Date: 2018-05-28
From: "Ruins" Campsite

To: Woodchuck Hostel, Damascus
Miles today: 4.6
Weather: moderate rain

I slept all the way until 6:15! And the rain held off all night so my tent dried out! Plus we got to eat all our food for breakfast because we were going into townIt was less than 5 miles to Damascus and easy terrain. Since I go faster than Braino on the flat/downhills, I lead in front for a change. The downside of this position is the role of ¢spider web clearer¢, especially when they are all at eye level. But it wasn¢t too bad.A few miles in we passed the sign marking the border into Virginia. So 3 states down, 11 more to go! Although Virginia will be long one - over 500 miles I think.We did the 4.5 miles into town in an hour and a half, meaning 3 miles an hour. We were talking about how we¢ve gotten trail legs now so can bust out miles, life on the trail is great, etc. and up comes a day hiker from Damascus with cute dogs. He gave us some good advice about town and was just a good guy, cementing our good vibes from earlier.For better or worse, there were no good views getting into Damascus. Why I say that is sometimes it can be tough to see town, hear cars,etc. but still be far away with all the switchbacks.At the edge of town there is a cool arch and a pretty park. It must have been the main plaza for Trail Days because we saw some left over structures.Damascus is interesting because not only is it one of the most known Appalachian Trail towns, the Virginia Creeper bike trail goes right through as well. I think that is more the ¢bed and breakfast¢ rather than hostel crowd, so the town kind of caters to both.We of course wanted to get food, but stopped by Braino¢s hostel first. He was staying at Crazy Larry¢s, which had a party reputation in the past but is trying to clean up. I waited on the porch while Braino checked in, then he ushers me in and said Larry was going to cook us both breakfast. I thought that was really nice since I wasn¢t even staying there. In the meantime, we talked with Rogue Cartographer (awesome trail name) who used to live in Australia so bonded with Braino.Breakfast was delicious eggs, potatoes, and toast. Larry is definitely a character and has strong feelings on... well everything.Wanting to give a little time before third breakfast/lunch, we walked to an outfitter. On the way, we ran into FedEx and Double O! They got in Saturday but taking a triple zero so didn¢t really matter. They are staying at the Broken Fiddle hostel which I also had a reservation at but it looked like grungy/party scene so I canceled.Looked at getting some permethrin for ticks at the outfitters but holding off for now. Also I will probably need to go again tomorrow once I figure out my summer gear exchange. It is nice there are 3 outfitters in town.We walked over to the local diner and ran into Honey Bun and her boyfriend we had been around last few days. They passed us around 8pm the previous night and decided to go all the way into town. Finally made it around 10pm, and apparently talked to a local that picked them up and had an extra room! The trail provides!Of course it started raining at this point, so it was nice being under cover for once. We walked back to Crazy Larry¢s and I picked up my pack to walk over to my hostel. Braino and I exchanged numbers and I hope to continue hiking with him in the future.On the way to the hostel, I ran into River. He had stayed at the shelter we were thinking about, so I¢m glad we had moved on.I checked into Woodchuck, and I was in a three person room. And by ¢room¢ I mean oversized landing people walked through to get upstairs they had shoved a few beds in. But the House was nice with a couple porches so no worries.My roommates were older guys I¢ve never seen before. But turns out a group I¢ve been overlapping with (Sir Bags, Joan of Arc, Juice, Butters, And So It Goes) are all staying upstairs. And Monk/Raccoon got here yesterday and are taking a zero today tenting. And MF Mouse and Tracks from the Wolfpack are here - apparently they did 33 to get here Saturday night but are paying for it now. I¢m glad I didn¢t rush!I showered and cleaned out some of my gear. Then there was a grocery store shuttle. Turns out the store was less than a half mile away. I bought a lot of produce for dinner and decided to walk back since the rain had stopped and I never walk anywhere. Of course I ate so much produce I got a stomachache!There was a computer at the hostel so I tried to upload photos on it (so much easier than a desktop) but it wasn¢t really working. So I have to go to the library tomorrow, which doesn¢t open until 11.