Mile 724.0 Daleville, VA

Fri 5/16 - Mon 5/19

Trail Days, Damascus 

For several days each year in May, thousands of hikers make there way back to Damascus for the festival. Trail Days is the largest gathering of long distance hikers in the world. My friend Ryan, a 2013 thru hiker, picked me up from Laurel Creek on his way down from Connecticut on Thursday.

Ryan and I worked together in 2010 at Baxter State Park, the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. Several of us from that summer have thru hiked the trail. Here, I am with Neal and Ryan. Neal is hiking this year. 

I set up my tent in a big field. This is tent city.

Venders have booths set up all over town. There was a ton of gear giveaways. Here, Backpacker Magazine is raffling off what seemed like an endless supply of backpacks filled with awesome gear. Unfortunately, my name was not called. 

However, I did score a free hat from OR and Darn Tough socks and a t-shirt from Vasque. Black Diamond wasn't selling gear but I got a new headlamp from for $10 on Sunday as they were packing up. Free gear repair was offered. I left my trekking poles with LEKI and they replaced everything except the handles. There was a shower truck set up and laundry services were provided. I got a free haircut. There were plenty of things for hikers to do this weekend. There was a hiker parade an Saturday. People got dressed up and there were water guns and a piñata filled with chicken nuggets and Honeybuns.

There was an opportunity to sign up to do trail work. It's called Hardcore. If you want to work Hatdcore, you need to sign up Saturday morning at 9 am. They only take 100 people and the slots fill up fast. This is an opportunity to work with Bob Peoples. Hikers get shuttled to the worksite on Sunday, work for a couple days, and get shuttled back to the trail. There were talks throughout the weekend. Gene Espy, the second thru hiker talked about his 1951 thru hike. Warren Doyle gave a talk about his 16 thru hikes of the AT. There was a talent show- singing, dancing, comedy. There was contra dancing Saturday night and free concerts. I missed out many of these festivities. One can't do everything. It was a lot to do and I needed a break. There were drum circles around the fire going on all night. 

I needed Monday just to recover. The weekend was fun but exhausting. Blu and Daytripper felt the same way.

After taking five zero days, I got a shuttle back to the trail from Miss Janet with 16 of us crammed into her van.

Tues 5/20

I hiked about 20 miles and camped with others just beyond the 600 mile mark.

Wed 5/21

I hiked 14 miles to Wapiti Shelter. I had wanted to go farther but took a side trail to Dismal Falls and spent several hours  enjoying the falls. 

Thurs 5/22

I woke up early and hiked seven miles to Wood's Hole Hostel. Here is a hostel on an organic farm that offers communal meals including fresh salad picked daily from their gardens, free yoga, freshly roasted coffee, and massage therapy. 

The hostel is run by Neville and her husband, Michael. 

Neville's grandparents used to own the property and Neville and Mike have been running it for the past five years. When I arrived in the morning, a yoga session was in progress. The dog was doing it too! Downward facing dog.

There are animals on the farm as well. 

Right after this photo was taken, the chicken on the right crossed the road (and none of us know why). For dinner, we had Mexican fiesta. I found El Borrego hanging out at the hostel. I had hiked with Borrego some through the Smokies and hung out with him in Hot Springs. Borrego has to leave the trail, temporally, to recover from a burn caused by spilling an alcohol stove on himself.

There are many hazards on the Appalachian Trail that a thru hiker must try and avoid. I've mentioned a couple already. Here is another: murder. At the Wapiti shelter, where I slept last night, two people were murdered. In 1981, a man by the name of Randall Lee Smith shot and stabbed two hikers to death during the night. Smith was convicted of second degree murder and served 15 years in prison. Smith was released on probation in 2006 only to attempt another double murder within two miles of the same shelter.

Fri 5/23

I woke up for breakfast in the morning. They had farm fresh eggs and homemade bread. The Piñata Party crew showed up in the afternoon. Beth came up to spend the weekend. We had a nice curry and rice dinner followed by some singing songs around the campfire after dark. Beth now has a trail name, Not Yet. Southbound asked Beth if she had a trail name and she replied, "Not yet."

Sat 5/24

After breakfast, Beth and I got a ride to Pearisburg for a 10 mile slackpack back to the hostel. We had a great hike with some nice views. The Piñata Party passed us going north. Beth and I made it back just in time for dinner. 

Sun 5/25

Beth led a morning yoga session. In the afternoon, everyone staying at the hostel went to a big Memorial Day picnic in town. It was a beautiful day and the group just hung out and ate food. It was pretty much what I imagined a southern Memorial Day picnic to be like. This was a church event with a large tent with tables and chairs, band playing on a trailer hitched to a dump truck, and a ton of food. We ate a lot of food.

Then we went back to the hostel and ate more food. Guthook, who was staying at the hostel this weekend shared his experience with food during his 2007 thru hike. You gorge yourself with food to the point where if you take one more bite, you'll throw up, and then two days later, you recall the experience and regret not finishing that sandwich. Guthook is the creator of the interactive trail guide app for the iPhone.

Mon 5/26

Neville gave me a ride to Pearisburg where I resupplied at the grocery store and got back on the trail. I walked through the historic Pearisburg cemetery which includes the grave of Captian George Pearis, for whom the town is named, as well as a dozen other civil war veterans. I found another trail cat. This one ran right up to me and followed me for a while. 

Here is another beautiful view from the trail. This factory produces cigarette filters.

I ended up hiking seven miles to Rice Field Shelter and shared the shelter with Shroomer who is working on finishing his triple crown. Shroomer is from Martinez, California. Martinez is known for three things:

1. Invention of the martini. 

2. Birthplace of Joe DiMaggio

3. Home of John Muir

Shroomer, comparing the AT with the other two trails, says that he likes the AT just as much. The AT is more difficult but the other trails require more planning and are more dangerous.

Tues 5/27

I hiked 16 miles to Bailey Gap Shelter. The 12 miles in the morning were slow. I thought it was me it wasn't. The trail was rocky and not well maintained through this section. There were comments is the shelter log such as:

"12 miles in 7 hrs, a personal worst."

"This trail needs Bob Peoples [the infamous trail maintainer] and Bob Peoples needs this trail." 

In the afternoon, I passed the Captain's house. The Captain invites hikers to camp on his property and has a zip line set up so we can cross over onto his property.

Wed 5/28

In the morning, I passed Mountain Lake, the location for the filming of Dirty Dancing. I took a nap at War Spur Shelter and ate lunch. I enjoyed view on Kelly Knob. I night hiked through some pastures making 17 miles and camped with Jukebox and Litttefoot who have recently been doing longer mile days. Jukebox met a girl at Trail Days and has been is pink blazing ever since. The AT has white blazes marking the trail but there are some other terms to familiarize yourself with:

Blue blazing- taking a side trail to bypass a section of trail.

Yellow blazing- hitching a ride or taking a road, bypassing a section of trail by following the yellow lines.

Pink blazing- slowing down or speeding up for the purpose of meeting up with a female hiker.

Aqua blazing- bypassing a section of trail via a waterway.

Thurs 5/29

I hiked 10 miles to Niday Shelter. I took lots of breaks and hiked a little bit with Glorious Laughter and Studmuffin. It rained in the evening and I didn't feel like hiking any farther today. 

Fri 5/30

I hiked today with Hot Pop. We came across the Audie Murphy Monument on the top of Brush Mountain. Audie Murphy was the most decorated American soldier of World War II and died in a plane crash near this site. At the bottom of the mountain we crossed a stream that had a chair. When you see a chair in the middle of the woods, you have to sit in it. There were a couple benches on the top of the last mountain as well. They were only about a 100 yards apart but I sat in both of them. I hiked up to Dragons Tooth on Cove Mountain. This is a stone monolith overlooking the town below. 

The descent from here was the most technical I've experienced so far on the AT.

I got down to the road just in time for a ride to the Homeplace Restaurant. 

This place served up family style all you can eat country meals. Everyone there was dressed up and then here we come, the dirty and smelly hikers. I stayed the night at 4 Pines Hostel where I met up once again with the Piñata Party. This hostel is run by Joe, a railroad worker and old alpaca farmer. He has a 3 bay garage with cots and a shower and takes donations.

Sat 5/31

The Piñata party was getting shuttled to Daleville and they took my pack with them in the morning so I could slackpack the 26 miles and meet up with them in Daleville. I passed the 700 mile mark and hiked to McAfee Knob. 

McAfee Knob is the most photographed point on the AT. I saw more day hikers here than anywhere else on the trail. Tinkers Cliffs, which I hiked across a few miles later, is a half mile of cliff walking. I shared a room at the Howard Johnson with Big Sexy, Southbound, and Smoky.

Sun 6/1

Just hung out in town all day. Dinner at the Mexican restaurant across the street. We stayed a second night at the hotel.