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5/20/2010, Thursday
Saunders Shelter to Damascus, VA. About 8 miles. 8.25 hours. Arrived in Damascus at 5:30PM.
Wednesday night and Thursday morning:
At Saunders Shelter there was a man named Peter B., a lawyer for a group called ARC or Arc. It was once an acronym for Association for Retarded Citizens - an advocacy group. The group no longer calls itself that, but rather Arc.
Peter was with four young men, college age. Son got to hang with the college guys around the campfire.
All of them are section hiking.
The other man at the shelter was hiking solo. He's thru hiking. He retired on April 2 from the FAA and hit the trail on April 7. He reminded me of Bill P., the Reliv tennis dude.
Along the trail on Thursday, son and I met a dude who had thru hiked various trails seven different times, the AT more than once. He is an ultra-lite packer. Great guy. He talked with Son and I and told us about Ray Jardine. He encouraged Son to look into Ray's book. I think the name of it is Trail Life.
One statement the hiker dude stated was, "You pack your fears." What an awesome line. I'll never forget it, I don't think. My biggest fear? Medical stuff. The statement really got me to thinking.
I was beat by the time we got to Damascus. My feet were screaming from going downhill. I told Son I could get as far as the driveway at the Whistle Pig...and I dropped.
Son was great the whole hike. "Slack pack;" that is what I did. Son would get to a ridge and drop his pack and then come back to get my pack and take a load off Momma.
From Whistle Pig, Son hiked the rest of the way to the car which was parked at the Old Mill. He drove back, picked me up, and we went straight to Mt. Rogers Outfitters to get the fuel out of Peter B.'s car and then give it and Peter's car key to MRO.
By then it was 6:00. Time for me to find a place to stay. The 7-time thru-hiker dude had given me a map of Damascus. So I was already familiar with a few bed-downs.
MRO told me that "The Place," which is the Methodist Hostel, was closed due to electrical problems. So I found "The Hiker's Inn."
Owner of HI: "One bunk left."
Me: "How much?"
Owner: "$25.00
Me: "I'll take it. Where is the laundry mat?"
Owner: "I'll do your laundry for $4.00 a load."
I thought I'd found heaven.
Then the owner said, "I'm serving strawberry short cake tonight...with ice cream. Fresh strawberries. I made the angel food cake. You're welcome to join in."
And get this...she gives the hikers scrubs to wear while she washes our laundry.
Who is she? Suzanne, owner of The Hiker's Inn. And she is a fabric artist. How cool is that!
So now for writing. I'd much rather write streams of consciousness. Yet I feel I should record events.
Yes, events.
I met Damascus Dave. Great guy.
Learned of Trail Days.
Got my pack 12 pounds lighter and put my tent on top, inside.
Now, I'll make an envelope for Suzanne.
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