6-19-12 Accidental zero

Another night at Partnership shelter. Wt: 200

There is a shuttle from the Mt. Rogers visitor center to Marion and it only costs 50 cents! The schedule is inconvenient, though, for hikers. Shahanu was so stressed with the early return time that he stayed and hitched back to the shelter. We barely made it on time because I got copies made of my pictures and also we spent hours in Walmart, which was overstimulating and exhausting. I am very happy that I finally got my pictures backed up onto dvds. It took two dvds to copy them all. Eagle Eye reminded me that I had wanted to do that and I'm so glad she remembered, because I had forgotten to add it to my list. I made duplicate dvds and mailed them to Katie who will make copies onto my external hard drive and make sure they can be read before I will delete the memory cards.

I weighed myself at the visitor center and was at 200 pounds! I bought new hiking capri/yoga pants, in size medium. They are stretchy and the large size fit well, but they will stretch with use and I will lose more weight, so I need them to be small on me to start with. I think that is why my running shorts started chafing me. I have lost 18 pounds and the shorts got too loose. I'm about to cut my Macabi skirt into a mini, or just cut out the pockets and figure out how to use them without the skirt. Maybe I will give it up altogether. Now that I have longer pants to protect my legs the two layers are just way too hot, and I need shorts or pants to protect my thighs from chafing.

Once back at the shelter at 3pm, we repackaged the food and Eagle Eye sewed up the mesh pockets in my skirt, which were tearing, and tried to fix her backpack shoulder straps with pipe insulation. We meant to hike on, even if only a few miles, but at 6pm I wanted a shower and at 7:30 a couple of hikers ordered pizza right in front of us and we couldn't resist. By the time it came and we ate it was getting dark, so we went back to the shelter and stayed another night. At least our productive zero day didn't cost anything for the two nights and the shower, but I did get three bug bites on my face and ear. I should have tented.

Oh yeah, a ridge runner, named Jonathan?, who I met on Springer Mountain my first day on the AT showed up at Partnership shelter looking for Crazy Beard because he signs the shelter walls and offends some people. Also, it is graffiti or something, though lots of hikers do it. Some hikers, like Chopsticks, sign the white blazes and rocks and trees, and that makes me mad. The shelters are already full of it, but the blazes? Come on. The rangers are looking for him and Soleman, too, because of their excessive graffiti. We told him that Crazy Beard is a good guy, but I think he is a wanted hiker now. I wonder what they will do to him if they catch him?