Date: 2017-06-05
From: TN 91

To: Damascus/Hiker Inn
Miles today: 21.7

Day 34Monday, June 5, 2017 TN 91 (447.6) to Damascus/Hikers Inn (469.3)Miles: 21.7 in 9.75 hours with one break2017 AT trip miles: 469.3Total AT miles to date: 1762.6Weather: Overcast, rain, more rain, torrential rainDinner: Roasted Root Salad AND a fish sandwich (basically two dinners)Hikers: Grade School, Monkey (Southbound), Cindy Lou, Grams, Blintz, Mellow, and six or. More hikers at dinner (no others passed today along the trail)Wildlife: A turkey and several poults, grouseAnother interesting day¢as it turns out. The shuttle got Popsicle and I back to TN 91 an hour earlier than yesterday and I continued north with my full pack. I would either stop a few miles shy of Damascus or attempt to reach it. A local scout troop was also staying at the hostel and one of the adults suggested that today's mileage was actually easier than yesterday's. We'll see. I was still rather tired. Grade School, a young woman from Illinois, caught up to me mid-morning and we leap frogged each other throughout the day, most of which was spent hiking in a cloud. I never saw anyone else all day, after seeing so many people yesterday. I think I'm in between bubbles. Last night, while making s'mores, I had a nice conversation with Bushmaster. He showed me a homemade fun music video of the Roan Mountain Shelter he had taken of all the people staying there that night¢and there were a lot. As you may recall, there was no one present when I had stopped there around 4:15 p.m.about five days earlier, and had instead left to camp atop one of the balds. And then at last night¢s hostel, there were close to 20 people whereas the night before there were only five. So yeah, the trail is full of clots of people, I just seem to be in between most.Anyway, I was walking in and out of intermittent rain showers all day. Until late afternoon. At 2-ish, I had again caught up with Grade School and we started discussing how reaching Damascus now seemed possible. And where were you planning on staying, etc. Long story short, it started pouring about the time we reached the Tennessee-Virginia state line and we booked the last 3.5 miles into Damascus, Virginia, having a great time splashing through the river of water flowing through what was once a trail. Well it was fun, theoretically, assuming we'd have a bunk tonight. Until we reached town. Once we hit Damascus, my wet phone stopped properly working. When it finally reach the first hostel, we discovered only one king room was available. Thus tonight I¢m sharing a bed with a woman I only just  met today, who is around the same age as my kids. We both know that this king bed, very comfortable I might add, is far more spacious than if we were sleeping next to each other in a shelter. So its all good. I'm constantly amazed p, however, how easy it is to live close to perfect strangers on a regular basis. I have one dinner left and am picking up a food drop, but of course we headed out to dinner at a nearby restaurant. My husband will be mortified to know I selected a local IPA. After the last two big days and people taking zeros in Damascus, I've caught up to some familiar faces. The astute reader might have noticed that I mentioned crossing the Virginia border. I'm back in the last state. Damascus is mile marker 469.3. I had 865 miles to finish this year. This means that I now have under 400 miles left¢and they are all in Virginia. I am now more than halfway done with the half I had left to finish and am in the home stretch.