Date: 2016-05-21
From: before VA

To: woodchuck hostel
Miles today: 6.0

Day 40- May 21, 2016Dregs here, We woke up to a very light rain which was a pleasant change from the night before but still not the most encouraging thing in the world. We knew we were about 5-8 miles from town and all of the good things that go with it so it was easy to get motivated once we actually woke up. We got moving and we were ready by 745. Merlot was friendly as always so we chatted a bit longer than we should have. Our goal was to get to the post office to send home half of our cold weather gear. It closed at 11am so the race was on.The terrain was some of the easiest we have had yet but the tread way was still difficult because of all the rain. On the down hills we got what I refer to as bonus distance. Every downward step came with a little or not so little slide. Thankfully it was basically all down hill because bonus distance works in reverse on the uphills. About half way through our morning we came to a sign at the intersection of a couple of trails. As I got closer I got excited when I could start to see what it said. It was the sign declaring that we were done with our third state and onto our fourth. We made it into Virginia! After some selfies and picture taking we moved on. Not to long after it stopped raining. As we made our final descent into town it became clear that not only would we get to the post office in time but we would also be able to check into a hostel first and set our stuff down. We walked down the final switch back and beside a log cabin into a clearing. The trail followed a short residential street and then turned to the left ant there was the welcome to Damascus sign. A nice stranger offered to take a picture of us there!We walked a quarter mile down the road to Woodchucks hostel and were sad to hear the two person cabin was full. He offered us a tent on a platform with cots in it and breakfast for $30. There was also plenty of room inside but the tent option sounded quieter. We quickly pulled out what we wanted to send home and headed for the post office. Right before the road to the post office I saw the outfitter that was supposed to have my warranty replacement trekking poles. I wanted to stop there first to grab my new poles so I could mail my one good pole home with the rest of our stuff. They were there! Thanks Black Diamond! We made it to the post office with time to spare and sent our boxes home. What a relief, we could relax.As we pondered what to do next Pie and Focus waved to us from across the street. After chatting with them and Merlot for a while I saw the pizza place across the street turn its open sign on. We made our way over to an establishment called Bobo MacFarlands. I got a small child sized calzone and to be honest the next few hours are kind of fuzzy in my memory. Chicken Hawk got something healthier. We walked back to the hostel after that to clean up our aching bodies and muddy wet gear. Tent and other gear got hung on the clotheslines and we had our showers. Showers might be my favorite part of town stops. We did a load of laundry, put our dry gear away and planned the rest of the day. As we waited for our laundry to be done a scary looking storm began to roll in. Everyone thought we were crazy for going out in it. We needed to buy a few things from the outfitters in town. I got a smaller water bladder, chicken hawk got a replacement for her broken hip pouch. We went to a gym/running store and got a compression sleeve for my healing shin splints. Next stop was to a place called Hey Joes for burritos. While we had dinner the storm came down hard. Water started to flood in the side door and the staff of the restaurant had to all work fast and hard to keep the water at bay. The food was great and the storm stopped. We walked back to the dollar general to resupply. They had also been flooded by the downpour. We grabbed 4 1/2 days of food and headed back to the hostel. We spent the evening hanging out with Bombay, Blue Sky, Wallet, and lots of new faces. There was snorlax and music box with their dog stalker. A guy named heavy D who openly admitted he wasn't a nice guy and wasn't on the trail to make friends. He hiked out and then it started to rain hard not to long after. There was Cheesus and Two Step and also Smalls and Lt Dan. It was a good night with lots more food. Chicken Hawk went to bed early and I stayed up late watching basketball on Blue Sky's phone. Not a bad day at all with an easy one planned for tomorrow.