Road to Damascus (Day 42)

I woke up before dawn to walk the remaining 10 miles to Damascus. I took a photo of the sun peeking above the tree line before packing up. Fortunately, most of my things dried overnight and it didn’t rain again.

Hello Virginia!

I walked quickly today, while listening to music through my headphones. It’s not something I normally do, but it seems to speed up my pace a little. Before long, I had traveled approximately 7 miles to the Virginia border. It was very exciting to enter a new state. Everyone talks about Virginia Blues, but I was getting a little tired of Tennessee and North Carolina. Mainly because we were constantly coming and going and I never knew where I was on any given day.

It was all downhill from there to Damascus, and the path ended in the most beautiful neighborhood. I wonder if it would be strange if the trail literally runs through your backyard. We received some friendly greetings from the neighbors and headed into town. I put my photo under the arch, knowing I would be too busy during Trail Days to do so.

going around

The trail runs through the main part of town and I immediately stopped at Damascus Outfitters. I desperately needed a new shirt, as mine had been slowly falling apart. After I finished that errand, the Damascus Diner was screaming my name. A group of us sat together, chatting, eating, and drinking copious amounts of black coffee.

I spent most of the day at the Damascus Trail Center. They had a lot of information about the upcoming Appalachian Trail Days Festival and were busy getting everything ready for the weekend. We read the event schedule, then packed up our backpacks and walked a half mile to the grocery store to resupply. I bought the usual suspects (protein bars, peanut butter, and cookies), then walked across the parking lot to the pizza place to get a margherita pizza (with gluten-free crust).

goodbye for now

We packed our bags and left the city in the late afternoon. There was a campsite about 1.5 miles from the trail. It was a warm night and I know I’ll be back this weekend for Trail Days. But for now we continue walking.

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