Today started out raining. I was up pretty early and was packed up by 6:30. One nice thing about stealth camping is its easy to pack up. I never take out what Im not going to use and things like stoves and cooking utensils get put away as soon as I’m done using them. The rain wasn’t more then a steady drizzle and wasn’t bad.
I stopped at a bench after 7 miles and ate a banana and made another cup of coffee. The sun was trying to come out and it was starting to get hot. I was following the Scioto River and I kept looking for a swimming hole. The river was very pretty but a little high and muddy making it uninviting for swimming.
Eventually I left the city and was back into farming country.
During a pretty hot road ride I stopped for a break under a shade tree on the lawn of a church. A man rolled in a few minutes before I headed out. His name is Will and he is riding from Columbus to Cleavland and back. Thats about 370 miles. While we were sitting on the side of the stone flowerbed at the church he referred to us as hiker trash on bikes. Right away I knew we were going to get along well. I also new he was a through hiker of one long trail or another. It turns out he hiked the Pacific Crest Trail. The P.C.T is 2650 miles nearly 500 miles longer then my hike on the A.T. I can’t quite explain the term hiker trash. Its not really an insult. All hikers I know (me included) are proud to bear that label. It separates the “real” hikers from the day hikers or the weekenders. Often times the only way to know the difference is by the smell. A day hiker smells of soap and shampoo. A weekender will smell of a laundry soap and deodorant and a hint of campfire smoke. Real hikers – the true hiker trash will smell of wood smoke from dozens of campfires bug spray mildew and 10 days of body odor.
After visiting with him a few minutes I headed out. There was still 6 or 7 miles of roads I wanted get done. Back on the OTET a couple hours later Will passed me on his way into Mount Vernon. I was on the phone so we didn’t say much. I’ll probably see him tomorrow.
these blogs are very interesting!
That is so cool, Matt, that you are in Ohio and just so you know, in 1978 when I worked in Canton at WINW Win Wonderful at 1520 on the AM dial, I was asked by the station to be their representative at a celebrity bicycle race hosted by Stark County in a park where day-long sports activities were held for the community. At first, I actually didn’t want to attend, figuring it would be a little unfair for me, a true cyclist, to compete. But I am glad I did as it was good fun and, well, I won. And I still have the plaque as the Start County Celebrity Bike Race Champion. Maybe one of these days I can return to defend my title. 🙂
What a great little story! I have been many miles in Stark County. Im glad you shared that and im glad your following.
Thats a great little story! I’ve been many miles in Stark County. Im glad you shared it and glad your following along. Thank you