Date: 2015-10-22
From: Marion, VA

To: Damacus, VA
Miles today: 61.4
Weather: clear sky

10/19 Day 139: 9.9 miles M1667.5 Trimpi ShelterWarm clothes arrived at 12:30 via USPS. I took the Marion Transit shuttle for .50 cents to the Mt. Rodgers Vistor's Center and started hiking by 3:30pm. I hiked until dark and on this cold night in the shelter find the additional warm clothes are making a nice difference. 1/2 moon tonight lights up the forest.10/20 Day 140: 19.2 miles M1686.7Tom Wise ShelterCold this morning. Hiked 15 mins w/ Jacket before began to over-heat. 1/4-zip Capilene 4 Patagonia base layer and the goose down hood feel very nice at night. Nice to get to over 5000' again with Pine Mtn. Seeing alpine ever-green trees is nice too. The day ended with a walk through a livestock area and grass clearing as I approached Grayson Highlands State Park. Grayson Highlands is known for its wild ponies. The area I hiked through today has ponies and cattle that help keep the vegitation from becoming forest again. The views are really nice through here. I met "Grits" again who was NOBO flip-flopping. I first saw Grits in Vermont and remembered that he is from South Georgia. One other guy with me in this shelter tonight; he says he started his hike the first week of June (same as me) and has hiked southbound. He began his hike in Harpers Ferry. I will hike out of VA before he does. He also seems very ill-prepared for the cold. Not hiking too many miles per day just underscores that hiking the AT is not about the miles. It does bring up for me that as I come nearer to the end of my journey, and especially in VA it seems, I want to push the miles. Half the days in VA have been rainy and I've settled into a need to push miles and get home before the snows set in good. This has been a very fulfilling, exhausting, and expanding adventure.10/21 Day 141: 17.6 miles. M1704.3Lost Mountain ShelterI waited for the sun to come up today because I didn't want to hike through any place today without adequate light. I wanted to take my time today hiking through Grayson Highlands State Park and Mount Rogers State Park. I'm glad I did and found today to be very rewarding hiking. The ponies, the grassy and bald mountain tops with great views all day, and the good weather and beautiful trail made for one of the best days yet, certain the best views (while hiking, as opposed to McAfee Knob being a place where one stands to observe the views) since I left New Hampshire. A few nice, but short scrambles made for some interesting challenge. Nice to call it a day around 6:00pm before dark at the shelter to give me time to settle in for a night's sleep.10/22 Day 142: 14.7 miles M1719.0Crazy Larry's Hiker Hostel, Damascus, VANice early start today so to reach Damascus, VA in time to take care of some business. Easy hiking over two mountains. Temperature felt moderate as I left the shelter, but upon the descent off the mountain, the temperature dropped dramatically as I moved into the cold air that had sunk into the valley overnight. I noticed frost on the Luther Hassinger Memorial Bridge. I had to put on my jacket about 1/2 way down the mountain, a first. I felt low energy all day hiking but two mountains later I arrived in Damascus, had a bit of lunch, got some good decaf, and then over to Sundog Outfitters. The good folks at Sundog were able to repair my Zpacks backpack where my external frame had come out of it's pocket. I am grateful for people with the skills to do that. I also picked up a bit of resupply and my package from Lynette.   Crusty Tishooz was in town as well, having spent the night in his hammock outside the same shelter as I stayed last night.   He was kind to buy a very nice dinner for me. Yum!Reaching Damascus is a huge milestone. VA has been a 1/4 of the entire AT, 550 miles and at times very beautiful, at times rough weather. I've seen green forests turn brown and at the higher elevations, above 4500 feet, all the leaves are fallen now. The AT in VA has been remarkably remote while at the same time I always felt I could come off the trail within a day's hike if I wanted to. I am grateful for the warm welcome I've received at the hotels and hostels in VA. I have been able to use the personal business computer at Crazy Larry's for several hours to update this journal. THANKS to all!I set out to hike through VA without a zero day until Damascus. I almost did having one zero day in Marion. So I'll skip the zero day in Damascus and hike out tomorrow now having showered and washed clothes, had a few good meals, and plenty of resupply. On to Tennessee and North Carolina. SOBO MEGA-1Step