Appalachian Trail Section hiking: Pt. Clinton to Hawk Mountain Road

Day 18
Friday, April 15
Port Clinton to Black Hawk Road
15.2 miles

We left our vehicle parked along the road just west of Eckville Shelter. Jason picked us up and took us to Port Clinton. We dreaded the uphill climb. If the trail on the north side of the city is as steep as the south side, we are in for a world of hurt going up it.

It wasn't as steep—it had more switchbacks. We had two beautiful vistas today from Pulpit Rock then the Pinnacle. The Pinnacle is said to be the best view on the AT in the state, a panoramic view of farmland from an elevation of 1635 feet. Right before the Pinnacle there was a huge pile of large rocks. We wondered why they were there.

On a narrow normal trail between Pulpit Rock and The Pinnacle, I somehow stumbled over one of the few rocks at that point and got my feet tangled up with my trekking poles and found myself face down. I landed really hard with a pointed rock hitting me in the upper thigh. I knew I had hurt myself really badly. Wait-up helped me up and I sat beside the trail for the longest time before I could get up and continue. Fortunately, nothing was broken but I knew my thigh would be terribly bruised and my arm as scratched and bruised as well. Indeed, the indentation in my thigh from where the rock hit me would be there for months following this incident.

The last 5 miles was forestry road until right before Black Hawk Road it became rocky again.

We had been in touch with another Appalachian Trail Women’s Group member about shuttling us in this area and she had recommended that we search out Heislers Dairy Bar if we had time. We did. The hamburgers were nothing extra special, but they are famous locally for the ice cream. We did enjoy that.

Although it was quite a drive to Allentown, we had made up our mind that we couldn’t stay at Eckville Shelter again, so we drove there for a free night at the Quality Inn.