Date: 2016-05-28
From: Stealth Campsite by Virginia 16

To: Mariott Hotel
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: scattered clouds

After waking up from a horrible night of sleep. First it was my air mattress or lack there of and sleeping basically on the hard ground. I awoke in the middle of the night to back spasms then when that passed the coyotes started screaming. Once they had moved on I was about to drift off when the whippoorwill started doing its call at 3am. Are you serious!!! At 6:30 I said forget it and got up and made breakfast and packed up. I took my time getting ready as I knew Jeff was picking me up at Mt. Rogers visitor center and it was only 14 miles away. I pushed off on trail about 9 and the first climb of the day was a steady up but not to bad. This mountain had no name in the book but was an 800 foot elevation gain. At the top I texted and called Jeff so we could agree exactly where to meet in case there was no cell service. I called my mom who was visiting in New Hampshire and Jeffs parents to get an update on the tropical storm and the timing. I headed the 2 miles down to trimpi shelter where I filtered water, had a snack, read, wrote in my paper journal, wrote in the log book. I killed some more time and pushed off again. The trail ascended some more passing through a field where the grass was chin high almost with the trail cutting through it. So cool. There were a couple more ups and downs but nothing to noteworthy. I did cross a road at one point and a long bridge over a creek the water looked so inviting as it was hot. I do remember the climb after the road had 8 false summits. You go up, up, up and think your almost there and then once on top you notice more up ahead. Finally reaching the summit I called Jeff to get an update. Then headed back down and arrived at Fellowship Shelter at 4:00. I walked over to the Mt. Rogers visitor center which was .20 miles away and arrived at 4:06 and they closed at 4pm. Argh!!!! So much for charging my phone. No cell signal here either. Let's hope Jeff finds me. I trudged back to the shelter and picked up trash. It makes me furious when thru hikers are careless and trash places. The shelter was like a log cabin with a loft area. On the right side of the shelter was a room which housed a cold shower. The inside of the shelter had 3 empty boxes of beer and trash scattered about and on the picnic table. It's this small % that ruin the good name of most thru hikers that are respectful, follow the rules, carry out more than what they carried in. I spent about 45 minutes cleaning up and walking trash to the dumpster on the other side of visitor center. I made 3 runs. Back at the shelter familiar faces started showing up. Waterfall and her guy, D3, Avalon, David. Bullet showed up and he started Springer on May 10. MAY 10!!!!! He's to where I am and I started April 6th holy crap he's literally running and his pack is 25 lbs. Crazy!! The visitor center has a phone outside their building where you can call local for shuttles and to have pizza delivered to the shelter. That's right it's the only place on the AT where you can get pizza delivered trail side. Waterfall her guy and I all ordered together. I got a large cheese and ate the whole thing. I chatted for awhile with everyone. At 7:30 I went and sat by the road as the visitor centers gates were closed. At 8:25 I saw the red Chevy cruise with New York plates coming up the road. OMG it has been almost 2 months since I've seen Jeff. It's the longest time we've ever been apart and it's been so hard. We drove to Bristol and got a room at the Marriot. Pool and hot tub. Now this is a zero