Date: 2018-05-18
From: The Station at 19E Hostel

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0

Day started a little after 7:00. The plan was to walk down the road a mile to Mountain Harbor Hostel for their famous breakfast. The rest of the group pulled a 24 mile day to catch up to Strawberry and me so they could make it to Trail Days. The breakfast did live up to its reputation. Blueberry pancakes, sausage, eggs, home fries, and biscuits n¢ gravy. And lots of coffee. Had some time to hang around the hostel too. I¢m glad we weren¢t having to rush around especially on a day off. The shuttle to take the seven of us (I convinced Short Mile to come) left around 10:30. Only an hour drive to Damascus from Roan Mountain. Unfortunately, my stomach full from breakfast and the winding roads plus fast driving led to pretty bad motion sickness. No fun. I usually don¢t get motion sickness and that was really uncomfortable. It¢s just one thing after the other out here hiking the trail. We were dropped off at Tent City. The large field and woods designated as campsite for all the visiting hikers. It reminded me a lot of the the Mysteryland music festival I¢ve been to held at the historic Woodstock grounds in New York. Lots and lots of tents. Not everyone here is currently thru-hiking though. People from all years and corners of the hiking community come to stay in the Tent City for Trail Days. During the daytime Trail Days is a typical celebration of hiking. Outdoor and hiking vendors everywhere handing out swag and prizes. A lot of the popular gear outfitters are here too and they offer free gear repair. Got a hole in your tent? They¢ll patch it up. Tear your shoulder strap? They¢ll sew on a new pair. Really great stuff all free of charge. Also a lot of free hiker amenities. Laundry, showers, haircuts. All your typical foods too. Burritos, pizza, pulled pork sandwiches, funnel cakes, etc. Live music to bring it all together. The trail brings a special aspect to this celebration. All of the camaraderie that is on the trail comes here too. It helps that Damascus is also a trail town so the AT literally passes through the middle of the town. But it¢s easy to hang out and strike up conversations when you¢re most likely talking to someone who is currently hiking the AT or has already attempted or completed it. Plus, I saw so many people I know! People I haven¢t seen for weeks. Like Nacho! Goon Bag and Forrest unfortunately couldn¢t make it up but I still saw a lot of people I¢ve seen on the trail which is just cool. Around 6:00 in the evening I headed over to the hiker feed being hosted by Poet and Hippie Chick. They¢re the owners and operators of Shaw¢s Hostel up in Maine who Strawberry and I met when we were hiking down Max Patch. A hiker feed is exactly what it sounds like. Someone cooks a ton of food and feeds the hikers. Tonight¢s menu: Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo with Caesar Salad and breadsticks. Amazing. Even a couple coolers of beer on the front porch. I ate with the big group I hiked out of the Smokys with and hung out with at Fontana Dam. Good seeing them all again. Most of them are back in Erwin, TN so about 3 or 4 days back. After the feed some of us went to the book tour of Jennifer Pharr Davis¢ new book ¢The Pursuit of Endurance.¢ Jennifer was once the record holder for the fastest thru-hike of the AT. Really inspiring to hear her talk about her thru hikes and how she ended up setting a record. It really made me want to go hiking...The rest of the evening is what you can, or maybe you can¢t imagine, what a hiker festival turns into at night with a bunch of muddy hikers in the rain. Big bonfires. Dancing around those fires while banging on drums. Just the usual. The picture for today¢s post is of the hiker feed a little before it started. If you¢re reading this and there isn¢t a picture it¢s because I had trouble loading it. Will add the picture when I get better cell service. It¢s been raining since Tuesday. Now it¢s Friday. Rain in the forecast too. P.S. I¢m writing this bit a couple days after 5/18 as I proofread before I post. (Yes, I do proofread these. They¢re still riddled with grammatical errors but I like to smooth it out so there¢s some flow) But I wanted to make a special note to the section when I mentioned how I saw a lot of people I knew from the trail. Since us hikers are on the trail you really do run into each other a lot. The people you¢re with do change but you will see people a couple times. I¢ve made a habit of learning a person¢s trail name if I see them more than once. Because then on that third time it really is so much more enjoyable saying ¢Hey Kiwi!¢ Or How¢s it going Bugaboo?¢ The reason I wanted to make note of this is because it made me think how many people I¢ve seen more than once in my life, like on my commute to work, or just in the office, or in a coffee shop, but I never learned their name. I think it¢s a good life lesson that if you see someone a few times and there¢s even the slightest chance you¢ll see them again then just say hi, my name is, what¢s yours? I don¢t think that type of interaction happens enough nowadays and life is so much better knowing peoples¢ names.