Date: 2010-05-11
From: Double Spring Shelter

To: Damascus
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: light rain

We woke up to a windy cold morning which was overcast and looked like it was going to rain. Today is the first day on the trail that I didn't really feel like hiking and just wanted to stay in my sleeping bag and go back to sleep. I seriously considered staying in the shelter for a day or only hiking 8 miles to the next shelter and calling it a day. After some mental debate I forced myself out of my sleeping bag and got ready for the hike. Turtle Dove was already awake and getting ready to go so it helped motivate me to get going. Today was the first day of the hike that I have hiked in all of my rain gear even though it's not raining out, it's that cold and windy. Turtle Dove has a pretty bad cold and isn't feeling well so as we hiked along we discussed our options for the day. We considered the option of only hiking 8 miles to the next shelter. After a quick few miles we arrived at US 421 and met up with One Life so we took a break by the road. Turtle Dove decided to call her father to see if he would come pick her up as she really wasn't feeling well and didn't want to continue hiking. Turtle Dove's father agreed to come and pick her up and I was then forced with the decision to hike the remaining 15 miles to Damascus or wait by the road for 3 hours for her dad and then she would slackpack me tomorrow. Decisions, decisions... hmm what to do. After some thought I decided that I could hike at least 1/2 the miles to Damascus in the the three hours we would have to wait by the road so it made more sense to me to keep hiking instead of sitting around. So I said good bye to Turtle Dove and left her by the road where she was going to pitch her tent and have a nap while she waited.I hiked the 5 miles to Abingdon Gap shelter without seeing another hiker. I had to think about it but I think this is the first 5 miles I have hiked on the trail without seeing another person, it was fun. Thankfully the weather in the afternoon cleared up and the sun came out a bit. A nasty morning turned into a great weather hiking day and One Life and I hiked from Abingdon Gap shelter into Damascus together. One Life and I celebrated when we reached the TN - VA state line crossing. Ya baby I'm in Virgina, 3 states hiked. The hike into Damascus was a "smooth downhill glide" to quote Skywalker. One Life and I reached Damacus in the late afternoon and we stopped at the wooden sign to take the traditional pictures. After pics we followed the trail into town and were stopped in the park by some folks asking if we wanted some food. Food.. of course. The Baptist church had a tent setup by the trail and were offering fruit, cookies, cake etc., to all the thru hikers. We had only been in town for two minutes and already trail magic, this was a great way to start our Damacus stay. Thank you Babtist Church. Shortly after the trail magic we met up with Turtle Dove and her father and we all went to the hostel to drop off our stuff. I decided to go do laundry immediately as it's been over a week since I have showered or washed my clothes and I really stink. I also wanted to replace my crocs that I had forgotten at Kinkora. I ended up buying a pair of bright yellow crocs at the outfitter which was the only colour they had left in my size. They are really bright so I won't be missed on the trail in these shoes. A local B&B was putting on a free hiker dinner and I managed to take part while my laundry was washing. I had to eat fast and then get back to the laundromat. Geez town chores can be exhausting but it is sure nice to have clean clothes. After all my town chores were finished I met up with Trashman, his wife, One Life, Laid Back, Turtle Dove, her father and Sugar Ray for dinner at Quincey's. We had a fun dinner and then Hook, One Life, Laid Back and I went to the bar and enjoyed a few pitchers of beer since tomorrow is a zero day.