Date: 2016-04-13
From: Low Gap Campsite

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: few clouds

Day 52 - Low Gap to Damascus, VA 15.2 miles 4/13/16Great night's sleep. I talked to Cheetah and she said around midnight she heard a car crash down on the road, broken glass then a guy shouting. I had earphones in so thank god I didn't hear it or else I would've been paranoid the entire night. Heard some coyotes but that's about it. Cooler morning but BEAUTIFUL day. About 2 miles in (we started at 7am) we ran into Rhodo and a guy named Jester. Rhodo was having breakfast. Apparently, Cap'n Red and Blue had stayed there as well. They pushed 20 miles starting at 12:30pm, woof! They hiked until 11:30pm.Kept going, our plan was to have breakfast at Abingdon Gap Shelter, which was about 5 miles from where we started. Great terrain and Cheetah and I occupied ourselves by talking the entire time. She told me about Betsy and Brian and I am probably more excited for them to get married than anyone else, ha. I'm so invested, yet I've met them only once! Ran into Abingdon Shelter and Jester was there having breakfast as well. From Minnesota but lived in Guatemala for the past four years. He's hiking to raise money for 2 different charities. One is called Ser Ni±a which is a charity advocating women's empowerment in Guatemala. Amazing! He went on and we followed about 20 mins later with Rhodo. Terrain was great the the day beautiful but our bodies are maxed out. Our legs were only moving out of muscle memory. At one point we were only 3 miles from Damascus and Cheetah had to stop bc her feet were so painful. She gets upset with herself for feeling the pain and getting emotional about it. I told her that if she doesn't let it out then she will go crazy out here. It's not safe to let yourself become all bottled up. You must haves release of some sort. You're allowed to cry and be in pain and hate your life sometimes. It's easy to try and be stoic about these things but it never works out how it should.We sat together for a while and collected our emotions. The last three miles were probably the easiest as far as terrain but they were our hardest for or bodies. Our bodies needed a break. My legs felt like absolute jelly. I was closing my eyes while walking. We saw the town from up above and we still weren't motivated. Could've rolled down the hill. We made it thoughThere is a welcome sign and we fell in front of it. Still had half a mile of town walking. On the way we were stopped by an 89 year old man named Wilford Corbin. He is a trail maintainer and even had an Appalachian trail belt buckle on. He is from Franklin, NC and told us a story about his high school graduation ring. He saw my Nana's that I wear and it made him think of the story, they both graduated in 1945! He was at Pearl Harbor in 1948 and he was playing with his ring while looking at the remnants of The Arizona. The ring fell in the ocean and he said Good Riddance. A guy next to him asked what he dropped and Corbin told him it was his high school ring. The guy asked where Corbin was from and he told him Franklin, NC. The guy said "no kidding, me too." They looked at each other and realized that they were each other's cousin! Corbin hadn't seen his cousin since he he got on a bus and went to war. Wow!Kept stumbling toward town. Picked up our mail drops, thank you parents! Headed for a taco joint called Hey Joe's. Scarfed that down then went to Woodchuck Hostel. We however and set our stuff up on memory foam mattresses. They also have a huge teepee in the backyard. Hopped in the shuttle for Food City at 5 and got stuff to make veggie stir fry. Had a pint of Ben and Jerrys. Made stir fry. Went to bed. Everyone is here...Shrink, Red, Blue, Smalls, Otter, Snap, Rhodo, Corncob, etc. Good group and Woodchuck is amazing. From North Dakota and hiked the AT. Moved to Damascus to start this hostel. So nice. Bed.