Date: 2011-05-12
From: Tinker Cliffs

To: Howard Johnson, Daleville VA
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: light rain

(In which I nero in Daleville)Despite the clouds and the mist, the weather holds itself to only brief drizzle. I stay dry in my tent, and by the morning even the outside of the tent has fully dried. I sleep in, read in bed, then spend most of the morning eating and enjoying Tinker Cliffs, in no hurry to leave.The clouds hover as close as they did yesterday, but the rain still holds off. I hike leisurely, taking breaks at most of the many viewpoints along the ridge, checking my email and reading chapters of my book. It's less than 11 miles in to town where I plan to stay the night, and I savor the lack of urgency that I've held onto since the Four Pines Hostel. At a particularly interesting rock monolith I stop and see how far up I can climb. I make it a third of the way up but come back down because I'm wearing shorts and don't want to scratch up my legs.All of the hikers I see pass me, eager either to catch a ride down to Trail Days or get food in town. Skipping Trail Days, as I've decided to do for this year at least, makes it even easier to avoid hiking urgency, as the normal current of hikers will be disrupted for the weekend. I'm curious to see what the trail is like with so many people back in Damascus, and to see what new people I meet after Trail Days, when hikers who had been days ahead of me will get back on the trail.During my sixth or seventh break of the morning, I hear the clap of nearby thunder, and decide to finally get moving. It starts drizzling, but not enough to get me wet and I manage to make it all of the way down the mountain and into Daleville without any serious rain. Each of the Daleville parking areas seems to have at least one van or station wagon being loaded with hikers headed south for Trail Days. The hikers who have already been in town for several hours and are not planning on going to Trail Days tell of having to turn down ride after ride, and of not being able to walk down the street without cars pulling over to see if they needed a ride to Damascus.Mayo, Mehap and Tom are staying at the Howard Johnson where I book a room, and I walk with them to Kroeger's to resupply. The store is not far from the hotel, but without sidewalks we have to walk perilously close to the speeding traffic. An even greater selection of restaurants and shops is clearly visible across a busy interstate, less than half a mile away, but the shoulderless underpass is impassable to all but the most fearless hikers.Walking to the grocery store I see German Shepard's walking stick, the one I jealously coveted, lying in the weeds along side the road. I assume that he left it there when he caught a ride and plans to retrieve it later, but when I ask Mehap he says that German Shepard already hiked out today. I wonder if he left it by accident or has switched to metal poles, and on the way back from the store I snag the walking stick and plan to use it until I see him again. I examine the pole closely, remembering my mistake with Where-in-the-Blazes' hat. But I find it hard to believe that another lightweight walking stick the same shape and size just happened to be here after I have searched for another one in vain for so long. Part of me hopes that 'Shepard has discarded it intentionally, so that I can keep it, but if he did leave it by accident then returning it to him will be just as rewarding.We go out for dinner at Pizza Hut, and I stuff myself with cheese breadsticks and soda. Some hikers have reportedly already gotten sick of pizza, one of the most available and cheapest town foods, (not that this actually keeps them from eating it), but I am happy to report that this isn't the case for me, at least not yet.Mayo, Mehap, Tom and River Rat are all sharing the room next to mine. I have an extra bed, so I let Mayo, the quietest of the bunch, move in to my room and make use of the bed.Having already had such a relaxing day hiking, I don't feel the same relief that I sometimes do in town. But Daleville is still a pleasant place to stay, and curtains and mattresses are a nice change of scenery, for one day a week at least.