Date: 2013-09-20
From: Whitetop Mountain Road

To: Damascus
Miles today: 21.1

I woke up to very thick fog and precipitation falling from the trees where the fog had condensed on the leaves. I did my best to pack up my campsite while keeping my gear dry - my hammock and sleeping bag were both already wet, so they were quarantined in my bag away from my dry gear. Aside from the additional weight of wet gear, I wasn't too worried because I knew I was heading into town for the night and could dry everything out.I crossed Whitetop Mountain in dense fog, but could make out that I was walking across a bald mountain top. I bet it would have been pretty cool to see if the fog wasn't there, but given the name of the mountain, I figured I wasn't the first person to see these conditions up there.I spent the next seven miles traversing down gradual switchbacks. I stopped at Lost Mountain Shelter to eat a snack, but was eager to continue on into Damascus. Two miles after Lost Mountain, the AT and the Virginia Creeper Trail (VCT) merge for 0.4 miles. All of the people I had hiked north with either took the VCT and loved it, or kicked themselves for not doing it, so when I got to where the trails split again, I stayed on the VCT. The VCT follows an old train bed and walks along a stream - I was glad I took it. After being on the trail for about a mile, it started raining fairly hard. It was cold rain, and while the VCT had mile markers, I didn't know how far it was to town. The VCT is a big tourist attraction for bicyclists. Companies in Damascus rent bikes and drive vacationers to the top of Whitetop Mountain, where the trail begins, so they can enjoy a relatively easy 32-mile ride (through Damascus and into Abingdon). I didn't learn all of this until later; I thought the people on the path were locals who were enjoying the trail, which led me to making the mistake of asking one of them how far to Damascus and believing the answer - after having walked from before mile-marker 27 to mile-marker 24, they told me I still had another 14 miles to town!! I figured I was committed at this point, so picked up my pace and kept trucking through the rain.The trail went through a residential area, and I noticed a number of ice cream shops and burger stands that were shut down, whether for the season or forever I couldn't tell. My stomach started growling about that point, but I didn't want to stop and pull out my food bag in the rain, so I kept on going. A bit further ahead, I saw a sign for The Creeper Trail Cafe, and I figured it was going to be closed as well, but much to my surprise and delight, it was open and serving hot fried food. It was like an oasis! I was the only hiker in the cafe. Everyone else was bicycling the trail and had long, black marks up their backs where the mud from the trail had been flung up by their tires.I ordered a large lunch and a Coke and enjoyed sitting around, even soaking wet and chilled. I caught a snippet of a conversation that a nearby couple was having - apparently they were biking with another couple that had fallen behind them because the woman was walking her bike across every wooden bridge, of which there were many. The woman made me laugh when she commented, "Can you believe she is doing that? Who on earth would WALK in weather like this?!"About that time, I headed back out to resume my walking. The woman at the cash register in the cafe had told me the correct distance into Damascus - only 6.5 more miles rather than 14. This made the trip seem far more manageable, and while there were a few more bursts of heavy rain, it eventually let up.When I hit Damascus, I had a huge smile on my face. Damascus is the home to Trail Days, the largest hiker gathering on the trail. Aside from that, the town is very hiker friendly and provides lots of options for lodging. I had sent mail drops to Mt. Rogers Outfitter, so I ended up staying in the hostel associated with their business. The hostel was clean with a hot shower, I had a private room where I could lay out all of my wet gear to let it dry, and it was right across from The Blue Blaze Cafe, a sports bar I had heard good things about.Righteous had gotten into town the day before and was enjoying his zero. We met at The Blue Blaze Cafe for dinner and beer, but I was pretty exhausted from walking in the rain and was happy when I finally called it a day!