Date: 2005-05-13
To: Back Home Again
Miles today: 0.0

It was a nostalgic feeling to wake up again in my bunk at The Place in Damascus Virginia, the same bunk I slept in last year for my two night stay in town on my way up the trail. Red Wing and Hopeful and two other young thru hiker guys were also sharing the room. I was up first, and padded down that same dim hallway past the stairwell decked out in dark woodwork to one of the bathrooms at the other end. There were a few sounds of hikers awake and moving around the hostel and out in the mini tent city in the yard, but more of the rhythmic breathing of others still enjoying the comforts of sleeping in town, or maybe just ¢sleeping it off¢. After cleaning up I quietly spent a few minutes packing my gear without disturbing the others. Then I left to slowly wander down toward the fire station for the hiker breakfast. There were a couple of dozen hikers there already, quietly going through the line and spread out along the tables eating, boarding house style. It was a typical greasy country breakfast, perfect for hikers. Bacon, eggs, grits, toast and jelly, sausage and some pancakes. Also, lots of OJ and coffee. It was a quick breakfast for $5.00, and in some ways an offering from the townsfolk to give hikers a place congregate and a friendly smile. I took a leisurely stroll back to the hostel to brush my teeth and pick up my camera. The town was beginning to wake up. It was a pretty morning with blue sky and sun beams beginning to shine over the mountains onto the fully leafed trees lining the streets. We were a ragged lot, with scraggly beards (guys, hopefullly), having bad hair days, and dressed in our 500 mile (at least) hiker clothes, though most had probably been washed since arriving in town. I sat down at the picnic table in the yard out front to write and talked with other hikers who were enjoying the early morning. We watched as those tenting stirred and you would hear the familiar zipper sound as they opened their tent flaps and stiffly emerged to a semi-standing position, followed by the familiar effort to finally end up fully upright with groans and popping joints. There were many reunions as someone would spot a fellow hiker they had not seen since . . . say . . . Neels Gap, or maybe not since Trail Days 2004. The trail grapevine was working well as hikers shared any information they knew to answer the question ¢Do you know where . . . is, and are they coming to Trail Days?¢ Very few heavy conversations among the footloose troop assembled. After an hour I checked on my gear and put most of it in the trunk of the rental car and prepared to explore the Trail Days happenings. I stopped by the library again to look over my journal. It was fun to find out that several back home had been on to read my entries already and were virtually up to date on my story. I visited Mount Rogers Outfitters and just browsed the aisles, overhearing the gear and trail discussions carried on by obviously very experienced hikers beginning to crowd the place. I decided to walk out to the long narrow city park across Beaver Dam Creek where the vendors and gear manufacturers were set up. It was fun to look over their wares and talk with them and the hikers, a real summer carnival atmosphere in a small town. I finally made it to the far end of the park and got another picture of the ¢Welcome To Damascus¢ sign, which greets hikers coming down off the mountain as the AT descends into this Mecca of the hiking community from the south. It reminded me so much of my own experience finally making it to Damascus on last year¢s hike. I¢ll never forget that. I checked out the Baja Caf© (Side Track Caf© from last year, under new ownership/management, I think), and made my way to the Dairy King for an ice cream cone AND a large milkshake, all the while meeting new hikers or running into someone I had hiked with this year. Finally I hitchhiked out to Tent City, about a mile from the center of town, and did much of the same out there, visiting gear manufacturers and running into more hikers, including Fraggle. The weather was still warm and sunny. This being Friday, I knew I would get a limited dose of the true Trail Days experience, since the hiker¢s parade and other activities would take place on Saturday, or in the evenings. It was my plan to stay until around midday, and then hit the road. I had a great time, though the huge crowds of Saturday had not yet arrived. Around 11:00 I went back to The Place, cleaned up my bunk area and got ready to leave, remembering to put in my donation for the night¢s stay. This hostel is a great service to hikers, and well worth more than the suggested $4.00 gift. The trip home was uneventful. I drove through town once or twice, since it is unlikely that I may ever visit Damascus again unless specifically to visit Trail Days in some future hiking year. I am now up near Roanoke Virginia hiking north, so this section will be far away from my future trips. I made my way out of town on the beautiful country road to Interstate 81 and headed towards Bristol and Knoxville, then on through Chattanooga, across the corner of Georgia and finally into Alabama. Soon I was approaching the greater Birmingham area, calling Angela about an hour outside of town so she could meet me at the airport. She did pick me up there since Marlene was at one of her overnight scrap-booking parties with her friends. She was sad not to be there to meet me, but I knew she would enjoy the outing with her girlfriends. Angela and I had a fun time talking about the hike as she drove me home. After stowing my gear out of sight in my office, I had a quick shower and then a nap. Later, around 7:00 pm, I asked Angela if she wanted to get something to eat, and we had a good time together at Appleby¢s, with me enjoying the real food. So, the 2005 hike is done. This one was the hardest to schedule and I was not able to even be sure I could go until the last minute, but it all worked out. It looks like it fit just right into the time allotted, and I will be back at work Monday, right on schedule. It is hard to keep my mind away from pondering what the hikers are doing at Trail Days, and I know I will continue to think about them waking up along the trail each morning and hiking along the familiar sections of trail I have recently experienced. Such is the lot of the section hiker. I will try to get going with putting in this year¢s pictures, which takes me some time to accomplish since I usually tell another version of my story in the picture captions. Also, as is my habit, I will put in at least one more conclusion entry, as I feel I have lots to ponder about the experience of this year¢s hike. It has been great.