Date: 2006-05-19
From: Lehigh Gap (Team Steve's house)

To: Damascus, Va. (Trail Days)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

2:32 p.m. I'm in the car right now driving from Wernersville PA back to Damascus VA, where we were over a month ago. This weekend is Trail Days, a huge AT hikers' festival held every year. First about yesterday, though. I slept really badly at New Tripoli campsite, which is odd because I usually sleep pretty well in my tent. I woke up tired , and we hiked out by just after 8 a.m. Because we did some extra miles to get to where we camped, we had only 11.8 miles yesterday. These miles weren't fast or easy though. Not long into the day (about 3.5 miles), we came to a viewpoint and met a couple, former thru-hikers, who we chatted with for a while. They said that couples that make it through the AT can survive anything. Hmmm. The rocks yesterday were the worst yet. At times I swear I was moving at 1 mph, edging my way along sharp rock ridges or scooting on my butt off a big boulder. At times the rocks were smaller, and we could hop along from one to another, but when they got still smaller (fist or head-sized), it once again made progress slow for fear of misstepping and doing a number on an ankle or falling over completely. Lockjaw and I stopped at a shelter for water with 7.7 miles to go. It was 10:30 and I was beginning to think we wouldn't be at Lehigh Gap to be picked up by Team Steve at 1:00, the time we had arranged. So I took off and hiked fast for pretty much the rest of the day. The rocks chilled out some, and I got into a rhythm. It started to get hot and the trail was less shaded for the last 4 miles or so, but I ended up getting to the Gap before 12:45. Sunshine and Team Steve were there already, Kaptain and Lockjaw not far behind. We piled into Team Steve's Subaru wagon and drove, with a quick stop at Taco Bell, back to his house. It took about an hour and a half. Once there we relaxed, played music, took showers, and enjoyed being done. Then we went to Barnes and Noble, Chili's, the grocery store, and the liquor store. We bounced on Team Steve's trampoline and watched TV. Last night I didn't sleep too well either. I think it may have been partially excitement though. We've been talking about Trail Days since just about the first day. Unfortunately Kurly and Swansons aren't going to be there, but we're really looking forward to seeing people we've been chasing and people we met early on and people we don't even know exist yet. Basically a bunch of current thru-hikers and former thru-hikers and random enthusiasts and members of the trail community all congregate and have a big, happy, dirty, hippie, smelly, hiker party. So we got up at 6:00 today to drive the about 7 hours back to the southern border of Virginia. We've stopped a few times and now we're getting close. I doubt I'll write tonight, but hopefully I'll have time tomorrow to fill in the goings-on. We're staying in "Tent City" both tonight and tomorrow night. Sunday we'll drive back (except Lockjaw, who's getting picked up by his dad tomorrow mid-day to go home for his sister's graduation.) That means 3 zero days (we're driving back Sunday and will hike out from Team Steve's house on Monday). Considering we've only taken 3 zero days so far the whole trip, this is pretty amazing. It will be weird to go for so long without hiking.