Date: 2005-04-21
From: Dickey Gap

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: broken clouds

Miles hiked today : 14.714.5 AT miles + 0.2 miles of side trailI woke up this morning at 6:25 a.m. and was out hitching for a ride with Red Rover by 7:15 a.m. We were passed by by several vehicles, despite my best attempts to get a ride. I even tried dancing, though that only served to make us laugh. Eventually, I hid behind the Hurricane USFS Campground sign and let Red Rover hitch. After a few minutes, an older gentleman pulled over and I ran out and hopped in the bed of his truck while Red Rover hopped in the cab.It was only a 2.5 mile ride to the Troutdale Trading Post, where we had breakfast. I walked 0.5 mile to the post office, passing by several buildings that were boarded up. The most amusing of which had a bumper sticker on the front door that read : "Charleton Heston is MY president!"After I re-packed my food bag, Red Rover and I headed outside to try to hitch back to the trail. Nobody was stopping, so we started asking people leaving the trading post for a ride back to the trail. After a few attempts, I secured a ride from Ray Love, who loaded us into his Caddy and managed to tell us a good portion of his life story in 2.5 miles of driving.I was back on the trail at 9:45 a.m. and covered the 4.0 miles to Trimpi shelter in a fair bit of pain, arriving at 11:35 a.m. The pain was due to neglecting my toes during yesterday's long hike. My feet had been sweating and I hadn't taken the time to dry them during rest breaks. As a result, the undersides of the base of several of my toes on both feet are a bit raw. At Trimpi Shelter, I cleaned my feet with baby wipes and put moleskin on the raw spots and rested until 1:20 p.m.The 10.6 miles to Partnership Shelter in the afternoon heat were very long, especially the 5.4 mile section from VA670 to the powerline just beyond VA601. 20 minutes after leaving Trimpi Shelter, I crossed through a meadow with a yellow school bus up on the hill. There was no visible sign as to how it got there and it looked as if it had been there for sometime. Near the bus was a very vocal cow, which answered nearly every time I mooed at it. It trotted down the hill and kept mooing until it was answered by a young calf. The calf had a white body and black head with white markings that made its face look like a panda. It was amusing to watch the calf run through the tall grass.At 3:15 p.m., as I was ascending Brushy Mountain, I could hear thunder in the distance and could see dark clouds on the horizon, though the sky was still blue with fluffy white clouds aboe me. I was somewhat apprehensive, as I still had close to 6.0 miles to cover to Partnership Shelter and I didn't want to get caught in a storm. I was wondering whether my 1 hour 40 minute rest break at Trimpi Shelter was such a good idea. Thankfully the storm stayed at a distance and I stayed dry.At 4:00 p.m., I reached the VA601 intersection, where there was a complete rib cage of some unknown animal hanging on a post. It looked about the size of a coyote to me, though there was speculation from others that it may have been a deer.It was only 4.0 more miles to Partnership Shelter, where I arrived at 5:45 p.m. This shelter is huge and has 2 stories with enough room to sleep at least 16 hikers. I was able to take a hot shower, sans towel, and then ordered pizza for dinner. The telephone was actually at the Mt. Rogers NRA headquarters 0.1 mile up the trail, but was located outside and free to use. I bought a large pizza with a 2 liter bottle of soda for $20, which was fairly expensive, but worth it. I ended up selling the last 1/4 of my pizza and soda for $5. I would have eaten it for breakfast, but it was probably better to sell it. I'm going into Atkins, VA tomorrow and the $5 will serve to buy ice cream and fruit.I made a mathematical error in my entry yesterday. Atkins, VA is not the 25% point of the AT. The actual 25% point is just before the intersection with VA610. I expect to hit that mark on Saturday.Bedtime at 9:50 p.m.