3 down, 11 to go

Day 29 - 5/10/10
Brrr it was cold last night. I had my mummy bag all the way closed up and my face still got cold. But I was happy I slept in the shelter because I was able to get up and go pretty quick. I met a guy in the morning named Noah who was at the same shelter as me but was in bed before I got there. He was really cool and actually went and filled up my Camelback for me (I had no water to my name) so when he came back I offered him some coffee. It was just a couple instant packs I got from Not Worthy a while back, but I wanted to give him something for helping me out. He accepted and so everyone was happy. I was on the trail sometime before 8 and made it into the town part of Damascus at 12:15. A very nice and easy 10 miles, which after a 30-miler was just what I needed.

Nothing too exciting coming into Damascus, there wasn't even a marker or sign telling you that you've crossed into VA, but once I made it into town I was amazed. This place is the ideal trail town because you have to walk right through it, from one end to the other. The size is perfect, a very walkable town with at least 3 outfitters, a bunch of local eateries, and just the friendliest people. Everything is nice and convenient. I went to this hostel called "The Place", which is a little house behind the Methodist church. Only a 5 dollar donation per night, with hot showers and at least 6 different rooms that can hold anywhere from 4 to 6 people. I finally caught up to Phil from Maine, another hiker who I've met before. He's hiked twice, '77 and '82, and now almost 30 years later he's on his 3rd. I parked my stuff in the same room as him and we decided to go get some pizza together, but first I had many errands to run.

I showered first. Gotta get the stink out, as much as I can at least. Then I ran up the street to do my laundry at the local cleaners, picked up my maildrops, then headed back to throw my clothes in the dryer. But before I did that I stopped for a vanilla milkshake at this place called Dairy King. It was so good I may have to get another tomorrow. After my clothes were done I headed back to The Place, getting there around 2-2:30. I met up with Phil and another Mainer named 7 D's (stands for 7 dwarves) and I went to a pizza buffet, which is actually part of the same chain as the one I went to in Erwin. The name is Pizza Plus, and apparently there's a bunch of them down here in the South. I wish we had some up North because it's only like 7.50 for endless pizza and salad, and they'll make any kind you want. Pepperoni and bacon all the way!

After we were all sufficiently stuffed, and I mean stuffed, we headed back to the hostel. I guess the pizza made Phil gassy because he was a farting machine, so much so that we were all laughing hysterically nonstop. When we made it back I finally sat down and went through my maildrop. It was packed full of goods, Mom you went nuts! Dinners, snacks, Snickers, Starbucks coffee (yes!), even garlic cloves! I'll be eating well the next few days, that's for sure. I spent almost an hour going through and organizing all the food, and then afterward had some time to just lounge and walk around town.

Time started passing really fast and it was 7 o'clock before I knew it. I was told about this house up the street that had a phone on the front porch you could use to make 10 minute long-distance phone calls, so I headed up there and had a chance to call home. Afterward I took a stroll to the other end of town and saw they had a Subway. I was very tempted to get a sandwich, but by then it was getting close to bedtime so I told myself, "Maybe tomorrow." I headed back to The Place, by then it was around 9, so I decided to call it a night. What a great first day in Damascus, it'll be tough to leave but I've decided to zero tomorrow. Hopefully it'll give me some time to upload pictures onto the blog.

Random notes and updates:

-There were some neat historical tidbits about Roan Mt. that I wanted to include while I was passing through that area, so I will do that now. When I made it to the top there was a plaque that said there used to be a hotel up there called The Cloudland Hotel during the 1800's. Apparently wealthy people would go there and spend their summers lounging in chairs, drinking tea, playing croquet, and other various summer activities. What I found interesting is that the border between TN and NC ran right through the dining room, and so on one side you could consume alcohol, and on the other you couldn't (I forget which state was which). Supposedly police would linger around sometimes and try to catch people crossing over the line with a drink, then arrest them. I find this hilarious. There's no trace of this place now though, by the 1920's it was demolished and everything inside was sold or given away.

-Another cool historical note for that area was when I stayed at Overmountain shelter. That's the giant red barn that could fit 20 people. To get to it you had to go .3 miles off the AT, and so it obviously it was on a different trail. In the morning as I came back to the AT I stopped and looked at a plaque about this other trail, I think it may have been called the Mountaineer Trail. Apparently it was used back during the Revolutionary War by a Tennessee militia. They hiked over 100 miles on this thing to fight the British in a battle they ended up winning. It also said that they supplied all their own guns, ammunition, food, everything. Pretty neat stuff.

-I e-mailed Markus from the hostel I stayed at several days ago (Vango & Abby's) and he said he should be back on the trail within a few days. I didn't have a chance to respond until I made it here. I wrote him but haven't heard back since, so I'll take it to mean he is hiking again!

-Jen sort of answered already, but I feel the need to elaborate. Pibb is like Dr. Pepper, tastes pretty much the same, just much rarer. Fewer places carry it and sell it. If you ever do see it somewhere you owe it to yourself to try it. You won't be disappointed.

-Lastly, and this is long overdue, I wanted to thank my Uncle John for helping me out before I even started my hike. As you may have read I was very sick before I started, and so I called him (he's an MD) and asked him a plethora of questions to make sure I was healthy before I headed to GA. He fielded them all, gave me advice on what to eat, medications, etc. and without that I may not be where I am today. This was over a month ago now, so I feel bad just getting to this, but better late than never.

Total miles: 463.5