Date: 2018-05-26
From: Grassy Ridge Rd.

To: Damascus 
Miles today: 15.75

I must say that the Woodchuck Hostel is so far the nicest and most welcoming hostel I¢ve come across on the trail. The owner, Woodchuck, or probably (hopefully) just Chuck to his parents, hiked the entire AT in 2013 and now serves the hikers with lodging and shuttle service.This morning the crew and I decided to do another day of slack packing from the north side of Damascus and hike just over 15 miles south back into town with minimal weight on our backs. Woodchuck drove us north and by 9:15am we were on the trail, single file like a family of ducks. As often happens no matter where I am in my life or what I¢m doing, I forgot something, my bug spray! Fortunately that didn¢t matter because unfortunately it started raining at 9:16am and continued for the first 12 miles. The rain was steady and at times even unnoticeable, because I¢m so used to it. But as the elevation increased the clouds or fog began to thicken and the wind picked up so it got a bit chilly. We broke for water and a snack at Saunders Shelter which is around the 6 mile mark from where we started. It was at this time I put my rain jacket on to squelch the chill.I learned a new term this weekend from a seasoned hiker, ¢PUDS¢. PUDS means ¢pointless ups and downs¢. Today things weren¢t so bad today heading south, but I do feel bad for the north bounders as much of their trek was up and even more up. Just as when I had SOBO¢d in the past, I had a chance to see many of the people that I¢d met in the past and not seen nor heard about is several weeks. I had no idea that I was so close to them and it was good to catch up a bit and see that they¢re still out here.Some of the AT in this area shares the trail with the Virginia Creeper Trail which is a converted railroad bed and is used for both hiking and bicycling; the above photo is an old railroad bridge built on the original wood frame structure that towers high above a trail of some sort and a river. The AT also runs alongside and crosses several creeks and streams that ultimately empty into the Lauren Creek, which when I finally was able to see it, looked more like a raging river with huge rocks and logs creating rapids and multiple currents that would prevent the ¢creek¢ from being easily forded; at least by an inexperienced forder. The dominant sound in the forest today was water; either rain hitting the leaves or my jacket or that of the rapids from any one of the aforementioned streams. The dominance of color is still green, but it is gladly beginning to share the spotlight the bright pink of the rhododendrons, the soft white of the mountain laurels and the imposing orange of what appears to be Honey Suckle, which Blue Raccoon has told me they¢re not. (I¢ll look it up). Nonetheless, the colors are exploding for my pleasure and I¢m appreciative.The last 4 miles brought out the sun and with that came humidity so off came my jacket and I was warmed. The birds replaced the sound of water and that was ultimately replaced by the sound of bicycles and the buzz of speeding traffic from Highway 58, on the shoulder of which the AT shares.Tonight Blue Raccoon and I stayed in and had leftover dinner on the deck of the hostel while Hugs and Big Kahuna walked downtown to one of the fine dining establishments for which Damascus is famous.I will be separating with my hiking crew tomorrow as I need to attend to the needs of my feet. Hopefully our paths will cross again and I will be in their fine company once more.