Date: 2014-04-17
From: Vandeventer Shelter

To: Abingdon Gap Shelter
Miles today: 22.7
Weather: broken clouds

Day 36- April 17 Vandeventer Shelter to Abingdon Gap Shelter, 22.7 miles. A cold start to our long miles day (a PR by half a mile for those of you keeping track). We planned to do these 22.7 miles because the elevation profile map showed lots of little ups and downs along a ridge line with no big mountains to climb and that is pretty much how our day went. We moved right along covering these miles in 8 hours and 15 minutes total elapsed time (includes all the time we stopped to do stuff). The temp was hovering around freezing when we crawled out of the tent which got us moving quickly. We enjoyed a beautiful sunrise as we began our miles. We watched 3 white-tailed deer bound away from us, our first deer of the hike. It took quite a while for the temperature to rise enough for us to peel off our rain/wind/cold weather gear but the sun prevailed and we didn't need all those layers. We had some trail magic today in an unlikely spot-the middle of the woods! We hiked by a tree that had a sign on it indicating that a local Baptist church was providing some trail magic just ahead. We took a few more steps and there was this big, critter-proof metal box/cage and once we removed the metal bar that locked the box we opened it to find a cooler with ice and cans of pop! There was also a plastic box that said it had snacks in it, but they were all gone. Another plastic box held duct tape, shoe laces, first aid supplies and Bibles! We each grabbed an icy, cold Coke, sat on the nearby logs, popped the tops and started to chug. Now I rarely drink pop because it makes me burp, but I slammed down this Coke in record time. And then the burping started. Not dainty, "oh my" kind of burps, but great big, manly belches that echoed through the woods. Then Jim chimed in with his burps. We got to laughing so hard between the burps that the tears were rolling down our faces!!! This was by far the funniest moment we've had on the trail! Thank goodness that no one else was close by because they would have thought we were nuts! That Coke was fuel in my tank and I started motoring right along! We went by a trail maintenance crew who were working on a half mile stretch of the trail that is handicapped-accessible. This section goes up a very gentle rise through a farmer's field to a lovely overlook spot. Talk about easy walking! We recognized one of the trail workers as being "Lumpy", the guy who greeted us at the Kincora Hostel a few days ago. He remembered us and his parting words to us were, "Remember, always accept candy from strangers!" We stopped for lunch at the second shelter we went by and discovered we had hiked 14 miles before noon! Must have been the Coke! Of course the last couple of miles are always the toughest and seem to take forever so were thrilled when our shelter came into view!   We are the first ones here but we're sure others will be along to spend the night as this is 11miles from Damascus and the next camping opportunity (with water) is 8 miles from here. As you might imagine, we are excited about a town visit, and especially this trip into Damascus. We are taking a zero day there and are staying with Sandy and Tom, parents of one of Corey's Syracuse running teammates,Griff. When Corey put a link to our Trail Journal on his Facebook page, Sandy and Tom quickly commented that we needed to visit them when we got to Damascus and gave us their phone number. Jim called them almost a week ago and told them when we would be in town, which happens to be Easter weekend. We told them that we understood if they had plans and couldn't see us, but they invited us to stay at their house and join the festivities. The festivities being a party on Saturday for Griff and his bride-to-be! I imagine we will stand out like two sore thumbs because we don't have party clothes and Jim hasn't shaved in a couple of weeks! Sandy assured Jim that folks would like to talk to thru-hikers and that there would be LOTS of food! So we are looking forward to our time with them and appreciate their hospitality! In Damascus we also need to buy another 5 days of food to get us to the next town where our Trail Jeannie will be sending a resupply box. And my replacement parts for my hiking stick should be waiting for me at one of the outfitters in town. We better get to Damascus tomorrow because we ate up most of our snacks when we got to our camping spot today! All is well.