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Dear family and friends,
I'm currently in Atkins, VA. Here is a summary of the last 10 days.
Now or Never and I left Laurel Fork Hostel and Lodge on 5/7. The walk down the
Laurel Fork Gorge was splendid. Passed Laurel Falls, a 40 foot tall and 60 foot
wide cascade over bedrock. Lavender rhododendrons were blooming as they clung
to the rock face next to the falls, and the sunlit space before the falls was
filled with hovering mayflies. Later that day I saw brilliant orange deciduous
azaleas blooming on the mountainside, the first I've ever seen in the wild.
I'm a rhododendron and azalea nut as anyone who has seen my landscaping at home
will attest, so seeing these plants blooming in the mountains was thrilling.
About 2 miles before our first shelter we stopped at a spring for dinner. Before
I could finish cooking the skies opened up in an intense thunderstorm. Stood
in the downpour under my umbrella eating my stroganoff with mushroom traces,
my pack at my feet, sufficiently dry and happy. The remainder of the hike that
day was remarkable with orange sunlight streaming from the west under the clouds,
thunder above, and a magical rainbow in the east arching down to Watauga Lake.
The view from the shelter of the lake and mountains to the east was excellent,
with lightening flashing over the peaks well into the night. In the morning
the valley was filled with clouds and mist.
The umbrella is my only rain gear and has worked reasonably well so far. If
you wear a rain suit your clothes quickly become soaked with sweat while hiking
due to poor breathability. If you take the rain suit off clothes become soaked
with rain, which is preferable to most people. The umbrella solves this waterproof/breathable
dilemma better than any garment, but has it's own tradeoffs. Doesn't work well
in wind for example. But so far so good.
Continued to Damascus Virginia over mostly easy terrain in 2 1/2 days: 18 miles,
23 miles, and 10 miles, arriving about 10:30am on May 10. Damascus calls itself
"the friendliest town on the trail". It is a small but relatively
prosperous town with an excellent outfitter, a few restuarants, and assorted
bed and breakfasts. Now or Never and I checked into a hiker hostel called The
Place, run by the Methodist church on a donation basis. It is a very large old
house with bunks in several rooms, no caretaker. Good enough for us hikers.
We did our usual chores of laundry, grocery shopping, calorie loading at restaurants,
and multiple showers, and headed north again the morning of 5/11. On 5/12 we
walked to Thomas Knob Shelter on Mt. Rogers, the highest peak in Virginia at
5729'. We have been having rain or thunderstorms every afternoon since 5/7,
a real summer weather pattern. In the week before we had been walking through
forests in full leaf, but climbing the high ridges of Mt. Rogers we had our
last glimpse of Spring: trees just leafing out, forest floor covered with carpets
of wildflowers.
On 5/13 we walked through the Grayson Highlands, a unique world of open balds,
jutting rocks, and wild ponies. The ponies were introduced by the Forest Service
in 1974 as an experiment to try to keep the balds open through grazing. These
balds are due mostly to logging in the early 1900s and subsequent cattle grazing,
and without human intervention would return to forest. I passed several groups
of ponies. They are curious and not very afraid of people. I was able to walk
within a few feet of them before they got skittish and ran away. It is the season
for giving birth and I saw many young foals, including one who may have been
born only hours before. It was very small and lying on the ground, while the
others were standing on wobbly legs. Also many very pregnant mares. The horses,
open vistas, mountains, and occasional evergreen trees bring to mind Montana
landscapes.
Met three bubbly young people later that day: Slacker Packer (male-20), Whoopsie-Daisy
(female-20), and Mountain Mama (F20). They were talking, joking, and laughing
their way down the trail, with enthusiasm undimmed by the usual afternoon downpour.
Once thoroughly wet their plans changed from camping out to hitch hiking to
the nearby town of Trout Dale for a cheeseburger and night in a new hostel.
With the weather still threatening Now or Never and I decided to join them.
The youngins got a ride fairly quickly, having young women with them, but Now
or Never and I trudged most of the 3 miles into town (on top of the 14 on the
trail) before catching a ride in the back of a pickup in the pouring rain.
The hostel was in the back on an old Baptist church. We met the pastor, a well
meaning clean-cut fellow. Men stayed in a small bunkhouse under construction
out back, women in the old church. The rain came down in buckets, validating
our decision to go into town. We enjoyed hot showers, meals at the Trout Dale
Trading Post (restaurant/general store), and conversation with our young friends
and other hikers who showed up at the hostel. Trout Dale is a very rural small
town with a history as a lumber boom town and not much of a present.
On 5/14 Now or Never and returned to the trail. I hiked about 6 miles to a campground
where my friend Hikerhead from Roanoke VA picked me up in his car. Hikerhead
is one of my three original companions on this trip. We hiked together for the
first three days, from Springer Mountain to Neel's Gap. He kindly offered to
pick me up and take me to Trail Days, the big event in Damascus 5/14 - 5/16.
I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Trail Days with conflicting reports
from people on the Trail on what happens there. Now or Never declined to attend,
believing it was primarily a drunken party, and continued down the trail. But
I've had a great time back in Damascus over the last 2 days.
On Friday 5/14 Hikerhead and I set up camp in a National Forest campground about
10 miles out of town, deciding to avoid the reputed debauchery in the hiker's
campground in town. Then we drove into town and met Hammock Hanger (F-40s),
a long-time hiking friend of Hikerhead's. These trail friendships are fascinating
and don't have an analog in ordinary life. We walked through the booths set
up in the town park. Many backpacking gear vendors and organizations had interesting
booths, along with a county fair-like assortment of crafts, ice cream, elephant
ears, hot food, etc. I walked down to the infamous campground, which was far
smaller and more tame than I imagined, with a substantial police presence to
maintain order. We listened to live bluegrass music in the evening.
On the morning of 5/15 Hikerhead, Hammock Hanger and I took a bike ride on the
Virginia Creeper Trail, and rails-to-trails route that runs through Damascus
and provides a substantial boost to the local economy. This was literally the
most beautiful and enjoyable bike ride I have ever experienced. We boarded a
vans and were driven with bikes 17 miles up the trail to the top of the mountain,
a journey of 45 minutes on winding mountain roads. The ride back to town was
a steady downhill except for the last 2 miles. Without pedaling we coasted through
the Virginia mountains, crossing over 100 railroad trestles bridging roaring
mountain streams. Stopped half way down at a small cafe for lunch and ice cream.
Felt like I was in a heavenly realm where everything is light and beauty.
When we got back to town the hiker's parade was gearing up, so we joined right
in. Met many of our hiking friends from the last 6 weeks again, it seems everyone
is at Trail Days. About 25 young guys had their hair cut into Mohawks last night,
including many former companions. The parade was a gas with thousands of hikers
marching through town while conducting an ongoing waterfight with squirt guns,
water balloons, and super-soakers. The town people and spectators joined in
the water fight, and the fire department sprayed the hikers from their fire
truck. After the hikers came a procession of horses, fire trucks, and other
vehicles.
Hikerhead took me back to the trail the morning of 5/16. This afternoon I caught
up with Now or Never in Atkins.
My right foot started giving me some pain on 5/9. Bought new trail runner shoes
in Damascus, currently fiddling with various combinations of socks and insoles
to find a system that provides good support and comfort. But this is not a big
problem yet. My spirits are good, still feeling plenty of enthusiasm for the
Trail in all its richness. Looking forward to walking again tomorrow and to
my trip home the first week of June.
With best wishes from the Trail,
Raven / Dave