Date: 2016-05-02
From: Damascus, VA

To: Pearisburg,VA
Miles today: 166.0

** I am looking for a ride South to Damascus, VA to attend trail days May 13-15. I would like to get there by Thursday the 12th and at that time will be a few days out of Daleville,VA. If you plan on attending and will be in the area and can give me a ride please let me know!!**I ended up spending the entire weekend in Damascus, VA when all my trail friends decided to zero on Sunday and talked me in to it (okay I already kind of wanted to stay haha). To save a bit of money I helped Woodchuck make and serve breakfast to the hostel guests Sunday morning which was actually a lot of fun. The hardest part about doing work for stay was that I had to be in the kitchen by 6am and had spent the following night at Damascus Brewery playing darts until 11pm. I spent my zero day spraying down clothing and gear with promitherine (for ticks), hanging out at Mojo's coffee shop and later relaxing next to and in the spring that runs through the town which was wonderful! For dinner we all ended up grilling burgers, eating bags of chips and pints of Ben and Jerry's ice cream.Day 38 on the trail, Monday April 25th, was a late start as I had to go to the public library to use the printer and then the post office to return my defective bladder. When I did hit the trail it was very hot and my pack was loaded down with 5 days of food and 2 liters of water weighing in at 39.5lbs so it was a rough morning. A bunch of us ended up camping by a spring and using dead trees to hang our bear bags (meaning multiple broken branches making for great hiker tv). Tuesday was a wonderful day! Halfway through the morning several older women showed up on the trail one of which was a triple crowner (hiked the AT, PCT and CDT) named Curly and they provided Pepsi and snacks. Soon after the Grayson Highlands began and man were the views amazing. One of the coolest parts was there were wild ponies and longhorn steers randomly roaming about. I ended up hiking to Old Orchard Shelter carrying 3 liters of water from the last shelter (5 miles out... Not fun) assuming I would stealth camp but when I heard what I thought was a bear I ended up pushing on.Wednesday ended up being another high mileage day when we all decided to get to Partnership Shelter where you can order pizza from the phone at the visitors center. Without planning it we hiked as a pack that day and in addition to Caboose and Sweeper who I'm used to leading (I am the ultimate pacer lol) at one point I also had Clementine, Bug Stick, Tweedy and Spidey... It was a lot of fun and very amusing to look behind and see the hiker train. After getting spots in the shelter we placed our order and I decided to man up and take a shower. I hadn't known it was possible to get a brain freeze from a shower but it is, even with taking breaks. The 23 miles and my feet feeling like they would fall off was all worth it when I got my own medium pan pizza with bacon, jalape±os, pepperoni and extra cheese which I washed down with Mountain Dew! Thursday morning I hiked with Caboose, Sweeper and Ginger Patch (a new friend) as we all planned on going in to Atkins, VA for lunch. An hour before the town we came across a school built in 1894 which is now a museum and has trail magic provided by a local church (ice cold soda again!!). After burgers at Barn Restaurant we pilfered the Sunoco gas station and got back on the trail around 3pm pushing on another 6 miles to a campsite. Friday was another hot day and while I passed multiple springs with hikers lounging about I made it until lunch time before finding a nice stream to soak my feet and eat at, it was magical. I hiked up the rest of the "mountain" leading up to Chestnut Knob Shelter which was concrete and super nice before continuing on to stealth camp along the ridges. Ginger Patch and Spidey camped with me and after dinner we all got comfortable in our tents leaving the vestibules open and talked to each other (super comfortable haha). Saturday was a rainy and uneventful day until we got to road US 52 and were given trail magic by Half Time (he thru-hiked the AT in 2011) and his family! I stayed at Helveys Mountain Shelter and shared it with 6 guys as we all wanted to stay dry with the approaching thunderstorm. The conversations were very random (including wishing the AT was like the Hunger Games and every night a cannon went off showing the pictures of all the fallen hikers) and one guy had to beat his tent (literally) to kill a bug rustling inside it. Sunday I was hiking over 3 miles an hour regardless of the rain and was motivated by making it to Trent's Grocery by lunch. However at the road turnoff a couple (Beth & Bernie) were parked providing sandwiches, snacks, drinks and best of all a hiker box with enough food to resupply until Pearisburg! Ended the day at the Wapiti Shelter (technically were two hikers were murdered in the past... Kind of creepy) for a total of 24 miles and I managed to beat the guys there, mission accomplished .Today I hiked in to Pearisburg, VA and am sharing a room at the fancy Holiday Lodge with a bunch of guys. We will head to the all you can eat Chinese food restaurant grocery store and eventually Mexican place for margaritas. After all great memories are made both on the trail and in town!