AT Days 30 to 39 - Through Damascus and Beyond: Ponies, Pizza, and a Partner in Crime

Day 30

Today went fairly smoothly, until the final climb, which absolutely killed us. Will (The Masochist) left early in the night to run to town to grab a box. The rest of us slowly chugged along as we were still banged up from the Roan Highlands, and suffering due to our worn out shoes. Thankfully, we had pretty good weather and some excellent views to ease our pain. We ran into Ma and Emoji again, which was a wonderful sight, and provided us with a needed morale boost! We also saw numerous waterfalls and had an absolutely amazing section of trail before the last tough climb. To wrap the day up, we ended up tenting at Boots Off Hostel, and enjoyed some delicious pizza and Yoohoos!

Day 31

We slept in today and woke up to Groot, unfortunately, being quite sick! After taking care of some camp chores and gentle prodding from him, we let him be in his tent with some Gatorade and crackers, and set off on what we thought would be an easy day. Boy, were we wrong! After a nice lakeside walk, we immediately had a long climb followed by what felt like an all day ridge climb/ridge walk that had no cover and very little water. It was also unseasonably warm, so nearly everyone we passed had some level of dehydration and clear salt lines on their clothes. Thankfully, Masochist, Anna, and I managed our water well and made it down to the other side, where we stopped in a beautiful meadow for the evening. There were no nearby water sources, but we had carried enough that we were able to figure it out and make due. Of note today, we saw the Nick Grindstaff Monument (which had a hilarious inscription), and I caught up with 700 and The Alchemist on the phone to figure out what their plans were. I’m excited to get more water in the morning and to make it to Damascus soon for new shoes!

Day 32

We had a quick, easy day today into Damascus. We stopped and camped last night in a gorgeous meadow, where we caught an amazing sunrise and sunset. Our hike today consisted of mostly small hills, so it was easy to put down miles in my sad old shoes. Right as we were about to stop for lunch, we ran into Emoji again, who loaded us up with sugar, smiles, and great conversation! She informed us that it would probably be the last time we see her on trail, as she is wrapping it up for the year. After that, we quickly rolled into Damascus, where we had dinner with The Alchemist and his wife, Pickles. Anna and I had tequila shots to celebrate another state, and then we headed to The Place Church Hostel bunks to set up for the night. There, we ran into Catch and Stairmaster, with whom I had a bit of a reunion. After that, they left to do a resupply, and we went over to the Broken Fiddle for drinks and fun with our other friends. All in all, an excellent day! When we came back, though, Bayou, the caretaker of The Place, was incredibly rude to one of our friends, and made weird comments about other hikers. I'm glad we're only staying here tonight.

Day 33

Zero day in Damascus! Our little group had been taking turns “running” each day, and today it was my turn. So we started the day with brunch at the Damascus Diner, complete with mimosas! Afterwards, we went on a wild goose chase to find my new shoes, which I had shipped to an outfitter. After checking with the post office and every local outfitter, we determined that the guy who had picked up the packages had accidentally left mine in his car. With that sorted, I pressured Anna into getting new shoes since hers were shot, and then we headed over to Broken Fiddle, where we were staying for the night. The rest of the day was essentially one big hangout session in the hammocks with Anna, enjoying some well earned cold beverages with amazing company. That night, a bunch of us went to a local wing restaurant before retiring early. As we had spent too much time having fun, we unfortunately didn’t finish all of our chores on time. I ended up reading a short story, The Oval Portrait by Edgar Allen Poe, aloud to the group as the TV was in use, so we couldn’t watch a movie. I was able to crash in a queen sized bed, the first bed all trip that has been long enough to not make my toes hang off! But by far, the largest highlight of the day is that Anna and I broached the topic of our growing feelings towards one another. Today was our first opportunity to spend time alone together, and we quickly determined that our feelings were mutual! I had some inkling that she felt the same way towards me, and I am absolutely ecstatic to begin a relationship with her while hiking the trail together!

Day 34

After a long and relaxing day yesterday, we started off today by grabbing breakfast and quickly knocking out the chores we had avoided the previous day. Anna and I got breakfast sandwiches, and Masochist packed out two Subway Italian subs. We said goodbye to Treehouse at Broken Fiddle and then set out down the road towards the trail. On the way out, I picked up a 10 pack of Fireball nips (mini bottles) as I had been enjoying the Alchemist’s apple cider + Fireball. We then proceeded to have easily the wettest day on the trail that I have experienced so far, as we slogged out a quick and easy 16 miles to Lost Mountain Shelter. It had to have rained more than an inch as the trail turned into a river, and every piece of clothing and gear became absolutely soaked. Needless to say, after having some dinner, we put on dry clothes, bundled up, and called it an early night. The Masochist was incredibly thankful for his subs, and Anna and I were thankful for the Fireball. Fingers crossed it stops raining and dries out a bit tomorrow!

Day 35

We got a late start today due to the cold and lingering heavy rain from the previous day. Eventually, Anna built up the courage to get up first and retrieved all of our food from the bear locker. After a slow breakfast in bed, we hit the trail a bit late but at a decent speed. Thankfully, the rain abated, but the temperature continued to plummet, and the wind picked up as we hiked. As a result, we weren’t able to see much of the Grayson Highlands; however, we were able to see the ponies! One even came up to me and poked my hand with its nose! After that, the wind blew off most of the mist, and a gorgeous landscape unfolded in front of us as we worked our way over to the Old Orchard Shelter. With this bout of weather, I am incredibly happy that I did not swap out my winter gear in Damascus like so many others did. Likewise, I’m happy I packed out the Fireball!

Day 36

It was my turn to lead today, so I did my best to make it as full a day as possible. After an incredibly cold and misty night in the shelter, we woke up to a cool and sunny day. Once we finally forced ourselves up, we cranked out a little more than 20 miles over the course of the day, with only a few hiccups. Mainly, my knee was bothering me from twisting on a wet rock the previous day, and Anna appeared to be having some foot issues. To help get through the rougher than normal afternoon, I did my best to keep the group occupied with conversation, games, and open-ended topics. Eventually, we made it to the Partnership Shelter, where we ran into 700 and several others that we had met before. There was a landline at the nearby Forestry Service office, so we ordered some pizza, mozzarella sticks, and a slice of cheesecake (because we had been discussing it before). As a related note, some of the other guys at the shelter had leftover pizza, and they did easily one of the worst bear hangs with it that I’ve ever seen. All in all, an excellent Kidz Meal day. The Masochist even gave me a 5/5!

Day 37

Everyone in the shelter had a slow start today after a collective restless night of greasy pizza stomachs, a late night alleged bear encounter, and quite a lot of snoring. Thankfully, there were no bear issues, and the nearby Forest Service office had a heated and plumbed bathroom that we all lined up to use. After our slow start, we said bye to 700 as he was going into town, and we headed on our way. We made the decision to skip lunch in favor of grabbing a bite in a little town we would be walking through. This ended up backfiring as I snacked so hard that I made myself sick, and then both of the restaurants in town were closed… Not to worry, though, as I was able to score some gas station Tums, and we were back on track in no time at all. We were all stoked today to hike through lush green sections of trail, as we have mostly had wintry forests, with the only green being rhododendrons. After passing through one such section with a gorgeous stand of pines, we encountered trail magic in an old schoolhouse! At the end of the day, we wrapped it up by camping in a lovely spot near a creek, making a fire, and jamming to some disco while we stretched. An excellent day to officially wrap up the first quarter of the AT!

Day 38

After our wonderful night the previous evening, we had an early start (due to it being Anna's day), which meant that we were able to cover a solid chunk of miles before lunch. All morning, we were excited about our first big river crossing, which was due to a washed-out bridge. Expecting a raging, several feet deep torrent (due to comments on Far Out), we were hilariously surprised to see that it was little more than a glorified stream! After our “dangerous” crossing, we soaked our sad feet in the stream, stocked up on water, and then continued on. The rest of the day passed without much drama, except for the long climb up to Chestnut Knob Shelter. We weren’t originally sure if we’d be stopping there for the night; however, the view of the valley below was incredible. We also had a clear night, with a late moon rise, which helped make our decision. This ended up being fortuitous as a few hours later, the Alchemist and 700 arrived! It’s always great to get the gang back together!

Day 39

It was Kidz Meal day again, which means fun and extravagance! We left the shelter at a reasonable time and started laying down quick mileage on the fairly smooth terrain. I had booked a hotel in Wytheville for the night, with the plan to take a well-deserved nero! We had the Alchemist hiking with us most of the day, and we kept bumping into 700 and Miles. After a brief lunch at a shelter, we continued on until we came to a nice river crossing where we stopped to soak our feet, and where the Alchemist went for a dip before our final, long climb of the day. During the climb, we ended up with quite a group marching uphill towards Brushy Mountain Outpost. Once we arrived, 700 and Miles got a hitch to a diner, and their hitch ended up being our trail angel ride to Wytheville! He grabbed the remaining four of us and took us to the same diner while he sorted out a few other hikers who needed rides. We scarfed down a mountain of food and then headed off to our hotel. Once there, we did sink laundry, took a quick dip in the hotel pool, and then proceeded to pound more food at the nearby Waffle House. I had been craving Waffle House all hike, and I was stoked for Anna and The Alchemist to eat there for the first time! All in all, another excellent Kidz Meal day!