The Land of the Lotus Eaters

Catnip enjoying a Keystone light amoungst the Riff Raff Crew

View from within the Riff Raff tent city

The last few weeks have been a blur of activity. After Hampton, we packed out a couple of Subway sandwiches and hiked up to Vandeventer Shelter for the night. We had unusually strong cell service on top of the mountain so we ended up streaming an episode of the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon while falling asleep in our tent. It was kind of spectacular. The next day we planned to hike 18 miles to put us just a day outside of Damascus. We wanted to get into town before Trail Days began, which we heard gets pretty rowdy, and we hoped that this would put us ahead of the bubble. When we reached mile 11, we stumbled upon an eclectic group of former hikers/hippies called "Riff Raff" that had been set up just next to TN 91. You're not allowed to tent within Damascus city limits until Thursday before Trail Days so these "tent cities" pop up in the surrounding areas. A couple of guys shouted, "Hiker Alert!" and came running over with beers and burgers in hand. "Let's get that backpack off of you, do you want some food? How about a beer? Take a rest, set up your tent -- we're all heading into Damascus on Thursday, party with us until then!" Wheels and I were flabbergasted. We ate burgers and hot dogs and threw back a few beers and prepared to head back on the trail. When I had my backpack on, the group spotted us and pleaded that we stay. We weren't going to be convinced -- it was fun, but we were focused on our goal. "You can't go until you try the cheddar brats," one of the group's founding members, G-Hippie, exclaimed, as he came over with two beers in his hand. Wheels and I sighed, exchanged glances and set up our tent. We were stuck in the Land of the Lotus Eaters
, with no chance of escape.

The next morning we got up at 5:45am, took down our tent and headed out for the 21 mile hike into Damascus -- we were determined to stay on schedule. Aside from being a little dehydrated, we ended up hiking into town by mid-afternoon--the terrain was very forgiving. The trail passes directly through town so we hiked straight to our hostel for a quick shower before heading over to Dot's Diner for some grub. We stayed at Woodchuck's Hostel, a quieter alternative to the official "Tent City" that Damascus sets up for the thousands of hikers that come into town over the weekend. Trail Days is a major deal for the town -- the population grows from a couple thousand to around ten thousand over the weekend. There is a hiker parade, talent show, concerts, free haircuts, and of course, the 24 party that goes on at Tent City.

Wheels and I hung around through Saturday afternoon to get a taste of the shenanigans without getting lost in it. We ran into a bunch of hikers that we'd befriended at the beginning of our hike -- several of them had earned trail names since then and it was funny to hear their stories. A large group of hikers that we'd camped with before Blood Mountain told us they'd been following our shelter logs and keeping an eye on our progress. We promised to write them little notes in the log going forward. It really did feel like a reunion -- which is weird since we had only met these folks for a few days a few weeks ago. 

By Saturday afternoon we were itching to hike again so we hitched a ride out of town and headed on our way. While we were in town, we'd bought summer sleeping bags and sent home our winter gear. Unfortunately, there was an unseasonably cold streak that caused it to snow and sleet on Mt Rogers, where we planned to camp that night. We bought a cotton sheet for $1 at the Thrift shop in Damascus and managed to make it past through the cold.  

One of the highlights of the trail is the Grayson Highlands, which you hit just past Damascus. The fields are home to wild ponies that graze and run near the trail. We witnessed a herd of wild ponies run just 40 yards in front of us along the trail. It was absolutely amazing -- definitely one of the coolest things we've seen so far. 

We've been told that the trail starts to get quiet when you reach Virginia -- that people start dropping off the trail like flies. Virginia is described as the "Green Tunnel"; it makes up 1/3 of the Appalachian Trail and while you still have major climbs there are no views. A lot of people come down with the "Virginia Blues" because of the lack of major milestones through the big state.We are feeling positive -- we took a day off in Atkins to rest so that we can hopefully knock out some bigger mileage days. 

That pretty much sums it up for now. I'll leave you with this:

Over the last month and a half, I've become fully engrossed in "AT Lingo". I thought it would be helpful to share some of the trail terminology with you all. Enjoy!

AT Hiker Dictionary:

Hiker Trash: someone who crossed over the thin line between hiker and homeless that mooches off of others' generosity. Can often be found living in a tent under a bridge or eating your food.

Mayor McCheese: A hiker or former thru-hiker that believes they have a superior breadth of knowledge about the trail and continuously shares that wisdom with others.

Blue Blazing: Taking side trails instead of purely hiking the official white blazed AT.

Yellow Blazing: Hitching north and skipping sections of the trail.

Slackpacking: Carrying a daypack instead of your entire backpack for a section of the trail.

PUDs: Pointless Ups and Downs

Delicious: Pretty much anything edible.

Tired: A sleepy feeling, often a result of broken rest due to snoring hikers in a hostel or shelter or wildlife entering camp at night.

Exhausted: Don't want to move.

Worn Out: The feeling you get during your last hour of hiking, regardless of mileage.

Sore: A continuous sensation of stiffness and discomfort that is heightened after laying stagnant in a tent each night.

Sleep: "What was that? Did you hear that sound? Oh my gosh was that a bear? Oh phew, just a deer...Zzzzzzzzzz...."

Clean: {does not compute - definition unknown}