Date: 2005-05-04
From: Damascus, VA

To: Campsite
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Ms. Priss didn't sleep so well last night. She shared a room with 3 gentlemen who were constantly snoring throughout the night, and one who was having an unintelligable conversation with an imaginary person. She finally got up and went to the common room where she slept much more comfortably on the couch than she did on the hard slab bunk.The original intent had been to pack up and leave just after breakfast, however we still had one more package of goodies we were waiting on from our friends Robin and Brian. We dined again at Cowboys for breakfast, and killed a bit of time in Damascus until UPS arrived. We recieved our package full of surprises, not the least of which was an assorted variety of Krispy Kreme donuts. Man, were they tasty!! Thanks guys!!!Sadly, it was time to leave and we had hiking to do if we were to catch up to Mr. Clean Jr. We both had some motivational issues coming out of Damascus...such as why are we out here? Why exactly are we walking 2,174.9 miles from GA--->ME, when we could get in our car and catch the high points along the way? Up until now, we have had miniature goals to attain along the way...the Smokies, Hot Springs, Damascus. Now the next big "goal" is Harper's Ferry, 500 miles away. Don't get me wrong, there are other towns, but everyone builds up Harper's Ferry as such an accomplishment and you don't hear much about any of the other places in VA. So, in short, there are 3 miniature goals to reach in the first 500 miles and only one in the 2nd 500. I guess the other thing that had us a little down is how thin the trail community is starting to become. Word trickles in slowly of hikers deciding to go home, and it happens very quietly. We have started to notice that we are hiking in ! smaller groups these days. It is always a little sad to see a person give up on their dreams.We also miss our babies back home. We see other dogs out on the trail and it makes us a bit homesick. Even though this is the case, we know how trying the trail can be and is. We asked for this and our dogs didn't, so it isn't fair that we make them stumble over roots and rocks in the snow and rain. We can't in good conscience put them through that day in and day out. We've talked about maybe seeing if we can arrange to bring Petey out with us for a week if possible though.Even though we had some motivational issues we kept hiking. It may take us the entire trip, maybe longer, to fully explore the reasons we are out here, but we are determined to stay on the trail. We have heard so many stories of people who get off the trail, only to realize that 3 weeks later they made a huge mistake but feel it is too late to go back. We can't stomach the thought of that happening to us.The great thing though today is we have had yummy donuts and beautiful weather for hiking. Since we didn't hit the trail until 2:30ish, we decided on a shorter day. We hiked in 11.7 miles to a campsite near a nice little pond and shared the area with Train & Raindrop, Socks, and Butterfly Moon & her beau. We've had dinner, and now we are sitting listening to the songs of the treefrogs and bullfrog and I can't help but think of my Papaw. As a child, I (Ms. Priss) can remember him telling me the conversations the different frogs would have. I wish I could explain this better, but one would really need an audio.Well, the sounds are starting to lull me to sleep.