AT ‘23 Post 7 - Day 46 (757.5 KM) - Damascus

Beautiful views from north of Roan

A solemn “waddup” from Catawba, VA. It’s been awhile since I’ve had a chance to fill in my blog! Been hiking long days and taking few zeroes. I’m passed the quarter way mark, chilling around 700 miles (1133 KM). An upcoming post will detail that hugely rewarding section. These notes are from Roan into Damascus. This was a major milestone; you finish TN for good hiking into Damascus, and finally enter VA. VA is the longest state on the AT with 544 miles of trail. It will be a long haul, but I’m still full of determination. Onto the next big milestone; Harpers Ferry, the mental halfway point. See you there.

Authors note: Hello from the future! I'm actually in Waynesboro VA at the moment, about to enter the Shenandoahs. Today I'm uploading a double post to try to catch up on some missed entries. More double posts to come in the following weeks. Peace!

Sa Apr 22/23 - Day 41 - Roan Mountain TN (636.2 KM)

Woke up around 5:30 AM to another bunker’s alarm. The dude, Carlos, slept right through it, even with the phone on a nightstand beside his head! Gadget got up and shook him until he turned off his alarm. An hour later it went off again, and this time I took the duty of shaking him awake. Carlos woke up, said “gotcha” when I asked him to turn off the alarm, and went back to sleep with it full on ringing still! Crazy.

Since I was already up, I took the time to work on my blog entries from my bunk. It’s raining this morning, and is predicted to all day. We’ll probably zero. Around 7:45 I woke up Gadget and headed down for what is called the best breaky on trail.

A mighty feast!

Breakfast was amazing. A buffet style spread including several quiches, grits, biscuits and gravy, baked egg, French toast, cinnamon buns, strudel, and more I’m sure I’m missing. I loaded up my plate 2 inches thick and went to town. As I ate I caught up with Joker and Swami, Snailzit and her husband, and Taric and Kaylee. Apparently Taric hasn’t lost any weight since he started hiking. That seems impossible considering the conditions. I guess we’ll see if he suddenly loses 40 lbs all at once.

Shaky breakfast selfie!

After breakfast I schmoozed around and worked on my blog when I got a chance. Kaylee gave me their extra baby wipes and hot cocoa and coffee mix. It was much appreciated! Manimal and Better Half arrived around 11 AM, and very generously gave us a ride to Dollar General for resupply. We filled up our baskets with 5 days of food. A heavy resupply but necessary to push on to Damascus. A hiker hack that I’ve learned from Gadget is buying baby squeeze tubes of purée fruit. They’re usually cheaper than comparable fruit purée go tubes for adults, and often have much more variety in flavours. Like eating gourmet hipster apple sauce, but baby food.

After resupply we were dropped off at Station 19E, the hostel and bar. We claimed our bunks and got to business with our remaining chores. I found a nice solitary spot to work on my next blog posts, and spent several hours completing my homework.

Station 19E bar and hostel

Around 6 I had a long chat with Firahs, an old friend. It was great to hear from a familiar voice. We gossiped about his paternity leave, trials and tribulations on trail, and his baby boy, Omari. Kid’s cute in a tux.

Afterwards I went into the pub to grab dinner. While I waited for my food to be prepared I made a fool of myself singing my own rendition of “On the Road Again” styled “On the Trail Again” at karaoke. I had a rueban with some fries. I forgot to order something healthy. Need to keep on top of that.

After dinner I joined the main pub area, drinking and chatting with Yak et al. He told stories about crazy parties in the Navy. Sailors seem pretty insane, from the stories I’ve heard from Yak and Sass. I also got some intel that another Canadian is staying here tonight. Let’s see if I can find him tomorrow. I lost track of time, chatting and drinking into the night. All of a sudden it was 11:30 and I needed some sleep. When I rolled into my bed, Nacho’s dog had already claimed it! I tried to shoo her, but she was headstrong and knew I was a suck. So I snuggled up with her for awhile, until Nacho called her back around 12 as he went to bed himself.

Overall a great 0. I got way too drunk, but it was a lot of fun. Tomorrow is going to be relatively flat compared to the 5500ft elevation days we rocked in the last few weeks. Hopefully we can pump out a bigger day. Watch out Damascus, here we come.

Su Apr 24/23 - Day 42 - Hardcore Cascades Campsite (661.7 KM)

I woke up to the chatter of others in the kitchen. I came out, took a shower, and headed down for breaky. It was a complimentary hot breakfast with scrambled, potatoes, a pancake and biscuits and gravy. I chatted with Yak as we ate. After breaky I met a fellow Canadian thru hiker, JuleTheBear! He’s from north of Montreal. I sat with him for awhile and shot the shit. He hiked through the Gaspe coast before, completing a section of the international AT. That’s where my family is from originally

Jule! Sacre bleu!

After breaky, we got packed up, and hit the trail around 9:45. The elevation map looks relatively flat compared to what we’ve seen recently, so we hope to make a big day.

We hiked until 2 and took lunch at Mountaineer Falls Shelter. We passed a couple of beautiful water falls today. At the shelter Gadget, MB, and I ate our respective hiker garbage. Around 3 we were on our way out.

Around 5, we came to a beautiful view with a fellow hiker. As I gawked, the other hiker said “that’s a good looking pack, bud!” At first I thought he was making fun of how full my bag was with the 5 day resupply. He actually had the exact same bag from the Canadian cottage company “Northern Ultralight”. Another fellow Canadian! Two Canadian thru hikers on the same day! Steele (ne Jesse), from Mississauga (a suburb of Toronto). Hey I’m from Toronto too! We took a break and chatted with my fellow countryman for awhile. Looks like Canada Day came early.

Steele the Canadian! Two in one day!

The plan recently has been to take dinner at a water source, then head on to the shelter or campsite for the night. We took our dinner at Hardcore Cascades tonight. It’s named after the trail maintainers of that section; the Hardcore trail crew. The cascades were pretty hardcore indeed, and I had a Velveeta Shells box with bacon. I also learned I hate Velveeta. It’s like Cheesewiz. Yuck.

After dinner we climbed up to the next tent site and setup shop. I scurried into my tent and began my evening chores: baby wipe down, moisturize back, Polysporin heat rash, take pills, brush teeth, put on retainer, and write journal entry.

Today we pushed 25 KM (16 miles). Pretty decent considering we started late! Let’s see how much trail we can eat up tomorrow.

Mo Apr 24/23 - Day 43 - Pond Flats (685.0 KM)

My morning routine is pretty much locked in: pull tab on sleeping pad to deflate, get my socks and compression gear on, pad and quilt packed away, shoes on, morning “constitutional”, gear packed up, quick honeybun, and hit the trail. Takes a little under an hour. This morning we were out by 8:15.

The trail was pretty cruisy to start. We made it to Moreland Gap shelter for breaky, and shared it with Charlie. Charlie worked with NASA, helping build telescopes. Pretty neat! I had my normal coffee and cocoa, another honeybun, some dried fruit, and a baby applesauce squeeze tube. Those baby foods are so good! Like gourmet hipster applesauce. Love it.

After a few hours I passed a hiker that mentioned there was trail magic up at the next road. I immediately threw it into top gear for the trail magic. I finished over half a mile (1.9 KM) in less than 30 mins. Despite my burst of speed, I was still passed by RNC, who was also at warp speed for trail magic. As I hiked towards the road, I wondered if I would be seeing Emoji again.

Emoji strikes again

My suspicions were proven correct when I got to the gap. Emoji strikes once more! We caught up with her and pillaged her well stocked car. I took anything with nutrients in it, including an orange, a banana, mandarin slices in syrup, an applesauce squeeze tube, cheese, and jerky. Of course I took another honeybun, making it my third of the day. And I drank a bunch of pop and Gateraide. Apparently she got the nickname because she uses a lot of emojis on her FB posts. She started doing trail magic after her husband passed away. Now she does it 5 days a week, from the Smokies to Damascus. She’s been running amazing magic for four years. She seriously has almost everything in the back of her small sedan. Thanks so much Emoji!

After an hour gossiping and eating, we bid everyone adieu and headed off. A waterfall then a 5 KM climb to finish off the day. The waterfalls were the highlight of the afternoon. Definitely the best so far. Big and beautiful. After that there was a very technical section on a rocky ledge that followed over the river. You hiked right up to the river and around the corner off a small ledge. It was a nice change of pace from the green tunnel we’ve been in recently.

Beautiful falls

Around 4 I came to the bastard climb of the day. I put on the Andrew Huberman podcast and started grinding. The grade was quite steep, and it took me about an hour and a half of huffing, puffing, and baby steps to complete. Around 5:30 I came out of my grind and ran into Gadget alone in a beautiful campsite at the top of the mountain. We decided to eat dinner and pitch camp for the night, having completed almost 25 KM (15 miles).

Tomorrow is going to be uphill and tough, so we think we might just aim for a 26 KM (16 mile) day. After that we’ll be on top of a long ridgeline. Hopefully we can use that to our advantage and strike at 18-20 miles. Another night going below freezing, so I’ll be sleeping with my filter and electronics once more.

Tu Apr 25/23 - Day 44 - South of Turkeypen Gap (710.6 KM)

Ran through the normal morning routine and rolled out at 8:10. A little over an hour later we came to Shook Branch Rec area and had breaky. These baby squeeze tubes are so good, I’m getting addicted. Have I repeated myself enough about baby food yet?

Canadian geese and goslings at Shook Branch

The day was relatively cruisy to start with, then hilly afterwards. More upward climb today than recently. We pressed on to Watauga Lake, then Watauga Dam. The dam was beautiful; rocky cliffs on one side, and shimmering waters on the other. We took some shots, grabbed some water right from the dam, and pressed on for more climbs.

Watuga Dam

We took lunch at an overlook around 1:30. Typically I have some jerky, cheese strings, a baby squeeze tube, some candy, and cheetos or goldfish. There hasn’t been any balds or great exposed sections recently. Harder to find great shots through the trees.

Gadget overlooking the dam

We pushed on to our campsite, about 26 KM (16 mile) away. I listened to audiobooks, podcasts, and music to wile away the time. We’ve been pulling big days back to back recently; we often start at 8:15 and end by 6:30 or 7:30. I am impressed by how used to doing these bigger days we are becoming. At first it took everything; now we roll in with time for dinner and a hot chocolate.

I’m getting concerned about my nutrition on trail. Could use more protein and fruit / veg. Fresh fruit and veg are too heavy and bulky to pack out. Maybe more dried fruit at lunch. Thinking about adding a daily protein bar to the mix, and having jerky with lunch and dinner for extra protein. Could also make a dozen hard boiled eggs in town if I have access to a kitchen. 6 for in town, 6 for the trail.

We rolled into camp around 6:30, after a somewhat rollercoastery day. We made dinner and climbed into our tents to finish our evening routines. Here I am at 9:16, just finishing this entry off before my normal bedtime at 9:30. Overall an uneventful, but productive day. Should be in Damascus on Thursday. Hope the forecast for no rain stays that way.

We Apr 27/23 - Day 45 - McQueens Knob (738.8 KM)

Officially a month and a half in! Still freezing in the morning, but the afternoons have been warmish. Can’t wait for warm mornings and days where your hands don’t get freezing. We packed up quick as usual and hit the trail around 8:15. The terrain is pretty cruisy today, so we’re aiming for a 18 mile (30 KM) day.

The morning was cold and cruisy. We made it 9 KM in 2 hrs to the first shelter and had our breaky. Pretty good pace! After some coffee, baby food, dried fruit, and honeybuns, we were back on our way.

We pushed on through the afternoon, coming out to a beautiful pasture and even more beautiful flat trail. Let’s pump it out! I turned on the boosters and hiked fast to Double Spring shelter for lunch. We had finished about 18 KM by 1:40 PM.

Beaut pastures bud

After lunch we kept on pushing hard. Just before Abingdon gap, we saw recent comments on our navigation apps about bears roving the area. We decided to call it early around McQueens gap, 28 (or 17 miles) from where we started. Better to have a shorter day than a late night animal encounter.

So close to an 18 mile day today! If it weren’t for the bears, we’d have made it. Tomorrow we leave TN for good and enter Damascus VA for a zero. A quick reprieve and celebration of another milestone, then onwards further.

Th Apr 28/23 - Day 46 - Damascus VA (757.5 KM)

Was packed up and ready to go by 8 AM. Onto Damascus, out of TN and into Virginia! Town and two milestones, a big day. Gadget and I jogged down the trail to the next shelter. There’s a 12 KM (8 mile) dry section today, so we needed to fill up before heading on.

After filling up we powered on for a few hours, simply wanting to grind out our day. We came to the TN / VA border around 12:30, just as the predicted rain began. Another state in the bag! 3 down, 11 to go. A quick snack later, we were running for Damascus. All in all we made the last 6 KM (4ish miles) down in about an hour; our fastest time yet! Trail legs, an empty pack, into town, and downhill makes you go fast.

Made it to VA!

We took obligatory shots with the AT sign in Damascus and headed in for some food and a refresh. After scoping out the outfitters, and a burger at the diner, we headed over to the Methodist Church hostel, named “The Place”. We met another hiker, Greenman at the hostel, and were shuffled in by the caretaker, Bayou (ne Roy). The place is a little run down, with duct tape patches on the couches, a leaky faucet, and no central heating. But for $10, it gets us out of the rain tonight, and much needed shower, so we can’t complain.

Into Damascus!

After freshening up, we headed out to do laundry and resupply. Another day, another Dollar General. The dollar stores here tend to have a pretty good selection, including fresh food like cheese and eggs. In Canada, you’d be hard pressed to find a Dollar Store that sells fresh fruit and beer. Town chores are starting to be on autopilot. Laundry, resupply, outfitters, clean cook kit, recharge devices, refill TP, fill sanitizer, dump trash, mend gear, fill water. There’s always a long list to run through, but it’s starting to become second nature.

We went for dinner with Taric and Kaylee. The “Wicked Chicken” restaurant. I got wings and a side salad. Can I say, it’s crazy that bone in wings are sold for “market price” now? What is this, seafood? Anyhow, dinner was good and much needed. We laughed and gossiped. After dinner ran into Boss, and chatted for a bit.

After dinner we headed back to our hostel and got ready for bed. Always an early night first day in town; exhaustion catches up fast when you’re showered and well fed. Tomorrow we’re zeroing in Damascus. We’ve been pushing big days recently, and since Damascus is a major milestone, it’s a well earned break.