Date: 2018-04-18
From: Abingdon Shelter

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 10.2
Weather: clear sky

In stark contrast to yesterday¢s shivery start, we casually sat on a log this morning watching the sun rise as we ate our breakfast. We were up and hiking a little earlier than usual this morning. You probably know by now that only one thing gets Which Way moving that fast¢Town Day! It was not just any town either. We were headed to Damascus; that is, Damascus Virginia!Spamtown Rick was evidently more eager than us to get to town, as he hiked through the Abingdon Gap Shelter area as we were about to take off. He said he took off at 6:15 and had already hiked a couple of miles. Aussie, the hiker who was already tented outside the shelter when we arrived last night, was also off to an early start. Aussie is from Melbourne, Australia. It was just 10 easy miles to the iconic trail town and only 7 miles to the TN/VA line and WW was moving out. Man was that gal moving! Hiking along a ridge with a clear line of site through the still bare trees, we had good views of the green valley below and South Holston Lake. In no time, we reached the State line, where we took a few pics and shot our traditional corny video. The 94 miles of the AT running exclusively through Tennessee provided some of our best hiking yet. An additional 160 miles of the AT skirted the TN/NC border, including Clingman¢s Dome, the highest point on the trail. But now we are in Virginia and we will be here for a while. A whopping 554 miles, about 1/4 of the total distance of the AT, runs through the state. ¢Virginia is for lovers¢ is the state motto, but for many AT hikers it is home to the ¢Virginia Blues.¢ It is where mental toughness becomes (and maybe a little stubbornness) just as important as the physical aspect of hiking the trail.By noon we had we had reached the heart of Damascus. It is the second town since Springer Mountain that the trail actually runs through. Other hiking and biking trails also lead to Damascus. This includes the Virginia Creeper Trail, a 34 mile bike trail running from Abingdon to Damascus. It is considered to be one of the nicest biking trails in America. Damascus is also considered by many to be the most iconic trail town. It is home to Trail Days, a festival held each year in late May. Trail Days celebrates the Appalachian Trail and its current, former and aspiring hikers that converge there each year for a huge party. Music, an auction, a fun parade, a hikers' talent show, workshops and presentations, movies, hikes, lots of food, and other family-friendly events make this one of the most popular small-town events in Virginia and all along the Trail!Our first stop in Damascus was the Lazy Fox Inn, the hidden gem where we will be lodging for the next two nights (yes, that means a ZERO tomorrow). The proprietor of Lazy Fox is a sweet 94 year old lady named Jinny. A former Traveling Accountant for General Electric, she has been operating the Lazy Fox for the past 26 years.Moments after we arrived Dale & Joan Phillips walked through the door. I served with Dale in the 82nd Airborne Division 25 years ago (back in the day). Dale is a real Jumpmaster! With 99 jumps, he earned the title Master Parachutist. He was also one of the great NCOs that mentored this once young officer, who was full of vim and vigor. The ever patient Sargent Phillips delivered life lessons in a plain spoken way. He would say things like, ¢If you ain¢t humping (the name for 20K ruck marches with full combat load) and you ain¢t Jumpmastering (just jumping was not good enough), you ain¢t leading in the 82nd.¢ Since I myself, speak KenTexan I heard him loud and clear, and I was a better officer for it. Thanks Dale!!! By the way, Dale also told some of the biggest fish tails I had ever heard. But I knew that nothing that big came from the state of Indiana. But today Dale and his sweetheart wife, Joan, had a new title¢Trail Angels. He is still earning his wings after all these years.Dale and Joan have been following our trail journal and drove all the way from Fayetteville, NC to hang out with us for a bit. And man did they show up with some goodies. Of course they had a Coke Zero for WW and a cold chocolate milk for me. They also brought us a whole bag of sweets and other hiker goodies including oatmeal cakes, honey buns, pop tarts, starbursts, trail mix, a giant bag of Snickers, sun dried tomatoes, hand lotion for WW, extra batteries!!! So thoughtful!After a quick shower we drove down to Mojo¢s Trailside Cafe & Coffee Shop for some good burgers. Then we stopped by Crazy Larry¢s to drop off our dirty laundry and to the Post Office to pick up a few packages. Dale and some of his paratrooper buddies are planning an AT section hike next year, so when we returned to the Lazy Fox we spent some time talking gear and such. I even did an MSR Pocket Rocket and Platypus Gravityworks demo for him. I think he is sold on that and my EE Revelation Quilt. We drove to Abingdon for some delicious pizza at Bella¢s and then then dessert at the Ice Cream Stop. We were back at the Lazy Fox by dark and sat around telling paratrooper stories from the past and trail stories from the present until well after hiker midnight.Back in the day we would say, ¢It¢s a great day to be a paratrooper!¢ Today it was a great day to be an AT Hiker!AATW - Next StepElevation Data:                  Weather:Ascent ~ 1,000                    Day ¢ 80 degrees / SunnyDescent ~ 2,850                  Night ¢ 55 degrees / RainGrade ~ 7.1Over the Horizon: Mount Rogers