After an exciting night racing over the hills, we decided to trek to a nearby hostel to rest for a while. Our phones charged while we enjoyed breakfast biscuits, pizza, and ice cream and watched Footloose. The easy day ended with time at Laurel Falls.
Laurel Falls Trail passing by the river
An extremely pointless up and down found us at a nice little recreation area by a lake. I went to work on my quickly diminishing food supply as I watched the ducks. I recalled going to the park and throwing them breadcrumbs when I was younger. Then it struck me: thruhikers are a lot like ducks.
You offer food and they and come waddling. Soon, they associate people with food and flock to them in hopes of a tasty morsel. I gazed at a nearby car, wishing someone would jump out and offer us some bread crumbs.
I was hungry. All I had eaten the previous day were different forms of oats and peanut butter. I had friends meeting me with food in the afternoon, so I just had to last until then. I pounded down a hill in the rain and saw... canopy tents.. and coolers... and cars!
There are only three explanations for such a sight. The first, and least likely, is a small cross country meet next to a road in the middle of nowhere. The second possibility is a large group of friends decided to set up a picnic on a roadside on a rainy day and weren't intending to share. My duck-like mentality jumped to the third possibility, that some amazing people would save me much hunger and misery by offering trail magic. I was delighted to find it was the third possibility. Firefly and I stayed there for over three hours, eating thick patties of meat fresh from a farm, chips, cookies, and fruit. The trail angels were previous thruhikers and had come from afar to deliver the most wonderful magic. I enjoyed hearing their stories and advice as I escaped the rain relaxing under the tents.
I finally decided I should leave to go meet friends I had met in California at the next road crossing. I had trail magic all over again when they arrived with pizza and brownies. Best. Day. Ever. It was so great to catch up with them and hear about their own adventures.
With nine miles to go, we parted ways and I booked it to the TN/VA border. Three states completed, and the longest state lay ahead of me. Over 500 miles of trail passes through VA, more than I had hiked so far. I was curious how soon the "Virginia blues" would creep in, if at all.
Damascus claims to be "the friendliest town on the trail." Seven different hiking, biking, and wildlife trails cross through the town, so it thrives on tourism. We spent three and a half days there, checking out two different hostels and many restaurants.
I convinced Firefly to ride the entire Virginia Creeper Trail on one of our zero days. The 34 mile bike ride was amazing, riding along the river and through pastures, over bridges and through young forests. The trail claims to be the most beautiful bike trail in North America, and I wouldn't argue with that. It was an old railroad bed converted into a trail once the trains shut down, so it was fairly level and wide. The first half was a slight downhill, and it was easy to cruise the 17 miles back to Damascus.
After Damascus we had a slight uphill for the remaining 17 miles of the trail, causing a burn in my thighs and knees. So much for a rest day. I'm not sure who invented the bicycle seat, but couldn't they have made it a bit more comfortable? As anyone who spends six hours sitting on a hard bike seat would know, it hurts your behind really bad. I cringed every time I had to sit down. Thankfully a good nights rest in my new hammock made me feel better, and after one more ice cream cone we said bye to Damascus and headed North.
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