Date: 2009-04-24
From: Hurricane Mountain Shelter

To: Trimpi Shelter
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: clear sky

We rose before the sun and packed everything up in the dark. For some reason I didn't sleep super well so I was a bit groggy when my alarm went off at 5:45am. We started hiking and got to Dickey Gap at 8:50 and the shuttle was already there waiting for Dom. The guy driving said it probably wouldn't be an extra charge for me to also ride back to Damascus, so I hopped in the van. We got to Damascus and Dom went to go pick up his car at the public parking lot while I spoke to the guys at the outfitter about my steripen. The day we hiked out of Damascus, Dom and I got water at the shelter and I was so excited to show him how the steripen worked. It started blinking red which meant I had to change the batteries. No problem! I learned from my mistake of not carrying extra batteries in the Smokies, so recently I've been carrying 4 extra. Well, the battery cover would not open...we tried everything...so the steripen was a no-go. We instead used iodine for 5 days straight. Anyways, I showed the guys at the outfitter and soon enough 4 guys were determined, each trying to get the battery cover off using various tools and methods. No dice. They called steripen for me and a new (and free) one is being sent to me in Pearisburg, which is great but it means I'll have to continue using iodine until I get there, which will probably be in at least 7 days. But I was glad to get that all straightened out!Dom arrived with his car and we grabbed lunch at Cowboys...I had a grilled cheese, fries, and ice cream which definitely hit the spot. I got my stuff organized for the next couple days then Dom drove me back to the trailhead at Dickey Gap. We said our goodbyes before he hit the road...it's been a fun 5 days! The next time I'll see him will probably be in CT.I got to the shelter (only 4 miles from the road) around 2:30 to find Dinner Time here collecting water. He moved on, and One Stick and Mudflap showed up shortly after. I lounged around reading in my trekker chair and before I knew it, Tagless, Tagalong, Bow Willow, and Ducky (with dog Madison) showed up. Sweet! Some others showed up while I was making dinner, including Plunger and Chef and some others, who I had not met before. Chef said someone not far behind him was trying relentlessly to catch up to me and had been reading all my updates in the shelter registers to see how many miles apart we were. He didn't want to give away the surprise, but I asked how far this person was behind me (thinking it was a day or two)...only 30 minutes behind!Sure enough Nicky (trail name Hot Sauce) showed up! Nicky and I have been friends for the past couple years...she is one of Dom's friends through work in New Hampshire and I knew she was hiking the trail this year and wasn't too far behind. She had been reading my shelter entries and read that Dom was hiking too, so she's been hiking crazy miles the past few days to catch up to us. She caught me, but too bad Dom left this morning...they missed each other by a couple of hours! Nicky and I spent hours catching up tonight and we may hike together tomorrow to the next shelter (which you can order pizza at!).