Day 56

Weather:
Sunny; no rain.

Today's Hike:
Campsite to USFS 86 – 11.0 miles

Muster and I were on the trail by 8am, motivated by the thought of Pizza Hut. We made it Partnership Shelter by 11:00. Muster went up to the Mt. Roger Visitor Center and placed our order to Pizza Hut only to be told that Pizza Hut wouldn't deliver until 4pm. That's vital hiker information that should be posted somewhere, dontcha think? Apparently, Pizza Hut won't deliver after 9pm either which our friend Kate hiked 26 miles to get there and placed her order at 9:15pm. Our evaluation ~ Pizza Hut, not so hiker friendly. Luckily, Pizza Plus would deliver and by noon we were eating pizza at the shelter. In addition, a previous thru-hiker had stopped by the shelter with a bag full of goodies, and a current thru-hiker had made a run into town and brought back ice-cold sodas and Reese's cups. It was trail magic everywhere!

Three hours later we were ready to get going again when Georgia's Girls (Nutmeg, Billy Hoot, Lil' Dipper and Boy George) strolled in. Off came the packs. We warned them about the pizza situation, ordered some more sodas ourselves and sat back with the girls for a while. Around 3pm (4 hours after arriving) the Three Amigo's showed up and we became further sucked into the shelter. As good company kept strolling in, it became harder and harder to hike out. We kept hoping that the Packadivas would stroll in as well, but we got word from another hiker that they were stopping short of the shelter for the day, so we knew we had to push on. Finally, around 5pm, we along with Georgia's Girls got our packs on and trekked 4 miles to a campsite off of USFS 86 and set up shop for the night.

On the news front I’ve been informed that the Tag Team had to get off the trail. Tagless has been having some abdominal pain on and off since Damascus, and after a rather painful morning the two hitched a ride into Marion where he visited the local emergency room. There, he was informed that he had a hernia and needed surery asap. To their dismay they immediately got a greyhound ticket home.

I’m so depressed! Of the 56 days we have spent out on the trail we have shared a minimum of 1/2 our adventure with them. I had hoped to catch up to them today. I’m wishing Tagless the best of luck and we're keeping our fingers crossed for a quick recovery. I’m already are missing them heaps!!!!