Hello everyone from Damascus, Virginia. This is one of the major Trail Towns on the AT. It has been 125 miles since Erwin Tennessee and a difficult 8 days. I camped 2 miles from town last night and got in early this morning. I had only one packet of oatmeal and cup of soup remaining in my food bag, so I was very hungry this morning. Already had breakfast of 3 huge pancakes, bacon, and diet coke. On the night of April 6th I camped at the highest shelter on the AT, Roan Mountain (6144 ft). It was a 20 mile day and a good thing I made it. It stormed all night with howling wind and rain. Not much better next morning with flood of water rushing down the trail for miles. Crossing the Balds the next day was epic.... Later I found out the winds were reaching 60+ MPH. For every two steps forward I had to take one sideways to get back on the trail. The AT will test your will power and this was a big test. But not all of the last days have been bad. Been hiking the last several days in sunny temps in the 70s. So it looks like spring is finally arriving to the south. Damascus is a MAJOR point in a thru hike to Maine. I have heard that many have dropped out because of the snow and cold several weeks ago. If you make Damascus your chances of completing the hike go up dramatically. As of now I have hiked 470 miles, so in a couple of days I will have hiked 1/4 of the trail. Not bad for 5 weeks.. I will be spending about 4 to 5 weeks hiking Virginia. My next major town will be Harpers Ferry, WVA. This is the official headquarters of the AT and very close to the 1/2 way point of the hike. So I am taking weekend off to rest my feet and resupply with 4 days of food to make my next resupply point of Atkins, VA. But tonight will be BEER and BIG Hamburger at the Damascus Brewery. I have lost about 15 pounds since I started so I am not worrying about calories.... Take care everyone... See you in Maine...
Posted on: Sat, 12 Apr 2014 14:38:02 +0000
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