Day 11 - 6/13/24 – A Bear and the Pizza Phone

6/13 Old Orchard Shelter (511.1) to Partnership Shelter (534.3)

I had a blast today. I got started hiking, hoping for some cell reception, which I didn’t have the night before. I only got one call through to my parents about two hours into the morning hike. Just after that, I had my first bear encounter, which was actually really anticlimactic. I saw the bear about 50 yards off the trail, and it immediately started running away over a ridge, and I lost sight of it. Even though I kept looking back over my shoulder for the next half hour, I didn’t see the bear again. I guess the bears really are more scared of us than we are of them. 

Partnership Shelter - one of the nicest along the AT

Around noon, a tramily (trekking family) passed me, and I spoke to one member, Rocky Raccoon, for a while as we walked. I kept going when they stopped for lunch, and I didn’t expect to see them again. I made it to Partnership Shelter on the earlier side, around five, which is one of the nicest shelters I’ve seen so far. It was two stories with a loft and had a shower (nonfunctional but still) and an outhouse.

The Tramily I met enjoying their dinner from the Pizza Phone

Most importantly, it is home to the famous Pizza Phone. Just a quarter mile from a visitor center is a landline phone you can order food on. I waited until 6, but no other hikers had shown up, so I ordered myself pizza and cheesecake. As I walked back to the shelter, I saw the tramily had arrived. They also ordered pizza, and we spent the evening eating and joking around.

Wes, a member of the Tramily, starting a fire with pizza boxes and a tree stump

I did some interviews around the campfire and got some of the best trail name stories so far. I stayed up later than I should have, but I couldn’t pull myself away from the conversation and music around the fire. Two of the hikers, thru-hikers nonetheless, actually carried guitars with them and played excellently. It was an awesome evening and a great reminder of why I’m out here: the incredible people.