Date: 2009-04-27
From: Iron Mountains Shelter

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 26.1
Weather: clear sky

so knees and i slept in again till about 10am. (im not doing so well getting up in the morning latly. goggle and pusher came to the shelter (which was a 7 mile hike) before i even got out of my sleeping bag! i finally headed out at about 10:30am. i got to the first shelter only a few hrs after that. it was about 8 miles. there were a bunch of hikers there taking lunch. i decided to take my boots off, eat some hummas/cheese tortilla and then take a nap in the sun. it was really nice. i headed out for the next shelter at about 2:30pm and had another 8 miles ahead of me. knees and i walked most of the way together. it wasnt a bad hike, but definitly had more inclines then the last 8 miles. i was happy to be at the shelter once we got there.i ate some dinner and thought to myself, "its only another 10 miles to demascus, va (the next town). i told everyone i was ganna just go a couple more miles so i was closer to town for the morning and would only have like 2 hrs of hiking. i left with no water and night hiking ahead of me. 'sky king' after this and the food bag thing thinks im crazy! lol. i was hiking and things were going well. i was feeling alright, nothing too bad. my feet started to hurt a big, but it wasnt HORRIBLE. then it started getting dark. i got my head lamp out and realized that my head lamp sucks. i mean it was like walking in the dark pretty much. i didnt want to hear any noises around me so i started singing disney songs to distract myself and keep me from getting totally spooked out. everytime i would stop singing i would get scared so i had to think of another song real fast. disney songs are great for this cause they're always so upbeat and happy. lol. after 5 miles i just told myself, 'just go all the way into town, ur half way there and youll get there at 10pm" so i did just that. a coke was my modivation. i rolled into town at about 9:30pm and the town was so dead. i walked around and wasnt quite sure where i was going to sleep since it was so late. i didnt wanna pay for a hotel and i thought it was too late to roll into the hostels in town. so i found a bathroom and a soda machine outside and both of those felt so great. i walked around town for a bit and found a pavilion in a park in town. i figured i could just sleep there. so i walked up and there was a homeless man sleeping there already and i asked if i could join him (it was a big pavilion) but he said nO! he said "i dnot like sleeping near strange woman" the homeless man kicked me out of the pavilion! it was kinda funny actually.so i started walking down the street again and this car stopped and a man said, 'r u lost' and i told him im looking for a place to sleep tonight. and he told me i could go into the hostel down the raod at any time. he then said that he owned a store down the street and if i was hungry he'd take me there and feed me some food for free. i declined his offer lie 15 times but asked if he could drive me to the hostel cause my feet were killing me after a 26 mile day. so he gave me a tour of town and then said "how about i get you some food" so he opened his store and told me to take anything i wanted for a drink and made a huge salad, put cole slaw, potatoe salad, macaroni salad and a cup of banana pudding for dessert. he also give me two sets of utensils just in case i broke the first pair! he wouldnt take any money either! he gave it to me in a carry out container! he was the NICEST man every!so when i got to the hostel i ate up and found that i was almost completely dead! there were like no one there for some reason. i layed down in a bunk and couldnt sleep for a while cause my feet were throbbing. it was aweful. i took some pain pills and elivated my feet hoping it would help.my tummy was full of food and soda but my feet just wouldnt stop throbbing. it sucked. i guess thats what i get for pushing a marathon length milage.