Date: 2008-03-31
From: TomÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Cabin - Damascus VA

To: Lost Mountain Shelter VA
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 43 ¢ Monday March 31 ¢ Lost Mountain Shelter VA ¢ Miles Today: 15.8 Total Miles: 476.9Back on the trail! We left the cabin a bit before 8:00 and promptly stopped at Ingle's grocery store, each grabbing 3 donuts! We (the hikers) also grabbed a pint of chocolate milk. We ate in the car on the way back to Damascus arriving a bit before 10:00. The skies were gray. We weren't quite sure how to suit up. It looked like it might rain but we really didn't want to hike in our rain gear so we decided to put on just the seal socks, as they are easier to put on ahead of time. We headed off for the trail at 10:00 with a few extra things in our pack - 4 hard-boiled eggs and a good healthy serving each of bite sized pieces of pork tenderloin to eat along the way in the morning. Yum!We walked a bit along the Virginia Creeper Trail before entering the woods and once we got up on the ridgeline, we called Mr. & Mrs. Grasshopper who returned from their World Cruise late last night. Sure enough by 11:00 they were already up, had read their emails and Mr. Grasshopper was out grocery shopping! It was great to hear from them and it sounded like the trip was everything they expected. However they said they were pleased to be back home and out of the 3rd world countries, which were very depressing. It also sounds like they decided to have the sympathy pains with us, as when we were in Gatlinburg sick, they were on the cruise ship sick! Mrs. Grasshopper was quarantined for 48 hours but she snuck out of quarantine a couple hours early to go off to see the Taj Mahal! It was great to talk to them and we're glad they're back in the states safe. Our call was cut short as sprinkles arrived and we need to put the phone away and get rain gear out!   But of course, as soon as we hung up the sprinkles stopped. Oh well. Win some; lose some.The hiking today was not so bad. Normally when we exit a trail town, it's pretty much straight uphill but they did a great job coming out of Damascus. Everything was a gentle incline though we did gain some elevation. We hiked 15 miles to the Lost Mountain Shelter. We were just winging it to see how far we wanted to go and now that we're done with our scheduled appointments for meeting people, I think that will become more the norm - that is, just winging it to see how far we want to go each day. We saw our first snake on the trail today. Brakeman had mentioned about a week ago that we needed to start keeping an eye out for snakes and sure enough, there was one. I don't think he was a harmful guy. He was brown and did not have a triangular head. We're not quite sure about the shape of the eyes but we just poked him with our stick and he moved off the trail. We met Dr. Smallpot today. We leapfrogged him several times as we took stops at different times. He's a 23-year-old archeologist, who has left his job to come hike the AT and ponder the options of doing something different such as the Peace Corp or a Merchant Marine. Very nice young man. When we got to the Lost Mountain Shelter, we chatted a little bit more with him before heading behind the shelter to set up our tent.   About 6:30 he came back to where we were tenting and said he was heading on to the next shelter. The next shelter is about 12 miles away so he obviously is doing some night hiking. He started March 1 and is going faster than we are. He said he's averaging 20+ miles a day but is not being pushed by any deadlines. Youth - I guess that's what it's all about.   We're also here with Just Rick. He did not leave Damascus yesterday as he originally intended because it was raining when he went to church, it was raining when he got out of church and it was raining when he decided not to leave Damascus for the day. Two other hikers arrived about 7:00 but we've not gone up to the shelter to see who they are. We're thinking it might be Banjo and Captain Neckbeard, though we're not quite sure. They also entered Damascus at the same time we did so it sounds like Damascus sucked in people for an extra day or so because of the rain.Tomorrow we go up and over Virginia's highest peak - Mount Rogers at 5729'. That will then conclude the 5000' elevations I think perhaps until the Whites. Not exactly sure, but we will definitely be getting into easier territory after tomorrow. It's 8:00 and nearly 60 degrees in the tent. The weekend hiker in the shelter said they are calling for 60% rain tonight and 80% rain tomorrow morning so it might be a bit wet when we head out in the morning and perhaps a little bit cooler. We're in Virginia where we¢ll be for about a month! Still having a blast. Good night from Virginia.