Date: 2016-04-03
From: Woodchuck hostel, Damascus, VA

To: Elk Garden 
Miles today: 24.2

Slept pretty well last night; I had a whole room with four beds in it to myself. Unfortunately a pair of hikers who rolled up late last night brought a dog with them who likes to bark at 6 in the morning. And as has been the case on the whole trail, once I'm up, I'm up. I tossed and turned trying to grab some more sleep, but to no avail. I headed downstairs at about 7, and was quickly handed a bowl of fried potatoes, orange juice and a waffle, which I proceeded to slather in margarine and syrup. Everybody else was up soon, too, but nobody seemed to be making moves to get going. Most people are staying in town for the day, or have been long-term work for stay employees at the hostel. I packed up my food bag, emptied my trash and packed my backpack. With the extra pair of boots and four days of food, the bag is the heaviest it's been in quite a while. I paid up with Chuck and headed out. The morning was colder than I thought it would be, chilly and breezy. I made my way through the quiet Sunday morning streets of Damascus. No one was really driving or walking around. I especially enjoyed passing by a gas station and listening to some blues song I couldn't place fade in and out of my hearing. Near the edge of town, I ran into a whole pack of hikers off to find breakfast, among them Zenmaster, Pants, Hootie, Wee Gillis and Wolf Peak (Wee Gillis' Dutch buddy). Pants stopped and chatted with me and wished me luck on the rest of my hike. I don't think they were zeroing, but I don't think they were planning on going anywhere until about noon. I like the three of them quite a bit; we make dumb jokes together and have fun. I hope I see them again. At numerous points in the day, the AT for a while hopped on to the Virginia Creeper trail, a wide, gravel rail-to-trail bike path. It followed the Creeper out of town before hopping back up on a side ridge. Right before a road crossing, signs told about a washed out bridge and a detour on the AT. The signs look so worn in, though, and the detour is so well marked that this must have been the current trail path for quite some time. The trail wound along a lovely River before switchbacking interminably up another mountain, ridge walking for a while, then returning to the path of the Creeper trail. As I dropped back down into the Creeper, I heard voices and was surprised to look behind me and find Doctor Trails, Blaze and Seal Tree! I thought they were way ahead of me, but they decided to zero twice in Damascus after walking 85 miles over the course of three days. In 35-10-40 chunks. They went from Watauga Lake shelter to Damascus in a single day. Yeesh. We chatted about the last couple of days as we walked two by two over the gravel path. I told them about the amazing coincidence that Martha is giving me a ride. Blaze joked that she came over and sat down because she liked my rugged looks. I responded that it was more likely because I smell great. We passed over a gorgeous trestle bridge above the river before dipping back into the woods again. I followed the threesome's slightly more relaxed pace in order to just be with some other folks. We stopped at Lost Mountain Shelter, which I thought would be my destination today, and is (probably) the destination of these three. We chatted with two section hikers, I used the privy (which has the entirety of Dr. Seuss's The Lorax written in Sharpie on the inside) and then made ready to head off again. It was only about 2, and pushing more miles today means less worrying about pushing miles later nearer to Atkins. The trail stayed flat for quite a while before skirting a gorgeous meadow and dropping me out below the 2.5 mile, 1600 foot climb up to Buzzard Rock. I stopped to filter a little water and met Babbit, another thru hiker, who is aiming for Thomas Knob Shelter, a large lean to right next to Mt. Rogers, the tallest point in Virginia. I passed in front of him and made the long hike up. It was very pretty, and I could see the vegetation slowly turning from old growth forest to birch trees and whatever those short trees covered in spines are that seem to be the only trees that grow near the top of balds. Soon I was out on the bald itself, clambering up to a ridge. Buzzard Rock is a subsidiary crest of Whitetop Mountain, but is completely bare, and had spectacular views. The day was perfect, not a single cloud in the sky. Away to the south and west I picked out the Roan Highlands, just a faint blue shadow now. To my right were more mountains of the blue ridge in North Carolina, sharp topped and spiny. But away to the north and west were mountains like I'd never seen: huge long ridges extending out of sight for probably 50 miles in either direction, gently rolling, almost always the same height, and between them, huge valleys filled with houses and fields and water. I knew I only had about 3 more miles of hiking, so I took quite a long break just drinking in the view. I spoke to three day hikers from North Carolina, probably just a few years older than me, who do a good deal of short backpacking trips. Yesterday they had just been on a mountain called three tops, which they pointed out to me on the horizon. I had seen the jagged summits before and wondered what they were, so I was glad to know. I pushed on over the bald and through scrub, getting treated to more gorgeous views. Mt. Rogers finally came into sight. It's not a very imposing summit, and apparently has no view, so I'll see how I feel about the half-mile side trip tomorrow. It is, however, the highest state high point east of the Mississippi without a road going to the top. Interesting how we just build roads to the tops of mountains. Most are just for tourism, it seems, and I guess were built a long time ago. I would bet that the roads would never get built like that if we had it all to do over again. Soon I was descending to the VA 600 crossing at Elk Garden, eight miles further than I anticipated I would be going today. I filled up from a stream and hit the road, making sure to go touch the first blaze on the other side, which is actually on a fence (probably to keep in the wild ponies!) The terrain opens up into a huge bald meadow area across the road, but I'm camped in the woods on the western side of the route. I set up my tent, cooked food and got bored enough to make a bear hang for my food for the night. Boredom literally made me more prudent. Babbit came along, and to my surprise still wanted to push on, despite its already being about 6:45. He ate dinner in the parking area (I think) and then pushed on. So it's just me tonight camped out at Elk Garden. It's already pretty darn chilly out, and it's going to be cold tonight. Tomorrow is even supposed to be colder! It's also gonna get downright freezing after I go back home in a couple days: snow is currently forecasted for Damascus for three days straight! I'll frankly be glad to miss that.