Date: 2012-05-17
From: Hurricane Shelter

To: Partnership Shelter / Visitor Center
Miles today: 19.9
Weather: scattered clouds

I got a 7:15 start and waved hello to the tenters, a cute early-50's couple, as they walked by.  I hiked in solitude through a golden morning and had lunch at Trimpi Shelter.  A nice place deep down in a valley of tall oaks.  It was a pleasant respite from the heat of the high noon sun.  Here I met Hoot and Wildflower, the tenters from earlier this morning.  They were headed for Partnership as well and from this, I knew that they had game.  A 20-mile day is a big deal and they were going for it.  I saw two salamanders down by the stream while I was filtering water and took a leisurely lunch hoping my feet would feel better.  I ran across a little bit of trail magic down by the big river.  Sodas and snacks were generously offered by another local church group and I met Strolling Astronomer there when he came across the bridge.  He's a fun guy.  I say this because he laughed at one of my jokes.  He asked me about wildlife and I was telling him about this large Carpenter Bee I had just photographed.  He responded with something about it being a bee's bee.  I told him it was probably the alpha bee.  Hilarious, right?  He asked me if I was a writer but I told him I just get lucky sometimes.  I walked through a sunny cow pasture and up to a long ridgeline, followed by a shady old roadbed.  I arrived at the shelter around 4pm. Partnership is a famous shelter for two reasons: you can take a shower and you can order pizza.  I had plenty of time to get cleaned up in the oscillating warmish-to-cold shower and I must acknowledge the fact that my feet are in the worst shape yet, just falling apart, but they are getting me where I want to go.  I must be nicer to them.  My shower was incredible.  Heels rolled in and I hadn't seen that guy in weeks.  We walked down from the shelter to the phone to call in for delivery pizza.  I was told that the delivery time was going to be 90 minutes.  I didn't have that kind of time.  Heels put his order in and I saw Hoot and Wildflower chowing down on burgers and spaghetti.  We discussed various wildlife sightings and I had my first conversation with hikers about realistic and comfortable daily mileage that wasn't ego-driven.  Season/Poetry in Motion (GAME 2002), her Dad (Tom), Anna, and Baxter cruised up to the gates a few minutes before 7pm.  My pack was still up at the shelter so we walked up in the soft afternoon light and I gave my new hiking posse the grand tour.  Partnership is a pretty fancy shelter and it was fun to show it off.  They aren't all that nice.  We drove into town for pizza but we all ordered various different things.  I got a burger, fries, and garlic bread twists called Doobie Rolls.  They lived up to their name.  While we were eating, crazy thunder and lightning rocked the little town and rain poured down.  It even knocked out their data connection.  Tom drove us back to the shelter but Baxter was barking his head off and we decided that sleeping under the eves of the visitor center would be a better idea.  We watched the lightning storm from the concrete steps and the girls organized their packs in preparation for tomorrow's hike. The four of us remained dry and happy sleeping pseudo-cowboy style on the concrete and shielding our eyes from orange lights.