Date: 2005-09-29
From: Iron Mountain Shelter

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 25.9
Weather: light rain

I awoke in the middle of the night to the pitter-patter of rain on my tent. Through my groggy haze, I somehow realized that my clothes and shoes were airing on the guy line, so I brought them in extended the awning, and went back to sleep.Bob Peoples' weather forecast board (which he updates at 6:20 each morning) had shown scattered showers for today. So I lounged in my sleeping bag and served myself a breakfast in bed of cinnamon donettes, a Nature Valley breakfast bar, and two packages of s'mores Pop Tarts.By the time I roused myself, it was 8:30 and raining hard. While I did manage to keep the important things dry, my wet things were an absolute mess. The tent especially is festooned with moist dirt and leaves. My rain suit kept my comfortable on the trail despite the downpour. After an hour of walking, I caught up with the Missouri group, who told me my trail name could be "Texas Lightning." I told them I wasn't sure if I could live up to the bravado and brazen speed that the name implies, but I was flattered nonetheless.Around lunch time, I reached a piped spring by a highway surrounded with trash. I was reluctant to take the water, but did anyway after filtering carefully. Then two men in camo drove up and filled some gallon jugs straight from it, no filtering involved. They were friendly despite their intimidating attire, and explained that this was a hunter hangout, and that the first season ever of crossbow deer hunting in Tennessee had started on the 24th. Odd, since I have seen more deer in the past week than earlier. I even saw one about 10 minutes after leaving the hunters at that intersection. The sight of a white puff of a tail loping through the forest is one I'll miss when I'm back at home.The temperature dropped rapidly after noon, but it stopped raining. At 3pm it was down to 50 degrees. I had taken off my rain suit to wear just the same no-sleeve shirt I've been wearing every day, so I hiked fast to keep warm, but also to see if I could make it to Damascus. This section of trail is so easy it's known as the Tennessee Turnpike, so the speed came naturally.The last 10 miles to Damascus went by almost too fast. I repeatedly stopped just to freeze myself in time and absorb the sensations of the trail - scenery, sounds, smells - into my permanent memory. I may not see anything like this again for quite some time.But soon I was there in Damascus at 5:30. I photographed myself at the Virginia state line and the Damascus entry gate, then visited the outfitter and the main hostel, The Place.At the Place, I met a hiker who claimed to have hiked the entire AT 10 times through. (That's 50 times as much hiking as I've just done!) He had brought some "trail magic" to share: chili, chips, and sour cream, which I greedily ate 3 bowls of. He was talking trail to two southbound thru-hikers, and I listened in. Both thru-hikers were lamenting the fact that they had "only" 500 miles left to hike. One said he was trying hard to slow his pace, so the outside world wouldn't creep up on him too quickly. As much as I've enjoyed my time on the trail, that's quite the opposite of my experience -- I experience "town gravity," accelerating each time I'm getting close to civilization. But I think I understand what he meant.It's all over for me now...or is it? Today is September 29th, and my flight doesn't leave until October 3rd. The outfitter offered me a shuttle to a point on the trail 40 miles north, so I could take 2 or 3 additional days hiking south back to town before my final departure. I'm having trouble deciding what to do. 40 miles more of the same might be anticlimactic. But at the same time, there's really nothing to do in town, and it *would* push me over the 500-trail-mile mark...I have decided to leave the decision up to my tent. Will it dry tonight? Yes --> go; no --> stay.My mind is full of reminiscences, statistics, gratification, and regrets, processing every facet of my experience to summarize and remember. Whether or not I hike further, I'll return to this journal for a final chronicle of my mental journey.