Date: 2013-04-17
From: Trimpli Shelter

To: Glade Mountain Road
Miles today: 14.8

(In which I nero through Marion on a rainy day)Some time late at night I wake up to a distant sound of thunder. Sluggishly I rouse myself from my hammock and rig up the rain fly. I am shortly rewarded for my effort when I don't get soaked in the storm. It starts raining 20 minutes after I am back in my hammock, and continues until I wake up again at a decent hour in the morning. Some of the folks that had been at the shelter are up and moving surprisingly early, and pass me while it is still raining and I am still in my hammock. I don't have my glasses on and cannot see who they are, and neither I nor they inquire on identities.There is a break in the rain, and I take advantage of this to break my camp and pack up. Before departing northbound, I head down to the shelter and see if anybody is still there. One tent is still set up, and Goat is in the shelter. The register shows that the departing hikers had been Slapp, Moxie, Leprechaun, and Fly. I am surprised to see Goat here, as I heard he had suffered frostbite in the late March snow. I don't ask about that supposed injury but it seems he has a different foot injury right now. Yesterday he limped into the shelter on a painful foot, and today he is just going to try reaching the nearby road and hitching off to get care.A couple unknown hikers show up and leave while I am filtering water and eating breakfast. I head out while Goat is packing up to make for the road. Shortly after I leave the shelter the rain resumes. I make no effort to keep dry, since my rain jacket will just leave me bathed in sweat once I start moving uphill. The guide indicates there is an abandoned bus near the Trail north of the shelter, but I never see it. I have taken off my glasses so I don't bother with trying to keep them dry. I don't see much of note as I plod northward through the rain, thinking of Partnership Shelter and the potential chance of drying off there.When I finally reach the shelter I only find a few weekenders and Moxie here. She learns that her group had passed me leaving Trimpli Shelter. The rest of the group has gone into town. Nomad is here with his van, and is bringing some folks into town soon. He cannot bring them back from town, but this removes the need to hitch in one direction and makes it easier for me. I get in the van with a few other folks. They are bound for Walmart or for the lodging options, and I am looking forward to a warm meal. The Italian place in town has a lunch buffet so I check that out, staying until the end of the buffet time eating and writing.After finishing up at the buffet I begin the process of leaving town. Unlike most towns I have been into near the Trail, Marion is a large town with many main roads. I have to walk a while in town before I reach the road that will bring me back to the visitor center and shelter. On the way I look for a sandwich shop, but I have no luck finding one. Instead I grab some drinks and snacks from a gas station near the highway and start on down the road, asking every passing car for a ride. An old Jeep Cherokee obliges, and drops me off at the visitor center driveway.A few other folks are around Partnership Shelter as the time approaches night. I order pizza with Moxie and a third hiker. Slapp, Fly, and Leprechaun return and order their own pizzas for a second delivery. Woodrow returns slightly later, having changed his phone plan from AT&T to Verizon in town. I feel like pushing on, and I pack up my somewhat drier gear and head out. It will be another late night walk, but the pull to mingle at Partnership Shelter was hard to overcome. Ordering pizza directly onto the Trail was too great of a novelty to resist!I do not go much farther, as all the food has slowed me down and I barely climb uphill in the dark. I reach a flat spot near a forest road and find a nice spot to set up my hammock. This was not as much progress as I was hoping to make tonight, but it gives me a good start for tomorrow morning.Peace,