Creek crossing, May 19
So the next day or two becomes a game of tag between a lot of us hikers. Communication along the Trail is remarkably flexible. We have a sense of where our friends and 'family' are mainly from the shelter registers and from the gossip column of hikers going faster and slower. News gets around. I had teased about how I was going to catch up with High Spirits and DreamCatcher, maybe even pass them. A little friendly comraderie, but they had left D-town early Sunday morning while the rest of us stayed and played.
I am hiking alone save for passing some familiar faces, and roll into Trimpi Shelter mid-morning. A register entry from 5/18:
This poem's about bad DNA
You are trying to catch us they say
Quickly you must tread
With your white blazed head
Will we be seeing you later today?
-DreamCatcher and High Spirits
My register reply:
It's rumored there're two gals who can hike
All morning, noon and apparently night
They give dreams and spirits a lift
And seem surefooted and swift
But pizza may have slowed their flight
So here I'll take a quick nap
To make sure my energy's not sapped
Many miles I'll tread
Now that I'm well-fed
And spirited dreams this evening I'll tap
D-oing
N-ights
A-gain
Ten miles later, I came to the visitors center for Mt. Rogers. It was nearly dusk. The center had closed hours ago. Thunderchicken was going to camp on the covered porch. Good idea. Registers had mentioned folks hitching down Va 16, the highway between Sugar Grove and Marion for pizza. I just wanted a grocery store. Thought it might be a quick hitch, but the trip down to Foodlion and back took until midnight. The next day, we hung around until the center opened, played tourist, then started back north mid-morning. M=21.1; C=514.2. I had broken 500 miles.