Date: 2016-03-17
From: Trimpi Shelter

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: clear sky

I met two younger NOBO hikers today called The 60¢s. They are named that because their packs both weighed 60 plus pounds when they first started. I was excited to get to Partnership shelter to find out if it really was true that you could have pizza delivered right to the shelter. By the time I got there 60¢s and ¢60¢s also¢ were both eating large pizzas. 60¢s explained that there¢s a $30 minimum order and I wasn¢t sure about getting two large pizzas for myself. I sat down to rest a bit while I pondered this and was having a good time hearing the stories from these two about hiking thru the Smokies in the deep snow. Right when I was about ready to walk over to the Mt Rogers Visitors center to use the phone on the back porch to place my pizza order, 60¢s offered to let me have the last two slices from his box. ¢Are you sure?¢ I asked, trying not to grab the pizza too quickly as I said this. Perfect, two slices is about all I need, I thought to myself. Turns out I was able to help them out by giving them the key to my car that was waiting for me in Atkins. The actual town of Atkins is 3 miles down the road and ¢60¢s also¢ had to get to the post office to pick up a resupply box of his. I asked him to leave the key in the super secret location on top of the front tire. I found some interesting entries in the shelter journal tonight. I took photos of them and will share some of them with you later. Speaking of the shelter journal, there¢s a NOBO named Dr John who¢s been writing rather extreme political statements in the journals. He blew by me in the Grayson Highlands saying something about how far he was behind schedule as he walked right past me without breaking his stride. At the Trimpi shelter last night he had written something that starts out with ¢The reason the Republicans are such morons is¢¦ ¢ I decided to have some fun so using the same pen and mimicking the shaky lettering of Dr John, I added ¢(trump supporter)¢ right after his name. The 60¢s obviously stopped in to sign the journal at the Trimpi shelter since they brought his name up along with his incongruous entry. ¢Really, he wrote that?¢ I said, testing to see if my forgery of his handwriting had passed muster. ¢Yes, I looked carefully at it and it was in the same handwriting.¢ ¢Hahahaha¢¦¢ I responded, letting them in on my little joke. In the journal here at the Partnership shelter Dr John had written another note, finishing with ¢I write interesting things, At least I don¢t write - Last night I had pizza¢So 60¢s made the next entry:Last night I had pizza. 60¢s It¢s nice to talk with some other hikers for a change. I can hear the insects making noise out in the night forest. I wonder if this is something new that comes along with the arrival of Spring. I¢ve been sleeping really well at night lately. It seems that somewhere along the line I¢ve settled into thru hiking. I don¢t feel out of my element like I did when I was out on the trail last year. Thanks for reading this journal. Please send me your comments, suggestions, and any gentle ridicule by using the guestbook on the left side of this page.