Date: 2009-05-16
From: Damascus

To: Damascus
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

I headed over to Mojoe's as early as possible to beat the breakfast crowd. Unfortunately, it seems that everyone else had the same idea! Standing in line ahead of me, I saw Circuit Rider and Sherlock, who I had not seen since Amicola Falls! It was so nice to see them again! They had a limited selection for breakfast, which they were cooking outside. It turned out to be kind of disappointing, but the company was nice. I told CR and Sherlock that I wanted to stay in Daleville on Monday if I could find a place to stay so I could do some writing. (Bound and Bones were headed out on a roadtrip Monday morning). Circuit Rider said he knew a nice family that loves to have hikers over and that he would give them a call! Great! (He and Sherlock have actually hiked the trail 6 or 7 times and are well-connected!)   The group I drove down with came in for their breakfast with plans to see the Gene Epsy lecture on how the trail has changed over the years. Hellbender was beside himself with excitement about seeing the oldest living man to have hiked the entire AT (and the second person to have done so). However, it was difficult to get everyone moving, and some people split off to go to the post office instead. I was the only one if the group to make it there (late), followed by JJ. The lecture was not what I thought it would be... Gene was practically inaudible, and seemed to simply be recalling random memories from his trip. Unable to understand what he was saying, I found myself wondering why it is that old men always have to have their pants hitched so high up...(JJ was thinking the same thing!). I also began contemplating how I could make my pack lighter... Hellbender had showed me his new 2 lb Hubba tent the night before, which was looking pretty good to me! I had to change something because lugging around 40 lbs for 20+ mile days was not working out!   Michigan Wolverine came in to the lecture and we had a nice little reunion. He had been hiking a section of the AT with his son. We wandered over to the vendor section, where I hoped to find Certain and Persistent, but I didn't see them. JJ, Hellbender, and I lunched at Quincy's, where I saw Texas Chill (so great to see him) and then we headed over to join the parade. As we walked through town, the objective of the onlookers was to get us as wet as possible with huge water guns, balloons, and hoses! Persistent ran up to me at one point, introduced herself, and then ran ahead to find her class. After the parade, we found Certain and Incessant! It was great to see them again. We hung out for a bit and then I tried to find a place on the lawn for the talent show. Unfortunately, the sun had been baking us all day, and Certain invited me to have dinner with them at 4:45, so I was only able to see a couple acts. The talent show was the part of Trail Days that I was most interested in seeing, but it just didn't work out for me to watch it. Since arriving in Daleville, my eyes had flared up once again and were red, irritated, and painful, which was very frustrating. We ate a simple organic meal at a place that didn't seem prepared to serve us all, and then returned to the vending area for ice cream. Along the way, I ran into Sweet Water, bringing my hike full circle, as he was the 2007 hiker I had talked to at Pinkham Notch, who started the idea in my head for my own hike!    I said goodbye to the girls and headed back to the '08 area to meet up with Bound, Bones, Low, Hellbender, and JJ, as they had plans to check out tent city. Rain was expected and I wanted to grab my umbrella, but Bound said I would be fine. Drops began falling as we walked over, and we stood around the drum circle fire in the rain. Then, we tried to find the '08 fire, where Bones and Low were at. We ended up running into Skip, who eventually relinquished in leading us there through patches of poison ivy (what are we doing, traipsing through the woods in poison ivy at night?!). We soon decided to head back, and Bound delivered me safely to the Hiker's Inn.