Date: 2009-05-07
From: Damascus, VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0

It's been awhile...sorry to keep my public waiting Last I was in touch I was kickin it in Hot Springs. I ate my weight in organic vegetarian food and felt rested and restored by the time I left. I rolled out of there two Sundays ago with a cold burrito in one hand and a tin can full of granola and soymilk in the other. I pushed three 20+ mile days to get to Erwin. The weather was really nice. I have just about kicked the residual congestion from the sinus infection I had before I left (just as I was perfecting the art of the air hanky...) and have been able to enjoy the smell of the air and plants and dirt and sunshine. I hit Erwin, TN early Wednesday morning to encounter an act of unsurpassable sweetness and unparalleled trail magic...my fella drove 13 hours to surprise me for a few days We stayed in Erwin until Friday, went into Asheville, NC for an afternoon which is a lovely, artsy kinda town. Friday we drove up to Roan Mountain, TN and slacked for the day to then stay at the most wonderful little B&B/hostel called Mountain Harbour. The folks who own and run it, Mary and Terry, are amazingly kind. Mary makes a wicked breakfast almost every morning so we gorged ourselves before heading back to Erwin where I slacked 24 miles to Greasy Creek Hostel. Greasy Creek is run by a woman with a full fledged case of OCD. She is an anal handwasher and germ-aphobe and has extensive rules about hiker cleanliness. We spent the night there to be awoken at 5am by her hiker-hating neighbor. On this particular morning he was hollering for his dogs and clanging on a large piece of scrap metal. His repetoire of intentionally disturbing 5am antics include riding his mower or motorcyle, running a chainsaw, playing loud music through speakers pointed at the hostel, and shining a spotlight at the bunkhouse.The last week or so it has been raining a ton. My fella has loaned me his pack which is much lighter and nicer than mine, but a combination of perpetual saturation and new-fitting straps has got me rubbed raw in all kinds of interesting places. Despite the rain. the trail has been really pretty. Made my way over Roan Mountain and a few more balds where I actually got some views during some breaks in the storm. The rain has made for some mud that only the Three Stooges could truly appreciate, the kind that you step on and spend a good 30 seconds trying to recover your balance from as your legs spin off in every direction. The rain has also brought out the largest worms I've ever seen in my life, none smaller than 9 inches and some as long as 2 feet.Yesterday evening I made it into Virginia after the longest day I've hiked (or intend to hike again)...33 miles. The terrain in the section was not especially challenging so I thought I'd give it a whirl. After 14 miles the sky opened up and poured for about 3 hours. I had a minor temper tantrum in the deluge, to which nature answered by raining harder. After 12 solid hours of hiking I made it into Damascus where I'm staying at a large hiker hostel run by thre Methodist Church. I'm taking today off then will be pushing to get as far away from Damascus in the next week as possible because next week the town hosts Trail Days, the big hiker festival. I'll be coming back down for that, but when it's over I don't want to be caught in the mayhem that is sure to ensue as thousands of past and present hikers try to depart at the same time to the same place.