Date: 2009-05-16
To: Tent City (Damascus)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Trail Days has been a great time! I got a chance to meet up with almost everyone I've met on the trail so far and catch up with what they've all been up to recently. Everywhere I turn I see more hikers I know. Possibly the coolest thing about it all, though, is the fact that it's like meeting up with old friends I've known for years even if I may have only hiked with them for a couple days. The whole community aspect is great.The general culture is also a bit of a new experience, too. I can't say that I've actually been to a gathering of thousands of hippies before. It was certainly entertaining (and a bit smelly...) and almost surreal in that I suddenly found myself in this situation after having been in the woods with much smaller crowds for so long.There are also lots of vendors around selling things and giving general advice, which is cool to see/hear. I got one of my boots (temporarily) fixed and a broken zipper on my pack replaced. When I brought my pack to the Gregory stand, I actually got to talk to the owner and a couple of the designers of the packs! They adjusted my pack for me and even replaced my waist-belt and shoulder straps.On top of gear repair and the chance to hang out with my fellow hikers, there was so much free food. It was like paradise. I paid under $10 for the weekend and still managed to be full every night! They certainly know how to take care of hikers here in Damascus. That said, I can't wait to be hiking again.At present I am fighting a battle against an army of daddy long-leggers for control of my tent. It's absolutely ridiculous. I'm taking shelter in my tent momentarily while it's raining; I plan to go hang out near a fire pit/drum circle soon. This place is absolutely off the hook. Everyone is going crazy and it's loads of fun even to simply watch it all.I had such an excellent day today. I got up and ate a big bowl of cereal with powdered milk, hung out by the tent with Overdone for a while, and then we went into town. We poked around the outfitters and I bought some supplies for the next stretch (I still want to get some peanut butter and bagels and perhaps more meat, too). Overdone stayed in town in order to see a presentation. I came back to my tent, got my pack and wandered over to the Gregory tent. They had fixed my lid (it's literally as good as new!) and checked out my bag. They replaced my shoulder straps and waist belt, the new waist belt is a medium instead of a large. They also adjusted my pack for me. I was talking to the head designers and the owner of the company!Afterwords I dumped off my pack and went to the presentation where Overdone was. The guy had an interesting story to tell, but it wasn't really helping me out with my 'hiking smarter, not harder.' The guy was 5'2" and ate a quarter of what I eat. Furthermore, he and his wife only hiked 5-10 miles per day!I stopped in at the medical tent to get blood work done and get my arm checked out. Apparently, I messed up my tendons in my forearm by constantly moving my wrists when I use my trekking poles. He told me to take around 600mg of Motrin or Ibuprofen as an anti-inflammatory. From there I met up with Fiddle, Savage, Sweet Lou, and Aesop somewhere or other and we all went over to the other outfitter where the parade began and there were free hot dogs. I ate five more chili dogs.I'm falling asleep in here already--I haven't even gone out to socialize yet!--and it's getting tough to write, but I shall press on.The hiker parade was awesome. There were something like 1,000 thru-hikers, led by the second man to complete the trail, Gene Espy. People hiked the streets with water balloons and water guns and assaulted us as we walked on by. The hikers fought back. It was just an enormous water fight. Really, the whole scene was ludicrous, and surreal, but so much fun and totally worth it all. During the parade I mostly walked with Fiddle, Savage, and Carolina, but I also found Gauche and Jungli--whom I met in Hot Springs prior to the funeral--and got to talk to them for a bit. After the parade the crowd I was with shifted continually, but I hung out with Fiddle, Savage, S'n'P, Eatsalot, Boofer, and Gauche. We waited for some raffles and watched the talent show at the gazebo. There were some really great acts up there (mostly singing with some instruments) and the company made things interesting.We returned to tent city for the Backpacker Magazine raffle. I talked to SnP and Gauche on the way back. For some reason or another, that walk felt like a peak in my day (I guess attractive women will do that; even if SnP is nearly double my age...). They, Carolina, and Jungli all decided to go Contra dancing. I considered it.Instead, Fiddle, Savage, and I went to get food. We eventually got some hot dogs from Ron Haven (Franklin Hotel owner/shuttle runner) and burgers/milk shakes at the Dairy King. That process took a very long time, though, since we stopped at just about every other food establishment along the way with no success (out of food or back order). I ended the night full for about $10. That's pretty dang good.We also stopped at the Baptist Church and met Bobby Jon, the only guy who's been on Survivor twice! Fiddle 'n' Savage were big fans and he was a cool guy.I ended up talking to a guy named Cesar A. Becera (planetcesar.com, who hiked the trail ultralight in roughly a year, and the woman who helped to put everything together. I wish I could remember her name and had contact info.