Date: 2022-06-04
To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

June 4thI was remiss on June 3rd not talking about the Grayson Highlands. In my opinion this was prettiest part of the first 534 miles. That seems to be the consensus of all the hikers that I met today, and in one shelter logbook that I viewed before getting to my final destination for the night. Each shelter has a logbook where hikers can note their presence and any thoughts they have about the day's hike. I will post some pictures of the ponies, some of the really pretty views, and the 500 mile marker that I passed.Today was my longest hike of the trek to date. I actually hiked 25 miles today, although I will report it as 24 miles. When I am hiking I don't spend all of my time looking for white blazes that markthe trail. I could be singing hymns in my head, praying, having imaginary conversations or thinking about all of the tasks that I ordinarily do that Beth must do in my absence. And on a bright sunny day, parts of the trail will have sunlight, and adjoining trail will be in shade. If I don't watch where I'm putting my feet the result can be a spill. On the 4th I was going for my sixth consecutive day of not taking a spill. But because I was intent on making tracks I went too fast on one downhill piece of trail and ended up taking a fall. But the reason for the mile that doesn't count was due to inattention. I was on well defined trail so I wasn't looking for blazes. When I hit a gravel road and there was no double or single blaze indicating what way I should turn it was time to turn my AT cell phone app on. It uses GPS and doesn't require a cell phone signal. Anyway, much to my dismay I discovered that the gravel road that I entered was not part of the AT; rather it was running parallel to the AT never to actually intersect it.I was 4/10ths of a mile north of the AT. I saw that if I hiked east a half mile I would nevver the gap to a little over a quarter mile. The unfortunate thing (besides the wasted mile) was that I was on the low side of the tree and brush covered mountain. It was a really slow hike uphill because of the steep grade. It turns out that I wasn't the only one who missed the turn. A guy at the Partnership Shelter (the ending point of my day's hike) did the same thingThe Partnership Shelter is part of a federal tourist facility. They have a phone on the outside of the building that hikers can use to order pizza and shuttle service. Again, not surprisingly, cell phones were worthless there. I was in a hurry to get there because the thought of having a pizza delivered was great motivation to make tracks. Unfortunately since I didn't arrive until 6:30 pm a pizza was going to cost $35 delivered because that was the firm's minimum order size to deliver out there. I passed on the $35 pizza, but 4 hikers generously shared a piece of their pizzas so I didn't have to cook Knorr's Spanish Rice on my isobutane stove.I needed to resupply, and a shuttle provider said that they would pick me up in 15 minutes. I finished my pizza just in time. The gentleman who picked me up was very gracious. He refused to take any money for picking me up. You meet a lot of nice people on the trail!