Day 109-110: Grayson Highlands to Damascus

During the last week, there has been much evidence of Hurricane Helene that hit last year. The fallen trees are based on the sides of the path thanks to the paths of trails that have gently cleared all farms to this point.

Initially we had set out to do only 20 miles today because we headed towards the highest point of Virginia, Mount Rogers. Around 11 in the morning, we realized that we had almost ended our hiking for the day, so we put our gaze in four miles beyond that, just below the highest point.

We enjoy lunch next to Fox Creek and a new bridge.

After lunch, we had a game, 3,000 feet of our morning elevation. I was quite well scattered in the following twelve miles, so it was quite cruise to the top.

We enter the Grayson Highlands area. We only walk through the Grayson Highlands State Park for three miles; We would walk through the open grass area for at least the last six miles of our day.

We saw many ponies and grazing of Larchorn cattle! It was also a perfectly sunny and windy afternoon. We have not seen a path like this in approximately 1,000 miles, since we were at a similar height to the north.

We land in some dispersed camps in an open field. When we went to drink spring water, we went through someone who seemed incredibly familiar. On the way back, we talked with that someone, and I met her in my previous work in West Virginia! She had cooked meals for first aid training in the desert, and she was one of the participants. I even remember telling him about this walk. Little world! She and her friend go to North Carolina to run 50k this weekend.

Our night ended with some of the Longhorns walking near our camp. How wonderful! Tomorrow would be mostly downhill and a little shorter, then we would arrive in Damascus. We both have new shoes waiting for us, and I can’t wait!

Our beautiful morning began with a continuation of the Highland landscape last night. I took it easy to assimilate everything. I knew we would be descending most of the day, so this would not last long.

We go through a rock hill grass with many cows to dodge.

Then, we immerse ourselves in a sea of ​​Ortigas. This was not the sharp variety, fortunately, since they were in the chest in some places.

We get off to the Elk garden parking lot and throw some garbage in recent days in a garbage container. My Ziploc Gallon garbage bag was almost full! We immediately begin to climb for our biggest up of the day, only 800 feet. In the upper part, we stopped to take some snacks in a fairly open meadow.

This led us to some sections of the path that were seriously affected by Helene. The amount of purges of trees, blows and damaged forest was incomprehensible.

Many of these points that are so bright and full of light should really be shaded, and a great walk through the undergrowth.

Finally we arrive at Virginia Creeper Trail, a bicycle path that occasionally crosses and is parallel to the AT. The northern half of Creeper’s path is still closed due to the hurricane. I counted at least three bridges on the water that was washed. I can’t imagine how it was during the storm.

We made 7 miles from Damascus along Laurel Creek. One of my feet has been bothering most of the day, and when I finally took my shoe to see what I expected to be a blister in the ball of my left foot, did I find … holes? Without irritated blood or skin, only four small circular punctures and a divot of an inch long in a foot fold. I have been maintaining my dry feet and I have even become accustomed to cleaning them at the end of the day to help with the accumulation of earth. I have two pairs of coatings among which I change during longer stretching without laundry. All I can imagine is that it is the worn with my pair of current shoes. They have more than 600 miles on them at this point, and the most worn points are the balls of my feet. Fortunately, tomorrow is the new shoe day.

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