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Journal
| About Downunda | Trail
Facts | Hiking the Trail |
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4th May 2002 From:
Racoon Branch Shelter
There were strong winds all afternoon and the sun didn't break through. I reached the Partnership Shelter around 1:30 P.M. This shelter is 200 meters from the Mt. Rogers Visitor's Center, where a bunch of us used the payphone to order pizza's to be delivered to the shelter. A "trail angel," Pippy, who was a year 2000 thru-hiker, dropped off a case of beer, chips, and marshmallows for the gang here. [The Keyboard Hiker - A "trail angel" is a kind-hearted individual who performs a good deed (for example, gives a ride into town or back to the trail) for a hiker.]
Around 2:30 P.M. an Australian girl, Walkabout, who is hiking the AT, got some friends to drive her down for the day from Roanoke, VA. She's working in the U.S.A. as a Nanny and has taken a six-month break to hike the AT. She wanted to bring her friends down to see the Partnership Shelter. When Walkabout and her friends were leaving, I got them to give me a lift nine miles down the road to the township of Marion, where I needed to get some supplies. While there, I bought some tubs of ice cream, beer, and Guiness for the "gang" back at the shelter. No need to say, I was popular when I returned. By the way, it's around 2 degrees Celsius here and freezing. This is a double story shelter complete with hot shower. Staying here tonight are Polish Ninja, Real, Movin', Shakin', Wanderer, Ishmail, Grinder, Birch, and more. That's all for now, goodnight. |
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Started out around 7:00 A.M. today. The morning was misty and it rained fairly constantly. I passed a few southbound hikers but because of the cold, rainy weather we didn't stop to chat. However, one hiker I did stop to chat with was Deldoc (Delaware
doctor) (see picture left). He's a retired M.D. and is hiking the trail with a very high tech GPS system. He had this huge radar array off the top of his backpack. He's mapping the AT from Georgia to Maine and takes a positional reading every 100 steps. His equipment cost $14,000 and he paid for it himself. He is hoping the AT mapmakers will use his data to produce highly accurate maps.
