Date: 2010-05-15
From: Partnership Shelter

To: Damascus
Miles today: 8.9
Weather: few clouds

Bear Blaze and I had a bad night of sleep, compounded by this hammock hiker who decided to get up at 5 am, shuffle all over, repack his bag, and then lower it out the window noisily so he didn't have to use the ladder. Bags under our eyes, we headed out to the others and were surprised to find a fully away Funky Monkey. She's usually the last one up! Why? Today her boyfriend was meeting her and she said it was "Justin time!" a few too many times.We all packed up, filled up on leftover greasy pizza, and headed out. The plan was to reach Atkins where Justin would give us all a ride into Damascus for Trail Days. He had somehow lucked into a cabin there when everything else was booked solid. The rest of us were on our own for camping but that was fine. Before long the plan changed and Funky asked him to pick us up at the Settler's Museum, about 2 miles short of Atkins. We all agreed and stopped here for a break. As we walked past the old house the caretaker, dressed in old-timey clothes, was giving a group of school kids a tour. We walked through and he pointed to the "real Appalachian Trail thru-hikers!"Waiting under the covered area, we took advantage of the indoor plumbing and electrical outlets to charge our phones. Before long Justin (aka "Cosmic Jackpot") rolled up. Funky practically tackled him. The rest of us were more reserved but very appreciative as he handed each of us a foot long Subway sandwich! What a welcome for a bunch of stinky people! We all ate lunch and then played Tetris cramming six people and all their hiking gear into a Subaru Forester. Somehow it worked, me again with Beth on my lap.We made a quick stop at Happy Hiker Hostel so Bear Blaze could get a package. Here we waved to Shining Charlie, who had to get off the trail due to a heart condition. He was a really nice guy. We rolled onwards and piled out of the cramped car in Damascus. Funky and Cosmic made their way to their cabin while the rest of us walked over towards The Place, hoping to find a stay for the night.As we walked away from the cabin towards town Gonzo double back to retrieve Funky's laundry in return for her washing his clothes a few days ago. He was gone awhile so we sat down under a tree to wait near the main street. As we sat a neighbor came out to offer free leftover food from their dinner. We were stuffed from Subway and turned her down, to her genuine surprise: we couldn't be real thru-hikers if we were turning down food!Gonzo eventually returned, delayed by a quick shower in their cabin. We all made our way to The Place and were happy to see some bare lawn around the house! The only two places hikers are allowed to camp are on the grounds of The Place, and "tent city" just outside the city limits. We chose The Place, knowing it would be less crowded and rowdy, and pitched our tents close together.After getting setup we headed to the laundry. Gonzo and Bear Blaze had to double back for some forgotten items while Beth and I waited on the steps of the Baptist church for their return. It was taking awhile so I walked behind to see the free showers the church was offering. They had setup a mobile trailer for the hikers! Printed on the side was "disaster relief" which I suppose is appropriate for hiker hygiene levels coming off the trail. They offered nice towels and all kinds of shampoo, soap, and even shaving supplies! The shower itself was warm for the first 30 seconds, then fairly cold, but still refreshing.Somewhat clean, I walked to the laundry but found Beth nowhere in sight. I walked down the street to SunDog, still nowhere. Eventually we reunited at the laundry and started our wash. She had been in the SunDog fitting rooms when I walked through and returned with a nice North Face hiking skirt. The church volunteers were keeping an eye on the laundromat to make sure hikers didn't demolish the place and were also paying for peoples washes! They also walked to the mini mart and bought drinks for everyone. We sat around in the sweltering laundry waiting for our clothes and charging our cell phones and camera batteries.Nearly finished with ours, Gonzo and Bear Blaze showed up. They had been side tracked talking to people, then had a free foot massage at the church, and also visited the free medical screening trailer on the way. We all hung out here, met some hikers we hadn't seen in awhile (Superman, Dutch-Tape, Cabana Boy) and then walked back to our tent, happy to be wearing clean clothes.Hungry, Bear Blaze, Beth and myself walked over to Whistle Pig for a nice dinner. As we ate thunderstorms rolled in and we could hear the heavy rain on the roof. None of us had brought rain gear. Thankfully it let up just in time for us to walk back to The Place. Gonzo had left earlier to reunite with some friends in tent city and we decided to head over there as well. Bear Blaze, Beth, and myself started the walk over and were soon glad to be camped in town. It was a long way outside town, past the softball fields!We arrived just about dusk and were greeted by quite the sight. I've never witnessed a cult before, but I would describe this as a cult of hikers. Just outside tent city itself, in a cleared area, was a huge bonfire of large logs, surrounded by hikers milling about, talking, and drinking. At the far side of the fire were the drummers, keeping a fast beat. Closer in to the flame another ring of hikers were dancing and circling the flames. Occasionally someone would run straight through the fire on a log. Some were more successful than others, a few fell in the fire off the log but kept going, and several truly drunk attempts failed before they began. Soon after Superman (the first one we met) and his Rif-Raf crew showed up and started dancing around the flames shouting "Rif-Raf! Rif-Raf! Rif-Raf!".After a few attempts we finally got Gonzo on the phone, learning he was deep in tent city proper, which extends into the woods along the river. The city was indeed a mini city and had its own little neighborhoods with names including: Alcatraz, Rif-Raf, Muff-Cuts, and many others I cant remember. We wandered through the darkened path, between tents and piles of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer cans, finally finding our way to Gonzo. He had met hikers Grumps and LB (Last-On-The-Bus) again and was smoking cigars with them.As we stood there a hiker behind us grew frustrated setting up his bonfire and poured an entire bottle of white gas on it, lighting it in a huge ball of flame. Another hiker, barely coherent, was walking around asking for "a guitar. Man, I really need a guitar...". Yet another tried to light a stick in the fire, from which he planned to light his cigarette, before faceplanting into the fire. After some hesitation others pulled him out. His main concern was still lighting the cigarette even though his back was covered in smoldering embers.We'd had enough of the drunkenness and left Gonzo behind. Bear Blaze, Beth, myself, and Hedgehog all wandered out on another path and eventually were out of the woods near the bonfire. The local police were also out, enforcing the open-container laws. We walked out of the tent city and passed behind the newly constructed Bingo center where a band had setup an impromptu concert, stealing away most of the hikers from the drum circle. Tired, we walked back to our tent for the night.