Date: 2016-06-22
To: The Goblin Market on a fog-shrouded morning
Miles today: 0.0

Abingdon Gap Shelter to DamascusLast night¢s rain makes for an extremely foggy morning. Suuz takes extra care to note her bearings as she heads off into the woods for a pre-breakfast nature call. X is thankful we don¢t have a wet tent to stow--it stayed high and dry last night in her pack under the shelter roof. Puck, who was still in his tent when we left camp, catches up to us on the trail while the fog is still thick. He asks if we¢d like to hear what he¢s memorized so far of a poem for campfire recitation. Of course! He launches into Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti as we hike downhill, single file on the narrow path.        Morning and evening         Maids heard the goblins cry:         ¢Come buy our orchard fruits,         Come buy, come buy...¢The goblins tempt two fair-headed sisters with offers of many fruits, rare and sweet. These are sinister creatures, and the tone of the poem is disquieting, especially in the eerie forest, murky with fog. We are filled with foreboding as one of the sisters devours the goblins¢ fruit. Unfortunately, that was the last part of the poem Puck has committed to memory. We can only imagine what dreadful fate awaits Laura and Lizzie.Our talk turns to lighter topics. We learn more about Puck¢s wife and family, and his post-military plans, including teaching, possibly at an elementary school. Time and the miles pass quickly with the help of interesting conversation. By the time we stop for a snack break and part ways with Puck, we¢ve hiked almost half of the today¢s 10.2 miles.We reach the Tennessee/Virginia border sign by 10:30AM with only 3.5 more miles to Damascus according to another sign on the same post. We are still a mile or two from town when we hear the first signs of civilization, the drone of a lawnmower drifting up to the hills we¢re descending.We reach Damascus and follow the AT through town before taking a side street to the Lazy Fox Inn where we have a room reserved for the next two nights. The 2-story white Victorian house is surrounded by porches and a back deck overlooking Laurel Creek. Miss Ginny, the 90-plus-year-old proprietor, welcomes us to the B&B and directs us to our room upstairs. The first order of town business is getting rid of five days of hiking stink. We gather a load of laundry, which X totes to Crazy Larry¢s Hiker Hostel while Suuz takes the first shower. X returns with lunch from Subway and tales of Crazy Larry, who disclosed his AT experience consisted of the time he spent on it while on the lam from the law. He¢s reformed himself now and offers laundry service for a fee at his hostel. X is impressed with his large washing machine, big enough to clean our grimy duds and smelly socks. Larry offers her a hefty jar of peanut butter as a parting gift--¢Hikers lover peanut butter.¢ He¢s surprised when X tells him, in the most gentle decline she can muster, thanks but no thanks for a gift (1#!!!) that¢s way over the weight limit for backpacking.We devour our sandwiches and two bags of chips apiece on the Lazy Fox front porch, ignoring a member of the town¢s flock of muscovy and mallard ducks who wants to join in the feast. X heads upstairs for a long shower with multiple shampoos. Suuz follows the AT a few blocks farther north to retrieve our clean, fresh-smelling laundry, which has just come out of the dryer. While she folds our clothes, she hears more about Crazy Larry and his impending nuptials. We take an afternoon stroll to check out some of the outfitters in Damascus. Later we meet Serenity at The Place, a hostel operated by the local Methodist Church for long distance AT hikers and Trans-American bicyclists. She¢s spending tonight here but will move to a motel for the weekend, joined by her husband who is driving up from Georgia tomorrow. The thee of us walk to the Old Mill Restaurant and enjoy a delicious meal with a view of Laurel Creek splashing over a wide waterfall. Suuz and X satisfy their cravings for red meat with tasty filets, and we indulge in a shared dessert to top off the evening.Before turning in for the night, Suuz, using the B&B¢s wi-fi, googles Goblin Market and learns there were 23 more rather long stanzas beyond what Puck recited this morning. She says the ending is not what X had surmised but won¢t supply any details in case we might hear the remaining lines at another campfire before our hike ends. We both sleep well tonight. We have eleven days of hiking behind us, a zero day in Damascus tomorrow and three more days on the AT after that. It¢s been a grand adventure so far with the promise of more to come.Dr. Suuz and X