Date: 2006-04-15
From: Iron Mountain Shelter

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 25.9
Weather: few clouds

4-15-06Iron Mountain Shelter to Damascus, VA25.9 miles      We got up early this morning, hoping to get some miles in today. We were happy to see Bear survived the night, without even the intrusion of a single mouse. Shanae was feeling better and we managed to be on the trail by 8:30 AM, our earliest start time yet.        The morning was nice and cool and the terrain was smooth on our feet, with nice, rolling hills after crossing Rt. 91. We made it to the first shelter in seemingly no time at all, and had ourselves a nice break there, planning to push it to the next shelter for lunch. When we arrived, another hiker named Matt was there, a big, freckled red headed guy who had spent the night at that shelter. He pushed on before we did.        It was still a little cool by the time we got moving again. As we were hiking along, I mentioned how nice it would be to see some trail angels at the next gap. Low Gap and behold, there were trail angels there! Brenda and Ron, a couple of people from the local ministry, were there offering all sorts of goodies. Not just various drinks and food, but toiletries, first aid supplies, zip lock bags, and socks. It was a pretty amazing display of trail magic.        While we were there, Switchback headed out, so we hung out with Matt until Bear joined shortly. Soon enough Crumbs and Sarsaparilla pulled up in a car, driven by their Aunt Jan. They were slackpacking, and within minutes, so were we! Matt, Bear, Crumbs, Sarsaparilla, Shanae, and I all had our packs taken to Damascus by Aunt Jan, while we were going to knock out the last 15 miles slack pack style.Off we went, springing up mountains with lightness at every step. On the way, we played 20 questions, Bear and I sang for everyone, took some breaks, and I learned a lot about our new hiker friend Matt. He had done many interesting things in his life already: studied in India, graduated with a master¢s in fine arts, did a stint with the Peace Corp in South Africa. While he was in the Peace Corp he studied with African shamans and would create works of art to complement their traditional stories. He even participated in their entheogenic ceremonies. And now he was hiking the AT. Here was one person who really knows how to live.The terrain was real easy all the way into Damascus. Once there, we were greeted with a surreal experience: people in white on rising platforms while others danced with ribbons below, people on the cross, Jesus getting kicked. It was a whole series of passion plays going on, and we were only too happy to get as quickly as we could away from there. Hello Damascus?We made our way to the hostel across from Mt. Roger¢s Outfitters where Aunt Jan was. Hung out there for a bit, got our packs, and then dropped them at The Place, a church run hostel, before going to the Baja Caf©.   This was an excellent Tex Mex place, with fresh hot tasty food, and one of two places in town that serves beer. I had a couple of beers, a taco salad, and a quesadilla, all delicious. After all this eating out along the trail, I swear when I get done I will just want home-cooked meals for awhile.Shanae and I told Switchback we would meet him at Dot¢s Inn for some drinks, but by the time we got to The Place and were taking showers and going through our packs, we were exhausted. No beers, just sleep.