Date: 2009-05-11
From: Iorn Mtn Shelter 

To: Damascus VA 
Miles today: 26.9
Weather: light rain

Bark and I woke up to a little rain this morning, but during a quick break in showers we were able to to pack up, eat a quick breakfast and hit the trail by 7:30. We were feeling cold and damp this morning so we started moving fast in order to generate some body heat. In fact, for most of the day we found ourselves on the trail seemingly alone only seeing a few hikers as they either passed us or vice versa. At one point we did run in to Journey who was just ahead of us. She was walking towards us going Southbound for just a little ways and asking us if we had seen "the bear". We told her we hadn't, but apparently we had just missed seeing a mid-sized bear maybe 50 feet behind us. She explained to us that when she walked by she heard something shuffling in the trees (more noisy than a squirrel) and when she looked up, it was a bear! By the time she had reached for her camera, the bear had already dropped down the tree and was down the mountain. Since we haven't seen a single bear yet, we were a little disappointed. That first sighting will be something special. We continued hiking through the foggy weather most of the day. Our plan was to only hike to Abingdon Shelter- about 16 miles from Iron Mt. Shelter, but when we arrived at about 2:30 we realized there were only 10 more miles to Damascus. Town holds one key thing for hikers - FOOD! If you are tired of eating dehydrated fruit, pasta, any kind of "bar" or Little Debbie snacks, "town" is where you want to be. So, without hesitation we committed to doing another 10 miles (we were told it was mostly downhill) and off we went. The whole hike had been pretty gentle most of the day with only a few good climbs so we didn't feel too sore or tired. As we got closer to Damascus a few pretty exciting things happened- 1) The clouds broke and we had sunshine for the first time that day! 2) We finally crossed the TN/VA border!!!! No more NC/TN borders for us... we are officially in VA for the next month or so. 3) We started our descent into Damascus, the well reputed "Trail Days" town. We finally made it in to town and found our way to "The Place", a hostel owned by the Methodist Church. There were no bunks left, but plenty of tent space outside so we camped with a few others in the hostel yard. We found Kizmit who was also staying at The Place and had a great chance to talk about our "marathon" of a day. 26.9 miles- CRAZY, but so worth it. Bark and I walked down to Quincy's Pizza and had dinner while Kizmit joined us to discuss our time on the trail. We were glad for the company especially since we knew she was heading out of town tomorrow. After dinner the 3 of us walked over to Dollar General for a quick resupply run- Bark and I had decided to hike out the next day and then get a hitch back into Damascus on Wednesday so we could be here in plenty of time for Trail Days- THE hiker festival of past, present and hopeful AT thru hikers. We finished picking out food for a 2 day hike and made it back to our tent for some well deserved rest. Kizmit headed up to her bunk and Bark and I settled down in the very soft grass of the yard outside the hostel.