Up early and on the trail. Five minutes later, rain started falling gently. Thinking that the trees would catch most of the rain, I left my poncho in my pack. After several miles, I realized that my clothes were wet, but I wasn't cold. So I left my poncho in my pack. At 11 am, I arrived at the turnoff to the Trimpi shelter where I'd planned to eat lunch. It was too early to eat, and I continued on. At noon, I ate lunch at a campsite and realized that the rain had stopped. My plan for the day was to stop at the Partnership shelter at mile 19 on the day, eat dinner then walk another mile or two. The rain prompted me to adjust my plan. Namely , to stay at the shelter for the night. It turned out that a Forest Service visitor center 100 yards from the shelter had a courtesy phone from which hikers can order pizzas from a restaurant in Marion, VA. How could I pass up that? Cruiser, Signpost, and I got to the shelter at 2:30 pm then walked to the visitor center and ordered pizzas. After eating my pizza, I cooked my regular dinner. I'm glad I changed my plans. Tomorrow morning I'll walk 11.5 miles to the Relax Inn motel on US 11 near Atkins, VA to resupply. Today's miles - 19.0. Total miles - 532.2.
