Date: 2008-05-20
From: Dickey Gap

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: light rain

Pizza? Pizza. Piiizzzzaaa! Partnership for Pizza. Motto of the day. BUT, now that you have the same taste for pizza that we did starting out... let me start back at the beginning. I am terrible at talking about things in order. So, moving back from pizza to hitching. Hitching? Yes, hitching. I can't quite recall previously how in depth I have gotten into hitching. It isn't one of the safest past times I have participated in. It isn't one I would recommend to those I care about. In fact, I don't know if I would necessarily recommend it to someone I wasn't too fond of. But, on the trail, it comes as almost a necessity at times. You could walk the additional 2 to 3 miles off the trail to get to your mail/laundry/hostel/etc. and then worry about making the walk back -- but the miles quickly add up and your day become astronomically shorter with each additional mile. Most towns were not built for hikers (surprisingly enough, I know) and typically the laundry is located at least a mile or two from the post office and another mile or so from the grocery -- my point being: hitching is rather necessary. The locals are usually quite aware that the trail goes through their town and we usually find hiker friendly townies that let us jump in the back of their truck for the few miles to and from town. OK. That being said. I tend to avoid hitching by myself (given that I am a female). I would think that I would turn down a "shady" ride. And, I try to keep my gear and knife close at hand regardless. Now that the prelude is complete... On this particular day, Sauerkraut and I were anxious to get back on the trail and try our hand at being "real" hikers. We packed up, showered, ate a wonderful breakfast and posted ourselves on the side of the street with our thumbs out ready to acquire a ride the 2+ miles back to the trail head. Surprisingly, this took longer than initially expected. Our hopes were dwindling (but not my determination, I was NOT going to move) when salvation arrived in an unlikely form. Picture a rather old, beat up, black-ish corvette -- two doors, mind you -- pulls over to the side of the road. I had a glimpse of the TWO passengers and was trying to rack my brain for a good excuse to pass on the ride if that was actually what they were stopping to give us. The two passengers were older (and by older I don't mean my parents' age). Greasy hair, dingy cowboy hat, unkempt attire -- probably a combined age of 140? Wish I was exaggerating on that last one. However, Sauerkraut, who does not have nearly the standards I do for hitching, walked straight up to the car without mind to the gentlemen who looked like they had just left the set of the latest horror flick sitting in the front seat. I couldn't let her go alone so I reached for my knife and made the climb into the back seat. I know, I know. Mom, I love you a lot and I probably should have put a disclaimer at the beginning of this entry, but you would have read it anyway so I decided against it. Luckily, I was overly confident that even with my size disadvantage that youth had the upperhand in this scenario. Right? Anyways, I have yet to get to the kicker. After I climbed in the back seat I began to take note of the surroundings. Sauerkraut was straddling the driver's oxygen tank. So? He was also chain smoking cigarettes -- and don't mind the extremely long yellow-tinted-green finger nails (also very horror flick-like). So, not only was I looking around for the chainsaw that they must have hidden under the oxygen tank, I was calculating my chances of surviving the explosion given my close proximity to the oxygen tank. No worries, I wasn't thinking the odds were on my side. So, I was extremely thankful when our stop came up and the gentleman pulled over. BUT, just so I would sigh an even greater sigh of relief -- they offered us the opportunity to continue on with them rather than returning to the trail. Yes, yes they did. I wish I could make this stuff up. The moral of the story: even the shadiest of hitches can turn out all right, you just have to have luck on your side -- and faith. So, back to the pizza. Being a "real" hiker is hard work. So 14+ difficult miles later we came upon Partnership Shelter. What is so special about this you ask? At Partnership Shelter you can order pizza -- delivered TO the shelter. No kidding! So after a hard day's work we consumed lots of delicious food, to include pizza and slept soundly with rather well liked company. We met the OSU boys today and they seem to be an alright foursome. Tomorrow we will resume this hiking thing -- and tonight I will count my blessings.