Date: 2018-05-27
From: Tent site at 488.7

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 18.7

After yesterday¢s bad weather and without any cell or data service, we didn¢t know what to expect for today¢s weather. But we didn¢t really care very much, since Woofie had been battling the cold she got from me for the last two days of hiking. She really just wanted to get back to town and recover in a motel room for a couple days like I had done after our previous time on the trail. Once again she proved she is stronger than I am. I had hiked only one day sick with my cold, but she had just hiked two days over much harder terrain and in the rain with hers. We slept an extra hour before starting to break camp and didn¢t get hiking until 8:20.  The weather started off nice and the trail was much flatter and easier than the day before. We came to Rt 58, the road we¢d been shuttled on to Massie Gap two days earlier, and tried to hitch back to our car in Damascus. Lots of cars and shuttle vans passed by, but none stopped for almost an hour, so we thought we¢d hike to the next place the AT crosses the road.  I had no idea what was about to happen. A mile past the road we came to the Lost Mountain Shelter, where we stopped to get more water. While there, a couple and their dog arrived. They had also been at our tent site the night before. They told us that just ahead was a junction with the Virginia Creeper Trail, an old rail line that had been converted to a hiker/biker trail. They said they were going to hike back to Damascus on it instead of the AT because it¢s so much easier. We decided to do the same. We reached the Laurel Creek Bridge after another 1.5 miles. That is where the AT and Virginia Creeper Trail meet. We crossed the bridge and found that the two trails are the same for the next .6 miles. While on the hiker/biker trail, Woofie said she¢d like to stay on it until we got to Damascus instead of getting off to go to town today. Although it was now 1pm, because of our late start and the hour we lost waiting at the road for a lift, we¢d only gone 3.2 miles and were still 15.5 miles from Damascus. But the Creeper trail was so nice and easy to walk on, we could easily go at a 2.5 mph pace. After 2 hours the sky darkened, so we found a campsite along trail to put up our shelter tarp just in time before the rain began to pour.  We sat on our packs, keeping dry under the tarp and eating snacks, for two hours. It finally stopped by 5pm, and I suggested we put up our tent. We were still 9.5 miles from Damascus. But Woofie spotted that the nice tent site where we were sat right under a big dead tree. She said let¢s keep going. Rested and fed, and with cooler air, we found we could go steadily 3 mph.  Still feeling good after an hour and with only 6.5 miles to go, Damascus began to feel within our reach.We timed the passage of each mile marker¢20 minutes apiece¢maintaining 3 mph.  We stopped briefly for a drink and a snack at 7pm, 3.5 to go. Let¢s keep going she said. For the next two miles, water from all the rain was running across or along the trail. It became impossible to avoid. So we walked in three inches of water, still without slowing down. We reached the Damascus town line by 8pm, but still had almost a mile left to our car. We arrived at our car at 8:30, having covered 18.7 miles since leaving our camp in the morning, a distance typical for us of two good day¢s hiking and many miles over our best ever distance. Even more astounding, it happened on a day when Woofie started out feeling so bad she just wanted to get to town. Although we couldn¢t get a ride, she still found a way to do it.