Date: 2016-05-09
From: Marion, VA

To: Partnership Shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: clear sky

It was good to be back in Virginia and I took advantage of a morning in a hotel to catch up trail journals and email. Marion has a great transit system where they have a shuttle that will take hikers up to the Mt. Rogers Visitor Center for 50 cents. They stop at all the hotels and a number of other stops if you call ahead and take you up the mountain. My start point where I got off last year was about 10 road miles beyond so I ended up having to hitchhike the last 10 miles from the Visitor Center. I was fortunate and got picked up by a couple whose son had thru hiked the AT in 2014 and was now thru hiking the PCT.I was finally back to where I got off last year, took the obligatory picture at the trail sign and headed for Maine.   The trail in this part of Virginia was really gentle and I made great time compared to North Carolina. The ups and downs here came in 100 and 200 foot increments and not 3000 foot climbs and descents where I had just come from.The trail meandered through hillsides and meadows and the temperatures were really comfortable. I had a late start with the timing of the shuttle and having to hitchhike so I didn't get back on the trail until 12:30 so I didn't expect to get in too many miles. The terrain was gracious and at 10 miles where I had planned to camp, there was still plenty of day left so I pushed on. There were fewer opportunities for water in this section so my camping options were limited. At 12 miles I was getting close to be in range of Partnership Shelter at the Mt. Rogers Visitor Center and the draw was getting very strong to get there. At Partnership there is a phone (at the Visitor Center) where you can order pizza and have it delivered. The draw was getting powerful the closer and closer I got. I kept expecting to see the shelter as the miles clicked down but it wasn't to be seen yet. The thought of pizza for dinner was becoming overwhelming, and like a child waiting for Christmas morning, it seemed like it would never come. It was getting dark as it was around 8:30 and going through the tunnels of Rhododendrons made it even darker. Finally I got a glimpse of a tent, then two, then six and I knew I was almost there! There were a large group of hikers at the shelter and around a campfire and a number of them were eating pizza. I threw my pack down and scurried to the visitor center another .2 miles down the trail to call for my pizza. I didn't know how late they stopped delivering so I was hustling.I got to the visitor phone and called Pizza Perfect but they had a $30 minimum order- ARGHHHHH! I tried Pizza Hut and they didn't have a minimum and so I was able to get in an order. Jackpot! 45 minutes and it would be there. There were several other hikers at the visitor center eating their pizza and drinking beer. They offered me a beer (Double Jackpot!!) and introduced themselves - Caboose, Voodoo, and Limey.Forty-five minutes later I had my pizza and sat down by the light of the visitor center and devoured half a large pizza and two Pepsi's. The Pizza Proximity Equation had now been reset, and I was satisfied after a 16 mile day. Welcome to Virginia.