Date: 2016-05-18
From: Double Springs Shelter

To: Hiker Inn, Damascus VA
Miles today: 18.7

It was the coldest night yet. My polypro top and pants helped keep me warm, though it meant I did not have a pillow. All of us had our summer sleeping (40-50 degree instead of winter 20 degree or less) bags. This was May. We were not expecting such cold temperatures.We had 18.7 miles to hike into Damascus.Since it was so cold, we decided to hike and then have breakfast. Again hypothetically made reservations for a spot near a water source.   As it turned out, we had breakfast at Low Gap/US 421 with a piped spring and a concrete picnic table! Hiking the trail really makes me appreciate the little things in life.   We were joined by a man who had thru hiked the AT and then section hiked and then was a trail runner in PA (?). He had originally been in the Marine Corp. He told us how he had gotten water from a recalcitrant home owner when there was a drought. He knocked on the door of a house, explained his situation and asked for water from the outside hose. The home owner said no. A fellow hiker joined him. He gave the fellow hiker his water bladder and instructed the fellow hiker to fill both of their water containers while he distracted the home owner. He knocked on the second door, explained his situation and asked for water from the spigot. The home owner said the AT did not run through there and gave the trail a different name. The two disputed back and forth. He looked at his fellow hiker. He was almost finished filling up both of their containers. He told the home owner he did not care what he called the trail, he was here asking if he could have water from the spigot. The homeowner said no and he said thank you, have a nice day.    He told another story of him as a trail runner. At the shelter, he made note of who was eating what. The next day when there was trash at the shelter, he put the trash in the face of the guilty hiker and told them, you pack it in, you pack it out. To date, I have met 4 trail runners and none were this blunt/rude. Of course, I do not leave trash. Again later said he needs to realize he's not in the Corp anymore.   The man from Bern joined us. His knee was bothering him. This man listed a few names of people who might be able to help him in Damascus. We left as the man from Bern was trying to hitch a ride to Damascus.   We had slight ups and downs and then a gradual long descent into Damascus. As we were getting closer to Damascus, we met Odie who is doing The Hiker Yearbook. Out of his pack, he pulled last year's Yearbook. He said it is a family book and he does not include who finishes and who does not. He includes section hikers. He turned to my picture in the book. He requested we email him a picture at hikeryearbook@gmail.com. I did this when I got home.   Shortly after we met Odie, it started to drizzle. It drizzled all the way to Damascus. As it turns out, we hike faster in rain because we do not stop to take pictures. We hiked into Damascus, down Laurel Avenue (the main street in Damascus) with our ponchos, to Hikers Inn, where we left Tag Along's car.    We came into the bunk room and met Denied. She was hiking with her son Detained. Or was it the other way around? Denied and Detained lived in Canada and had been planning to hike the AT for three years. When they came into the US through Buffalo, the immigration agent accused them of trying to immigrate to the US illegally and wanted a long list of documentation. She said she could furnish the documentation requested in 10 minutes but the immigration agent said she had to come back the next day. This cancelled their flight from Buffalo to Atlanta. The next day she furnished the documentation to a different immigration agent. He said he would give them 4 month visas and would be checking that they returned to Canada on August 1. 4 months is very quick to hike the AT, even for long time experienced in shape hikers. She had stayed the last three days in Damascus because she is flat footed and her boots bruised her arches. Many foreign hikers come to the US with return tickets in 6 months. I wonder if they do this to prevent being accused of trying to immigrate illegally.   We took showers and put our clothes together, to be washed in one load by The Hiker Inn. We changed into the scrubs provided and went to dinner at The Old Mill. The other restaurant was closed that day. At the restaurant, we were mistaken for "doctors" by a guy who then recognized us as "The Ladies" from the shelter. It was great fun.