Date: 2017-10-18
To: Partnership Shelter 
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: clear sky

10/18Partnership Shelter11.6 milesWith the help of my air mattress I slept pretty well. At six I woke and gradually got moving. It was hard without coffee. I needed to time things right so I got to the barn at 7. I mean The Barn. It's semi famous on the trail. It's almost directly on the trail and has good, fairly cheap food. It opens at 7. I left the motel in the dark at 6:50, walking up the hill toward the welcoming light of the restaurant. I prefer dual caffeination, so I ordered Pepsi as well as coffee. I've noticed that everyone seems to carry Pepsi rather than Coke here. Bunch of heathens. I can make do with it but it's not my preference. The waiter didn't bat an eye at my odd request. Within a short time I had eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, and French toast. I ate it all with glee except for the piece of toast I managed to knock to the floor. The last bites I sort of had to pack in around the edges. Totally worth it. Atkins (or more properly Groseclose) really stepped up to the plate (heh) on this trip. Both Burrito Loco and The Barn rocked. Leaving The Barn in daylight I could see the frost building up. The temperature continued dropping until about 9 AM, thickly coating grass, windshields, and handrails. I ducked into my motel room to finish packing. I rounded everything up and stowed it, but I found reasons to delay leaving. It was warm inside and cold out there. Why would I leave that?Eventually I left the room, warmly dressed. Trees were starting to drip but the grass was still thickly coated in white. My feet quickly grew wet, although not uncomfortably cold. I made mental notes to get my woolen and waterproof hiking socks from home. They weren't necessary today, but I think this morning was a preview of days to come. I'll want them later. Within an hour I was down to one layer. It was cold when I stopped but felt good otherwise. I stopped briefly at the Lindamood School and took some pictures, then continued uphill. At Chatfield Shelter I stopped for a snack. The register detailed a hunter holding a shotgun on a hiker at nearly point blank range in the last few days. I decided it was a good time to don my blaze orange vest. It's still a little warm to hike wearing it, but sweat is far preferable to near misses. Or actually being shot. I was surprised to see a "privy closed" sign at Chatfield. No explanation. I guess it's full? Or broken? I dunno. It didn't look like a good place to have to dig a hole - a narrow valley with minimal cover. I'm glad I had not arrived intending to stay. At Partnership I quickly rounded up two other hikers to order food, as there's a $15 minimum. Within half an hour I was happily scarfing pizza. I got some Sprite to drink with it. I got Pepsi to have with the leftovers in the morning. I'm definitely going to have to dump some soda before I leave. Totally worth it to be able to have soda with my dinner and my leftovers though. At 7:30 it seems like half the shelter is asleep, which is weird because nobody seemed to be a morning person. Maybe they were just too chilly to hang out outside their sleeping bags. I know I spend a lot of time in mine. It's weird how few people I see during the day, but I still see people at shelters. Not a lot, usually. The five people in tonight's shelter is the biggest crowd in some time, and I've spent plenty of nights alone. But it's still more than it feels like in the woods. This portion of the hike is very different from my more crowded northbound section. I had my share of solo nights there too. But the woods felt less empty. Years of solo hiking has accustomed me to my own company in the woods. I find it peaceful. In fact I get a little grumpy when there are too many people around. I like a person or two in camp, generally. But I'm surprisingly happy walking alone all day. Sometimes people are work. Especially with strangers, the timing of who talks when, understanding accents, failed attempts at humor, and all kinds of other awkwardnesses can make interactions stressful. That almost never happens when it's just me talking to myself.