A lot of steps

I was awoken at 6am by someone breaking down their camp. I stayed in my tent because I figured it was the section hiking couple, and I'd rather avoid another conversation with them. I heard them leave at 6:30am, and got up to realize it was Mr. Fantastic that had packed up. By far his earliest start to date.
We are attempting to start a trend of 10 by 12 as was recommended to Mr. Fantastic. That means from now on we get our first 10 miles done by 12pm, then we decide where we'll make camp.
I set forth by 7:30am, and got out of camp just before the couple got up. Shortly before i stopped for lunch I came across Ulysses who asked me if I was hiking South. When I said no he got really dejected, as he had apparently just walked a mile in the wrong direction. I then made it to the shelter for lunch at 11am, and caught up with Mr. Fantastic. It was only 7.4 miles, so I was a little behind, but I was going to eat with a seat. We decided to aim for our longest day yet at 19.6.
The second section of the hike brought the AT together with the Virginia Creeper Trail. This meant I had someone on a bicycle passing by me on average once every 3 seconds. Mind you this was for a good mile of trail. I said a lot of hello's on this section, and was happy to get off of it when I did. Although the trail did cross this pretty epic bridge, and that was different.
I caught up with Mr. Fantastic at the next shelter, where we both had second lunch with Ulysses. He was reading Breakfast of Champions on a Kindle while we read the shelter log (always good for a laugh).
This time I set out first, as we still had 5.6 miles to go before our planned campsite. My knees, hips, and feet were already feeling pretty sore, but limbered up once I got started.
This last stretch was an amazing conclusion to our farthest day yet. We had a great climb up the side of a mountain, out of a valley, up to the bald peak with a spectacular view. Walking through flowering azalea fields and over little flowing waterfalls. I even got to walk by some more cows, right through their grazing land in fact.
We're now camped up on the peak of that final hike, but in the woods to cut down on the wind. It's going to be a very cold night, strangely enough, so every little bit helps.
We have another big day planned tomorrow before a short hike into town on Monday. It's been a while since I've felt this achey, which I think just means I'm back to pushing my limits. That's a good thing, because we need to keep getting stronger before we get to New Hampshire. While the terrain gets a little easier we can safely up our miles, because afterwards we'll be rigorously tested with a rocky road.

Damascus Reunion

I camped in my tent last night, which helped me to wake up with the sun today. After a quick breakfast and another begrudging hike down the side trail for water I started my 10 mile hike back to town.
I left at 7:30am, before most of the camp had a chance to wake up, and found myself in Damascus proper by 11am. Before today's hike I had been questioning the title of Tennessee Turnpike, but it truly lived up to its name for this last section.
It was nice to stroll into a town and know my way around. I walked the reverse path that we had paraded down, and came back to good old Quincy's Pizza. The Mr. Pibb woke me up, the chicken fingers and fries filled me with energy, and the electrical outlets charged my devices. It was back to civilization and all the glory that entails.
As I ate I noticed Tapeworm bouncing past the store window and jumped to get his attention. You know you've left the norm of society behind when you find yourself leaning out of a restaurant screaming "Tapeworm!". He joined me while I ate and we caught up. He planned to hike on further than us today, but we expect to end up at the same shelter by tomorrow. His ankle seems a bit better and he got a new pack that helped him drop 4lbs and fit him better, so he was feeling pretty good.
He left to attempt and start his hike, and shortly after the place started filling with hikers coming down off the mountain. My table filled and I had a slice of pizza with Mr. Fantastic and Optimus before we wandered over to the gear shop.
Mr. Fantastic received a shipment of homemade chocolate chip cookies and shared with the gentleman who had held the package and me. They were delicious. I got a new spoon with a longer handle. The tines on my spork scratched at the sides of my pot and the handle was short enough that I sometimes singed knuckle hair while stirring my dinner. So 8 dollars later I have a new titanium spoon with a long handle. Win.
While there we bumped into Stonechair and learned that Dick Flap, Shenanigans, and Meta were also in town. Next thing I knew I turned around and found Waldo. In some ways it almost felt like a Trail Days redux. Everyone I've seen lately was there as well: Tree Trunks, Duditz, Fozzie, Friar, Compass, Nimbus, Merry, Sweet & Sour, and Nature Guard.
Eventually I met Mr. Fantastic in the library where he surfed the net and I continued charging while downloading the rest of my audiobooks. It's nice to enjoy a little relaxed internet catch up. The weather turned hideous outside for a short period, with sideways rain whipping through the streets. The wind is made much more visceral when you have a mountain with trees on it in the distance to show it to you. The whole cliff face danced with violent energy, so we pulled our packs inside and enjoyed the shelter.
We closed the library down at 5pm, as the elderly librarian finally shooed us out. We had to finally do our resupply, but I demanded a brownie and ice cream first. We sat down at a table with Stonechair, Dick Flap, Meta, Shenanigans, and Waldo. It was a delicious reunion of the hot fudge brownie with ice cream variety.
They were all staying at the $5 hostel in town, but we wanted to hike on a little further, so we finished up and got our resupply done.
I wanted to finish some charging at Mojoe's, but unfortunately they were closed, so I cinched up my boots, and we set out onto the trail. It took longer to get back into the woods than it did to climb up to the campsite, but it was good to be camping instead of renting. We were joined up here by Nature Guard with a couple section hiking, and heard some pretty interesting theories from the husband.
It was a great day back in Damascus and feels like our paths may all be crossing again. But you never really know how the timing will play out for everyone, what injuries or illnesses could arise, or for that matter who may decide to start pumping out more miles. It's a like great cross country race where you hope everyone wins, and they can.

Trail Magic Turnpike

I opened my eyes this morning to find pain free ankles and the night time arrival of Merry and Sweet & Sour. Both welcome things to find with the arrival of the sun.
Shortly into my hike I passed a pair of section hikers who were "Hikin' for Jesus!". They told me about some trail magic by the road, and I thanked them for the tip and their efforts. Once I came upon the magic bear box the church had chained to a tree, I was reunited with everyone from camp last night. We all enjoyed the cold sodas and sugary snacks, maybe a little too much. Thank you Jesus!
Mr. Fantastic and I continued on, making our way to a rolling open field. It was different and a nice view, but after 10 minutes we were thankful to be back in the shade of the green tunnel.
We made it to the designated lunch shelter in no time at all, and again reunited with everyone from camp and Jesus magic.
Lunch was quick for me, and I set back out to finish off the day. An hour before I estimated I stumbled across a shelter on the side of the road. My map says we were headed for a 5 person shelter, but looking into this one I saw space for no more than 3. I walked around the woods looking for a path to water, and finding none I decided to sit down and wait for people to catch up.
I sat there for 40 minutes before Chicken and Rooster came by. They informed me that this was no longer used, and the shelter we were all looking for was another 1.5 miles up the trail. I thanked them and trekked on.
Along the last push for the day I came across two pretty girls who offered me an orange. Sometimes trail magic is delivered, but rarely by cute girls. I took one for my dessert and thanked the SOBO section hikers as they continued spreading the magic.
Arriving at the correct shelter had me meeting up with Nimbus again, who had set out at 6:30am. The water source was the standard aggressive hike downhill a side trail, but I'm always grateful for water!
Dinner was delicious, but we're all ready for pizza in town tomorrow. 10 miles down will bring us full circle back to Damascus, and finally properly into Virginia. Georgia and North Carolina are done, tomorrow we finish with Tennessee! Then a mere 550 miles in Virginia.
I'll wake up early, eat a quick breakfast, and run to my pizza lunch. There I'll charge my devices, and then resupply at the Dollar General I've already been in 4 times. Then we'll head back over to Mojoe's for a snack and some wifi, before grabbing some Subway to take back onto the trail. We don't know where we'll be camping tomorrow, but we want to push right through town. As wonderful as it's been, I've spent enough time in Damascus for one thru-hike.

Clear skies, full hearts, can't lose

We awoke to bright blue skies this morning. By we I mean everyone in the shelter, as we strangely all awoke as one. I was the first to set out, just a little after 9am, and had an even 14 miles in my future.
Unfortunately the only thing that hadn't dried at all were my shoes and socks. I kept my dry socks dry and got my feet wet and ready for a rough day.
The first half of the hike was visually a treat, crossing over a dam in a mountain valley, up to ridge lining alongside said valley and others nearby. It was pretty exquisite.
Water was just before the planned lunch shelter, and a terrible .3 mile steep descent down a side trail. Steep enough that I almost had to use my hands. Unfortunately water is rather necessary.
At the shelter I joined Tree Trunks and Rose with Duditz and a couple SOBO section hikers. The view from behind the shelter was amazing enough that everyone took turns sitting alone atop a giant rock looking down on the valley. Lunch was massive and rewarding, but lead into the second half of my hike which was slow going. The terrain was pretty relaxed, but the skin on my ankles was not. I'm always just outpacing the skin irritation on my ankles by mere days, but it's finally catching up. So I hiked a somewhat slow, but incredibly relaxing second half while listening to more of the Stephen King audiobook.
At the shelter I met Nimbus, an older gent who grew up in Medford, NJ. It's a small trail. I met two other people from the Marlton area and Lavender is from Philly, so I do mean small.
I let my shoes bake in the sun and ate dinner as tonight's posse arrived, one by one. Everyone looked happy and relaxed after such a nice hike today. Shenanigans continued on to the next shelter, while Lavender and Chief Kickin' Butt didn't make it to this one. The rest of us made camp. Everyone is hanging bear bags well tonight, because we've heard from SOBOs that there are a lot of bear sightings in this area.
If my heels heal by morning I can enjoy some dry socks in dry shoes. It's 16 miles tomorrow, so healthy feet will be a necessity. In the meantime, I'll rejoin Mr. Fantastic and Tree Trunks. They made a deal at lunch that for every time Tree Trunks curses he has to buy Mr. Fantastic an SE (Snickers Equivilant). He's up to 3 thus far, and it's been quite amusing to watch.