Date: 2003-04-23
From: Damascus, Va.

To: Saunders Shelter
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: clear sky

Well, well, well - the sun showed up today! The wind is still cold, but anything is preferable to grey, wet and cold.Okay, I take that back. It's not strictly true. I actually prefer grey, wet and cold to 95 degrees and 95 percent humidity.After a breakfast at the Sidetrack Internet Cafe, I spent the morning wandering around town. Note to future hikers or Trail Days go-ers - this is not a town to be walking around with a beer in public. An open container law is strictly enforced.Nor is The Place, the Methodist Hostel, the place to bring beer. Bliss and friends were asked to leave yesterday, I was told. They weren't loud or obvious, but someone noticed and bounced they were. This info is in all the guidebooks.The clear and lovely Laurel Creek was high. I camped right next to it during Trail Days 2001. It was hot then, and I remember swimming out to a rock in the river. The current is too swift and cold today for such shennanigans. But the water is still crystal clear. I find the rock and take a picture.I spend the better part of an hour on a log there, watching the ducks. An industrious muskrat digs roots out of the grassy bank and swims them back and forth to its own secret spots. When it passes me, it ducks underwater, as if that makes it invisible.Isn't this what old people do, sit and watch the ducks? If the untidy sensation of needing to be somewhere else can be shaken, river-watching is a wholly satisfying pastime.Rain is predicted for Friday, and that DOES inject an element of urgency to my stay in Damascus. I had originally planned to spend the night here and set out tomorrow morning.But that schedule would have me climbing the 5700-plus foot Mount Rogers - Virginia's highest peak - in the rain on Friday. So I decide to hustle and do my chores. Note to self: visit the post office BEFORE resupplying! I got Trail magic galore: organic brownies from my gear guru Wendy (Philosophy '00), chocolates and foot cream from my good horse buddy Jackie, and a box from Century, Florida with no note, stufffed with goodies. (I suspect it is from some friend from the Women's Hike out of Erwin last November. Fess up). Thank you all, friends. I am grateful.I staggered back to The Place with my load, and shared some of the booty with fellow hikers. Have you ever seen sharks in a feeding frenzy? I was lucky to escape with all my fingers!Lord! I am loving this sunshine! My friend Dan Hammer writes:"Boy! This may go down in history as the worst year yet to be a thru-hiker.Don't waste money on lotteries, and stay away from the race tracks. I sure hope your luck changes."Ha! In truth, soggy and cold as I have been, I feel pretty lucky. I am hiking the AT, I am in Damascus, my tendons are holding, I am still in the game. Nor do I think we've had the worst weather ever on the AT, since I've seen no tornadoes, lightening storms or hurricanes (yet). But it makes me feel tough.When I get stove fuel at the excellent Mt. Rogers Outfitters, I check out the bricks up and down the street. The AT runs right through town here, down Main Street. For $50 you can have a brick glazed and placed on the Trail.I look in front of the telephone for Journey's brick. She was on my women hiker list, and died last year a few weeks before her thru-hike. Her list friends made up a brick in her memory. Someone tell me where it is, so I can find it when I come back for Trail Days.I did find Dan Hammer's brick, right in front of the outfitter's: HAMMER. Not hard to miss.I finally crawl out of town after 4pm, following those white blazes onward. Oooof! Is my pack heavy with five days food! And the Trail out of towns is always UP. No 22 miles for this hiker today. I'll be lucky to do the nine miles to the shelter, esp. with a late start and steep climbs.The sun drops lower and lower, and then disapears. I wonder if the shelter will be full, if there will be room for tenting, if everyone will be asleep, if I'll get there by 9pm. I dig my headlamp out as the sun goes down. Such are the thoughts heading up the dark side of Straight Mountain, trying to beat the dark.Suddenly, I am at the sign - 1/4 mile to Saunders shelter. Hmmm, that seems a long way, and they ALWAYS underestimate how far it is. But what choice do I have, it is darkening.A trim, new, cut-log shelter pulls into view. Sweet! And I am the only one here. Space!I am feeling pretty good about having this all to myself - until I read the shelter register. It seems that just three days ago, three bears had showed up behind the shelter after following a couple up the mountain. They finally chased them away by tossing rocks and yelling, the bears were not scared of their dog.Yikes! How will I sleep now? I have my little pile of rocks beside me, yes I do. Problem is, I can't throw worth snot. It's true (sob!) - I throw like a GIRL!!!There, I've said it.Good night (shutting only one eye).