Date: 2006-05-26
From: Half a mile N of Dickey Gap, Va

To: Partnership Shelter, Va (on the trail)
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: light rain

14.1 miles todayComfort Inn/Daleville, Va. There was a lot of heavy rain and close thunder and lightening last night.It got so windy a few times that it blew rain into the tent and that has only happened to me a few times in over 800 nights in my tent.I just stuck my garbage bag that I store my sleeping bag in, in front of the tent window until the wind let up a bit, then I went back to sleep. I finally woke up at 6:30am and laid in my sleeping bag looking out at the forest and enjoying the richer colors of the wet woods. I also have to say again that I really like my new 8 inch titanium tent stakes that I bought at Trail Days. I set my tent up last night in soft earth and even with all the blowing wind overnight, the stakes held perfectly.I'm not much of a gear geek, but once in a while I change when I find something I like.Most of the time I just keep using my same ol' stuff because it all works so well for me. I stuck my alcohol stove out the tent door and started the Starbuck's a brewin' and ate my two fruit pies for breakfast. We were all packed up and walking by 9:10am. I guess Shortcut was conditioning me today because I had to carry my own tent....and it was wet!! :-))) We spotted a doe about 35 yards away that was up on a ridge just before High Point. We walked by the side trail to Trimpi Shelter without stopping. We stopped about a mile before the Holston River and took a break, then found a nice stream about 5 minutes before the river and filled our water bottles. We sat down on the climb after the river and took another break. Mr K and Crescent City both walk by. Mr K is one of the few hikers that I've seen wearing the same Asic shoes as I wear.Mine usually last about 1,200 miles per pair. We were climbing again and Billy from Philly passed by us. I mentioned to Shortcut that if we got to Partnership Shelter where my truck was parked before 4:30, we could ride north an hour or so and eat at the Homeplace for dinner. The gates are locked at the Visitor's Center for Mt Rogers then and we wouldn't be able to get out if we got there after 4:30. She thought I was brilliant. ;-))) It was about 2pm and we still had about 4 1/2 miles to go and she wasn't sure we could make it in time, so we agreed that I would walk ahead and get the truck out before the gate got locked for the evening. I took off walking and came up to Mr K, Billy from Philly and Mitch pretty soon.Mr K was the fastest hiker, so I fell in behind him and we started walkin' and talkin'. :-))) We passed by Crescent City, said hello and kept on walking. We got to Partnership at 3:05pm, way faster than I thought we would, but we were moving along pretty fast. I stopped and signed the register, talked to The Wanderers and Breeze and met Hard Chargin'. I walked over to the truck and got into a bag of potato chips. :-))) I went in and let the volunteer at the Visitor's Center know that I was picking up my truck and I bought a Va Gazette so when Shortcut is slacking me for the next short while, she can find me when I cross a road. I checked my email for the first time in a while, then was just getting ready to move the truck outside the gate, when I saw Shortcut coming. We decided that since we were going to Catawba, that we would take a zero tomorrow in Daleville. I drove and in about 90 miles, we got to the Homeplace. Needless to say I was VERY excited!!!We went in and didn't have to wait to be seated.Shortcut went to the bathroom and by the time she got back, I was eating dinner. :-))) Ohhhhh, fried chicken good!!! I saw another hiker come in, then saw Little Bear come in with someone else.I figured I would go and talk to him after we finished, but he found me.He said he saw my truck outside and wondered what I was up to. I did go over to his table when we paid, but stopped for a minute and talked to Willow, the thru hiker I saw come in earlier. It was good to see Little Bear again and he introduced me to his friend, Gizmo...not the ridge runner, but the trail maintainer. We all talked for a while before Shortcut and I had to leave. On the way out the door, we ran in Mala and talked somemore. :-))) That's one of the things I like best about this trail...the friends you run into everyday out here. I gave Willow a ride back to the trail, then I drove to my favorite motel on the trail, the Comfort Inn in Daleville and checked in. I spent most of the night on my laptop catching up on the news and uploading photos into my journal from the last part of my hike. They are all dated from May 20th on. I think I uploaded about 45 photos. Go take a look!! :-))) I also needed to buy some new hiking shorts, since I ripped my old ones the other day. :-(((There's a good outfitter here in Daleville that I'll go to tomorrow. My right heal is still feeling fine after I did surgery on my insole the other day. I can't say how good that makes me feel because now I know I can keep going on this walk. :-)))