Date: 2015-04-07
From: Damascus

To: Damascus
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

For the first time since Hiawassee, I felt fully rested when I woke up at 7am because of Brightside's alarm. I stayed in bed until 8.30am, then I ate breakfast. My breakfast was 2/3rds of a box of frosted wheats. I was extremely full after that, and didn't move a lot until lunchtime. In the meantime, we watched Ace Ventura and then Oh Brother, Where Art Thou. I took another shower. Showers here aren't like ordinary showers. You have to scrub every part of your body- in between the toes, behind the ears, backs of knees. It takes a while, before even starting on hair that hasn't been washed or brushed for a week. The 7 of us were stuck inside all morning because the weather was extremely bad. It had rained all night, and continued to pour nearly all day. A few times, we heard thunder and saw lightning. About midday, I decided that I had to finally go to town and get some new shoes, despite the weather and the comfort of the cabin. I had to put all my rain gear on to walk 5 minutes to the outfitters. It was soaked when I got there. I had to take my gear off just so I could try on shoes without soaking everything. It took me a long time to decide on shoes. The biggest problem was sizing. My feet increased by a full size, from US 8 1/2 to US 9 1/2. However, the 9 1/2 were still a little short in the toe, so my new shoes are US sized 10 (UK size 8). I tried 4 pairs of shoes and walked around for ages, going back and forth between a couple pairs. It always impossible to tell with new shoes- are they uncomfortable or just different? I ended up with a pair of Oboes that are much more like trainers than like boots, but have a lot of grip. They're not waterproof though, so it'll be interesting to see how they hold up in the rain and mud. The most important thing is that they don't crush my toes, and my blisters feel better already. Whilst I was there, Brightside managed to get her resupply parcel. We met in the outfitters and went to get lunch, where we met Chicago at the Cavalier Cafe. The cafe does great milkshakes and good diner food. We spent a few hours hanging out there, before we decided to take up space in a different place. We went to the gas station, which has a small eating area attached- it sells coffee and corn dogs. We chatted there for a while too, and enjoyed relaxing and hanging out. It felt a lot like just being with friends anywhere rather than in the midst of a lengthy hike. We ended up meeting Chicago again for dinner. We had agreed to go to Hey Joes (a Mexican place), but when we got there we learned that they had managed to run out of food and drinks. Hikers had stayed there all day because of the rain, and finished all of their supplies. So, we went back to the Cavalier Cafe for dinner. I had grilled cheese and fries, with sweet tea. My food content today has been relatively mild compared to other town days. Then, back to the cabin to pack my gear, watch another film, and sleep. Tomorrow, we have to walk about 16 miles to get to the next shelter. It's a big one, and it will probably be busy because of the proximity to town and the terrible weather. I'm not looking forward to leaving the extremely comfortable cabin that we have been staying in. It will be tough to leave the squashy mattress and warm sheets to go out and hike into the rain. I fully recommend Ruby's Rest to other hikers, or anyone who wants to stay in Damascus. It's really a wonderful little place, and the owners are genuinely friendly and nice people. My stay in Damascus has been a nice one, but it is very easy to draw comparisons to Hot Springs. Despite being bigger, Damascus seems to have less facilities and certainly seems less prepared for the influx of hikers. There also isn't anything like the Hiker Ministry that I really enjoyed, which Damascus could really do with, since it claims to be a trail town too. Hot Springs was more expensive, and had less food shopping options, but if I had to choose between the two, I would definitely choose Hot Springs over Damascus for sheer hiker care. I've also been unable to find a Verizon SIM card yet, so still no data for now, it might take a while before I can get one too. In some ways, it is very frustrating that the trail only goes through the smaller towns, because it severely limits my options. None of these places have anything resembling a phone shop.