Date: 2009-05-17
From: Damascus, VA

To: Watauga Lake
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Bark and I woke up early this morning at the Holiday Inn in Abingdon. We made it downstairs for breakfast with plenty of time to wait for our cab ride. By the time 8:10 rolled around we were getting a little suspicious so Bark called the company. Basically, we had been stood up. We were so fortunate though- a man (section hiker) and his wife were also staying at the Holiday Inn and offered us a ride into Damascus. We needed to be there by 9am in order to meet up with Bob Peoples and the Hardcore Team. We made it with plenty of time to spare thanks to the kind offer of the couple. Once we got to the our loading spot we filled out our release forms and loaded up in Magnet's car. Today we went to a section of trail that we have already hiked and were familiar with- Watauga Lake/ Dam. When Bark and I hiked up this portion it was steep and straight uphill for about 3 miles. Well, the job today for all 130 (?) volunteers was to dig into the side of this mountain and create switchbacks. They provided all the tools we could have needed- pulaski's, pick axes, fire rakes, hoes, rock bars, saws, gloves, loppers- everything. It was an incredible sight to watch over a 100 volunteers climb up this mountain, which had already been marked and sectioned off, and get to work immediately. It was very hard work throughout the day- digging, cutting, axing, trimming, raking- we were told to make the trail feel like we would want to hike on it. I think we accomplished our goal. We took a lunch break about halfway through the day and had some great entertainment. One of the hikers brought his lab mix with him up the mountain and it wasn't long before we were watching the lab and a very brave grouse have staring contest. The dog was tied to a tree and when the grouse realized he could get close without getting eaten, that's just what he did. He teased that poor dog (Relic) for a long time before finally he charged right past him barely avoiding becoming the dog's lunch.When we were almost finished Bark and I noticed a man walking down the trail (Section 8 which we had helped with) and he was holding a small can of white paint and 2" foam paint brush. I knew what was coming and was very excited at the opportunity- we could paint our very own white blaze for this new section of Appalachian Trail! I was very excited when the man offered me the brush and pointed to a tree- I called Bark over pretty quick and our friend Denali captured the moment on her camera. Now Bark and I have our own blaze on the A.T.! By that time the 2,200 feet of new, never hiked on trail was ready to be opened, which also meant that it was time to grab our tools and head back down the mountain to find dinner. A group of ladies who volunteer with their husbands to do trail maintenance had made a great dinner to feed all of the 130 volunteers. We had bbq pork sandwiches and ALL the fixings. It was getting pretty chilly, but the night was not over- Bob Peoples was ready to hand out some awards. He honored several men who had truly dedicated a lot of their time and energy to preserving the trail and then all of us first timers got our "Damascus Hardcore" patches. I plan to put mine on my pack one day- not sure what Bark will do with his. Everyone was pretty exhausted by this time and we loaded up into Pipesmoke and Mrs. Smoke's truck and headed to Braemeer Hostel in Hampton, TN. We were thankful to be staying there since there were about 17 of us there and about 75 at Kincora Hostel. We had a chance to shower, set up our sleeping bags in the common room, read for a few minutes and then it was lights out. We knew we had another day of "hardcore" work ahead so we had better rest up. Tomorrow we will head to another beautiful section of trail- the Roan Highlands...