Date: 2009-05-03
From: Trimpi Shelter

To: Atkins
Miles today: 22.2
Weather: moderate rain

My hammock generated great interest amongst several of the thru-hikers last night. Several of them gathered around and asked questions as I set it up. Of course, this was the one night when I failed to properly align my tarp over my hammock.. "It's not going to rain tonight, is it?", I asked, preferring to keep it the way it was. It was getting late and dark. "Yes," came the reply. I ended up having to reposition it twice for the first time on this trip. "The Hennessey website says it takes 3 minutes to set-up," one of the hikers quipped.    It's a good thing I took the time to properly position the tarp, as it started raining hard at about 4:30 in the morning. The rain precluded an early start to the day, but did allow me to demonstrate that you can indeed stay dry in a hammock in bad weather. When I got up, I tied two ends of my tarp to trees, like we did yesterday, and did not need to take anything up to the shelter to stay dry as everyone else did. I ate, put on my contacts, and packed up underneath the tarp. Lonesome Roads was jealous and felt like mocking me. He actually wanted to bring his tent underneath my tarp to break it down, but decided he would be okay on his own.       As I set off with the goal of getting to Atkins in mind, the rain slowly began to let up. I saw a deer at the top of the hill, from the shelter path. I love how gracefully they move.   A mile into my hike, I reached a beautiful meadow and then suddenly saw the abandoned bus off to the left. It brought a big smile to my face, as I had not been expecting to see it! Many cows were grazing in the grass near it, and I took several pictures on my way over to check it out. I had seen pictures of this bus on trail journals, and thought about all of the photographs of people "driving" the bus. I always seem to be alone at these pivotal moments, but I still enjoy them. 'Sky King' whizzed by, completely uninterested in checking out the relic. After I took pictures of the bus, I had great fun photographing the cows! By that time, Lonesome Roads had come along, and I hiked with him for a stretch before moving on. "Show off!" he called out. "I'm trying to get to Atkins," I reminded him. It was going to be a long day and I had to get moving. After that, upon seeing me, he would call me 'The Atkins Express'.    I passed a thru-hiker on one of the climbs, and I don't think he liked it because he tried his hardest to keep up with me ever after. He was not interested in conversing, but definitely seemed competitive. He also made fun of me for taking pictures. There were some nice views down into Atkins, but once again, I didn't felt like I had the breathing space to take the pictures I wanted to. I breathed a sigh of relief as I finally put some distance between us. Everything became so serene and peaceful in my solitude for a few minutes.   I reached Partnership shelter at about 11:30 and took a leisurely lunch break there. This is the shelter that is close to the Mt. Rogers Visitor's center, from where you can use the phone outside to order pizza. It would have been fun, but the timing was not right. You can only order the pizza after 4 and because it was rainy and I had been spoiled with town food recently, I didn't feel any pull to spend the night there. Lonesome Roads pulled in, excited about buying some Coke from the Visitor's Center. However, it was closed and he returned dejected (the closure on Sundays is new and must be due to budget cuts). His brain was also seared with the image of the hiker who was tailing me, going to the bathroom right on the trail, in view of Lonesome Roads, as he could not wait (to even walk into the woods). "You couldn't wait one more mile?" he called out to the hiker. His question was returned with a sinister grin.    I moved on after about an hour. Single Speed pointed out the location of the phone to me on the visitor's center from which I was supposed to call the new hostel in Atkins to notify them I was coming. There was a bit of confusion about my location and how soon I could arrive, but I assured them I could be there in 4 and a half hours. The afternoon was a bit slow going for me. I find that I hike fastest in the morning when I am fresh, and then again in the late afternoon, after a nice break. Although I was told to call again when I got to the gas station (my phone reception has been almost nil in towns), I felt pressure to move quickly, and keep my word on when I would arrive. I had a couple of climbs, and on one of them, I found the offending hiker lying in the middle of the trail! He found it perfectly fine to take naps directly in the path of the hikers, as this way he would wake up when someone came along. I found it very strange and somewhat disturbing!   When I reached Chatfield Shelter, I found Chance, who I had not seen since Hot Springs, reading a book. The other hiker had also come in, and thanked me for pushing him throughout the day. I continued on, having 4.5 miles to reach Atkins. I came to another surprise when I reached the old schoolhouse at the Settlers Museum! I had not anticipated spending the extra time at another attraction, but had to go in! The maintainers are very hiker friendly and even put out several gallons of water for us! I read through the registry and was so happy to see that Papa Doc had signed in. After a quick look around, I was back on my way, through meadows and farmland with fragrant flowers. It smelled so nice. I listened to my ipod and sang my way into Atkins. The greatest surprise was that I had cell phone service at the gas station! I talked to Ram Bunny on the phone, and she said she was on her way to pick me up.   With a big wave and smile from inside of her truck as she pulled in, the wonderful hospitality of the Happy Hiker Hollow had begun! I did not realize that it was more of a house than a hostel, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that Braid, Red Tree, and another hiker were already there as the other guests! I was given my own room (how wonderful!), and allowed to take a shower before dinner. There was a closet full of lounge clothes for us to to choose from as our laundry was being done. And what a spread we had for dinner! Chicken and turkey, rolls, all kind of casseroles, corn pudding... you name it! Aqua and Ram Bunny (who holds the record for the first and only female so far to hike the AT in 3 consecutive years) are experts at squeezing as many vegetables and fruits into their dishes (even the chocolate cake had berries in it!). We were welcomed to help ourselves to as many helpings as we wanted, but our group seemed to be a bit shy about doing that. Aqua said that the southbounders were outdoing us, but after I helped myself to some more food, he moved me into the southbounder category! I think its funny how much I am eating because there have been times in my life where I have subsisted on so little, and eaten so slowly! Even after several town meals in the past few weeks, my appetite was still huge!   I let Braid use the computer to journal, as he was hitting the trail the next morning. I planned on zeroing to write. I labeled my pictures in my room instead and called it a night!