My Trails

5/21 – 511 miles
I woke early to get a head start on the day. The outside of my tent was soaked with dew so I packed everything wet and headed out. The Grayson Highlands are a unique area, if you didn’t know better you would think you were in Wyoming. All the trees were cut years ago and ranchers moved herds of cattle in to graze. Now the forest service uses controlled burning and wild grazing ponies to keep it open.

It was a nice walk across the park but several boulder fields made for sore feet and knees. I take it easy when the footing is sketchy. There were only a few hikers on the trail today. Most of the crowd is just coming out of Damascus and several miles behind. There will be, however, several fast hiking young people that will catch me soon.

I only walked 15 miles today. I wanted to stop early and read my book. That didn’t happen though, two hikers stopped here and we all sat around and talked for awhile, then someone wanted to build a campfire. Now it is almost time for sleep. Tomorrow I may walk 20 miles to a shelter where you can order pizza. What an incentive!

5/20/12 – 495 miles
I’ve stopped for the night at a campsite just north of Thomas Knob Shelter. I’m very close to the Grayson Highland State Park, famous for wild ponies and meadows of picturesque landscape. There are only two of us camped here. I’ve been leapfrog hiking with a young guy named Seminole . When we got here there were ponies all through the campground and you can walk right up to them and pet them. They try to lick the salt off your arms and legs. One of the ponies bit my pack when I took it off and I had to chase it away. I got some good pictures of them. I just hope they don’t come in the night and start chewing on my tent!

I’m embarrassed to tell this story but…
When I left Damascus one thing I forgot to resupply was toilet paper. I kept kicking myself all the way up the trail, pondering which leaves would make the best service when nature called. None of them looked adequate and I dreaded the thought so much that my system shut down, delaying the inevitable by one day. You’be heard the saying s*it happens, but thankfully trail magic happened first and the parking lot across from a popular trail had a restroom with extra rolls of toilet paper.

5/19/12 – 483 miles
I left Damascus at 10:00 and continued my journey north. My pack was heavy with all the food and extra items I’m carrying. I need 5 days to reach Atkins, the next resupply, almost 70 miles and a brutal climb up Whitetop Mountain into the Grayson Highlands.

The trail was familiar to me. This was the same place where I hiked last year, walking for two days and then returning to town on my bike along the Virginia Creeper Trail. The climb out of town didn’t seem as hard this year as last. It might be that I’m in better shape but I hiked right past the shelter I stopped at last year and climbed another 7 miles to the next shelter.

I have a couple of luxury items I’m carrying this stretch. I bought a book to read, I picked up a bottle of hand sanitizer, and Chicken Feathers gave me his bleach for water purification. I also had Karen send me my rain hood for my jacket. The rain hat was not working too well.

I dropped the hat – my friend and companion – in the hikers box. I’m sorry Wilson, I’m sorry Wilson, I’m sorry…

5/16-18–466 miles
I enjoyed Trail Days in Damascus, VA, a lot more this year than last year. Last year I was just a spectator watching from the outside and this year I was part of the whole festival. It’s kind of like a reunion of sorts. You see all the people you’ve hiked with, some that you met way back in the first part of your hike, some that passed you or that you passed, and always there are questions. “Have you seen this person? Do you know what happened to John? Where is this person?” Everyone is brought together like family. That is the best part.

For the three days we were in town all we did was eat. The Baptist church in Damascus offers free showers, internet, medical help, and lots and lots of food. They fed us every night with great meals.

I went to a couple of presentations, one about the Camino de Santiago in Spain and I also bought a book by Gene Espy, the second thruhikers, which he autographed for me.

Most everything else in town was just like last year: The gear was the same, the stores the same, the programs the same. I decided to leave on Saturday to get ahead of the wave of hikers that had decended into town. There will be hundreds of hikers leaving town on Sunday and the shelters and campsites will be crowded. I’m on my own for a while now. Chicken Feathers is headed home to Atlanta and them he is going up north to finish a thruhike he started I’m 2010. I’ll miss him.

5/12 – 422 miles

The weather is still nice. We hiked five miles and then took a side trail into Hampton, TN, where we resupplied at a Dollar General. Dollar Generals have everything a backpacker needs – a lot of junk food. It is almost impossable to eat healthy out here. We crave sweet things like ice cream and candy bars and greasy food like burgers and pizza.

We hitchhiked in and out of town with no problems. I’m getting pretty good at hitching now. It used to make me uncomfortable but people that live close to the trail are used to hikers going to town and help them out a lot.

I am in Damascus, VA, for trail days right now. My phone is having a hard time charging so I will update some more later. Everything is going good and my leg is a lot better.