden pegs and glass insulators. I thought how much times have changed with how we communicate. But the old railroad path is still in demand for transmission lines.
Somewhere on the hike today near South Charleston I reached my highest point above sea level at around 1,125 feet. I guess this means it is all down hill to Lake Erie!
I took a nice long break in South Charleston in the local park. There a two cabooses, a log cabin, a restored train depot and a restroom pavilion. It was a great place for a break with clean restrooms, drinking water and an electrical outlet to charge my phone.
The wind was quite brisk today. It was out of the southwest with gusts up to 25 mph. Luckily it was blowing at my back. The gusts were so strong it pushed me along the trail. It felt like Mother Nature was telling me to move along.
I saw a skunk along the trail. He let me get quite close. I was not too scared since he was downwind and I figured he could not spray me against such a stiff wind. I took a few photos of him. He got a whiff of me and wandered off. I guess he figured I smelled worse than he did.
I hiked into London after dark. I enjoyed watching the bats fly and feed along the bike path. I made my way to Alexandra's B&B which has a youth hostel. I checked in the hostel for the night. Ron, the owner, came out to meet me and upgraded me to a room in the house at no extra charge due a temporary problem he had in the hostel.
It was good to be in London. I have hiked three 20 mile days in a row. It is time to slow down. I feel a zero coming on too.
Tally ho
