We got up around 7 for a change of pace. It’s a little easier to do when you are sleeping in a place that is above freezing. We hurriedly packed up and headed out. Maybe Bunny doesn’t remember that I paid for our room last night and she thinks we are actually making a quick getaway to save money. That line of reasoning takes a nosedive when she won’t let me get a free cup of coffee at the hostel and makes me buy a $3 cup at Mojos instead.
Breakfast was great, as always, at Mojos. I even got a cinnamon roll for myself since Bunny opted for the blueberry pancakes for herself. Once she tasted them, she noted that she made a big mistake when she let me have them the other day. We got caught up on our blog and email since this seems to be the only working internet in town. As we were finishing up, other people started moseying in.
Packers got in town last night and is taking a day off today. She is still thinking about switching over to section hiking but is going to continue on to the Grayson Highlands to see the ponies first. Stickers came in to get a chi tea and told us they did great on their slack pack yesterday and will be heading out in a bit. He also told us that Hawk from Standing Bear Hostel got busted by the FBI. We don’t know exactly what happened, but we thought he might be running a bit too open of a “trail provider” operation. Also Curb and Mrs Curb showed up. He told us Vagabond Jack was just behind him. We decided we had better get moving or we might end up with another zero.
We walked out of town on the Virginia Creeper Trail which is an old railroad bed that has been converted to a bike trail. Damascus is trying to change itself from a hiker town to a bike riding destination and who can blame them? Hikers are cheap, wanting low cost hostels and cheap beer; while bikers want bed and breakfasts, fine dining, wineries, etc. That crowd has money while us hikers are broke.
Bunny was extra slow going uphill today. At one point, I looked back and she was doing her “stretching” just like she did before Joyce and Pam hiked with us—completely ineffective by pointing her toes down to get blood flow to her calves rather than stretching her calves like Joyce showed her. When I innocently pointed out that normal movement is not stretching, it led to a big fight so I headed up ahead a bit to let the mood cool down.
All the bridges look new and VA has well maintained trail in this section. There are plentiful water sources, campsites, and hills. So much for Virginia being flat for easy 20 mile days.
I’m reminded of a talk I had with Scars back at Doe River Hostel about what is a “proper” thru-hike. He had been having some arguments with a few of his followers and people have actually quit following his U-Tube channel because of it. Sleeves was there and weighed in—Sleeves and I actually have a much stricter definition than Scars does. We believe a proper through hike is 100% white blaze south to north (or vice versa) but one direction only. If we leave the trail to a shelter, we return to the trail on the exact path even if another exists. We also don’t think there should be any slack packing (unless it is on Katahdin which doesn’t allow backpacks to go up the final 5 miles). Scars is ok with slack packing, skipping a small bit (just a couple hundred feet) around shelters, and going either direction along sections of trail as long as every foot of trail is covered in your journey. He even thinks it’s ok to skip a section and come back to it later.
So why did he lose followers? Because he is adamant that if you vary from his definition, you are not thru-hiking (technically, I agree with him). However, the number 1 rule of AT hiking is “hike your own hike.” I don’t give a rat’s ass how someone else interprets or does their thru-hike. My rules and definition only apply to me (and possibly Bunny if I guilt her enough). If someone else cheats according to my definition, that’s fine. I won’t say a word. I will just silently judge and belittle them—I am a true Southern Gentleman.
While we were at Boots Off Hostel, a thru-hiker from last year recommended we just stay on the Virginia Creeper Trail when we leave Damascus and skip the first 2 big climbs since the AT just returns to the bike trail. He said that’s what he did last year when he “thru-hiked,” to save time and energy. I quietly said we might and left knowing in my heart that a) he didn’t thru-hike last year, b) I would ignore his suggestion, and c) I must not let Bunny hear him speak or I would have to turn up the guilt routine on her. We left the hostel ASAP. I quietly judged him in my mind while keeping my mouth shut—I am a gentleman.
We got to Lost Mountain Shelter and knew only Ridge and Atlas. There were 5 section hikers and 2 other thru-hikers we hadn’t met (Quatro and Shark Bait). Almost everyone had set up tents so there was plenty of room in the shelter for us. We tried to get all of our chores done while there was still light. We cooked at the picnic table while everyone else was hanging around a campfire. Atlas told us he had hiked with Patches on the way into Damascus. We didn’t see her yesterday and asked him if he knew where she was. Atlas shrugged.
EFG