Date: 2006-04-23
From: Damascus, VA

To: Lost Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: broken clouds

If you look up the AT online or in a library, you'll find a million guides on how to hike the AT: itineraries, packing lists, recipes, and much more. However, there is scant info on why to hike the trail. Its the same out here - everyone has his/her own pitch for how to hike the trail (thru-hikers are an opinionated bunch), but no one's making a pitch on why to hike the AT. It makes me wonder what drove each of us to come out here. I wonder if the majority of us knows why we're out here, knows why this is an enjoyable venture. Furthermore, I wonder if the majority does enjoy it. Last night, Jetwash and I got to talking about why we're hiking the trail. It took me a while to think of the reasons I'm out here. I guess I'd never thought to articulate them. There are many secondary reasons, but one central reason stuck out in my mind: life is simpler. I find that the world doesn't spin as fast out here. Each day I get up, eat, walk from point A to point B, eat some more and go to bed. The simplicity of my day-to-day responsibilites affords me the ability to pay attention to detail as never before. One result of this, as I've discussed before, is an unprecedented oneness with my body. I'm picking up on the subtleties of how it functions across varied terrains, under varied physical exertion, and with varied amounts of food and water. I'm learning what it likes and what it doesn't like, and how to get the best perfomance out of it. The simplicity of my trail life has also heavily reduced my stress level. Instead of constantly worrying about what I have to do next, I am able to truly live in the moment. I was thinking about all of this on the trail today when I heard something. I stopped and strained my ears. I was a handful of miles outside Damascus, but could make out church music ringing through the mountains. It sounded so peaceful, so I stood there for a moment and listened. I looked around and was overwhelmed by how beautiful the woods seemed at that moment. I felt so emersed in my surroundings and so at peace that it brought tears to my eyes. I don't know that I have ever been that wrapped up in a single moment - It was so magical! The simplicity of my hike is what made that moment possible. That is why I am out here.I was mulling over all of this today while walking when BAM I almost stepped on a big ol' snake on the middle of the trail. I screamed "OH SH**!" and jumped back a mile, but if this snake was amused it didn't show it. It just sat there. I regained my composure and checked the beast out (from a safe distance of course). It was a brown snake with dark bands running along its diameter, about 2.5 feet in length. It didn't have any plans of vacating its sunning spot on the trail, so I extended my poles as long as they would go and tried to move it off the trail. It didn't like that too much, puffed up a bit and started to coil, but i was far enough away that it didn't matter. Eventually, it told me to screw off and slithered away, allowing me to continue on my way. But I'll tell you, every root looked like a snake after that.The only other big highlight of the day was the Virgina Creeper Trail. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries a railroad known as the Creeper (due to the slow pace at which the trains moved over it) ran along the Whitetop Laurel Creek. This railroad served as the route by which timber from these woods traveled to saw mills in nearby Konnarock. However, with the crash of the lumber industry in the 1920s, the railroad went out of service. The land was eventually bought by the Forest Service and converted into a bike, horse and hiking trail that stretches from Abingdon, VA to the North Carolina state line. Like the AT, the Creeper Trail runs through Damascus and the two trails actually connected for a small setion earlier today. On that joint section we crossed a 540 foot long bridge spanning the river. The all wood construction was quite a marvel, especially after a century. We're staying at Lost Mountain Shelter tonight, 15.8 miles outside of Damascus. Tomorrow will be Jetwash and my last day together for a while, for I will be slowing down in order to meet Amy the love of my life on Thursday. It will be sad to part ways with Jetwash, but I'm ecstatic about Amy's visit. 4 more days!Tomorrow will be a big day, so I better get to bed.475.3 miles down, 1899.7 to go!Bear Can (as typed by his lover Amy Viola)