Date: 2018-09-15
From: Lost Mountain Shelter

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: broken clouds

Another rough night of sleep. I slept in the shelter last night and apparently it¢s located right underneath this SUPER tall oak tree. And all night, like every 5-10 minutes, an acorn would fall and smack the top of the tin roof and it was literally one of the loudest sounds I¢ve ever heard in the woods. Like it sounded like a giant rock was hitting a glass windshield, and it just kept happening again and again! Fortunately, I have earplugs on me, but even then it was still insanely loud. LolEven with the restless night though, I was moving this morning. Today was town day! I knocked out those 15 miles and reached Damascus, VA around 1pm. This is the LAST trail town of Virginia!! Like holy fuck thank god. And Damascus is a cool place to be. It¢s the most hiker-friendly town on the AT and home of the annual ¢Trail Days Festival¢ that happens every year in May. I obviously didn¢t get to experience the festival this year, but I plan to come back next year and attend. It¢s a MUST for any thruhiker. It¢s a 3-day festival filled with thousands and thousands of AT hikers camped all over the town. There¢s gear reps and vendors posted up along all the streets and parades and shows and everything. Just one big hiker trash party. Sounds amazing! LolThe trail takes you directly through the town. One of the first restaurants you pass is MoJo¢s ¢the trailside cafe.¢ So I stopped in and got a super yummy portobello mushroom burger. Then I made my way through town over to Woodchuck Hostel. Woodchuck is an older guy who thruhiked the trail in 2012 and then opened his own hostel here in 2014. The DREAM. And get this, ITS FOR SALE! Ugh, what a life. Running one of THE most popular hostels on trail in THE most popular trail town. I picked his brain on a lot of things and just wow. The whole idea is SO tempting. Whenever I first walked into the hostel though, I was really confused. I was greeted by Woodchuck and a handful of other dudes who all seemed really surprised to see me. They asked if I had just come off trail, to which I replied yes. Like what, duh? And then they told me that I wasn¢t supposed to have been out there because, get this, THE TRAIL HAS BEEN CLOSED FOR DAYS! LOL! The ATC literally declared the trail ¢closed¢ for the whole state of Virginia and North Carolina and park officials were apparently issuing up to $5,000 fines. Hahaha! What! I¢ve been out in the woods for days how the fuck was I supposed to know that! Lol Also, wtf you can¢t just close the AT. The storm isn¢t even coming here!! Probably the most ridiculous thing I¢ve ever heard. Lol ALSO, I caught up to Buddy and Disco! They¢re here at the hostel tonight! I spent an extra 4 nights in Pearisburg over them and it only took me like a week to catch them again. Lol Disco seemed really happy to see me. Apparently, Buddy has been driving him insane. Haha! Tonight, I went out for a night on the town with them. We ate a really good dinner at The Mill and then hung out at a bar inside this pizza joint. Lol We¢re all zeroing here tomorrow together, so that¢s cool. The ¢bad weather¢ keeps getting pushed back more and more. It was supposed to be Friday, but now they¢re saying Sunday. So whatever, lazy Sunday for me regardless! I won¢t complain.