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[at-l] In Damascus
Hi folks,
Just took a zero day in that greatest of trail towns, Damascus, VA. The town is overflowimg with hikers who can't seem to overcome this village's invisible magnetic field.
I've spent 2 nights at the Apple Tree B&B. Its owner, John Reese, is on the town council and one of the Trail Days organizers. He told me today that the town's infamous new $10 tent fee previously announced for Trail Days has officially been rescinded. Apparently donations via the ATC and other sources have eliminated the need to try to collect money from the rabble rousers attending TDs. Word about this is just now leaking out, though you may have already heard.
I've not seen the Barefoot Sisters since the Ruck, but apparently they are just a few days behind me now on their flipflop. I wrote a little poem for them in one of the shelter registers near Erwin. It goes like this:
Ode to Isis and Jack Rabbit, the Barefoot Sisters
A goddess or two came down from Maine.
It didn't matter if they felt pain.
An unusual choice for them to choose,
To walk all the way without their shoes.
The guys on the trail could scarcely believe
What these two girls set out to achieve.
They walked on dirt and they walked on rocks.
They walked through mud and didn't wear socks.
They got over halfway, dressed like this.
Then the snow got deep and one said, "Sis,"
"Let's put on our boots and keep on walkin',
It'll soon get warmer and now you're talkin',"
"Down in the south we'll go barefoot again,
We'll hike without boots whenever we can."
The Family From the North, joined up with 'em.
While hiking with them they struck up a rhythm.
They made up a song walking down the road
About digging a hole and dumping your load.
Down in Erwin, Tennessee came a stroke of good luck.
Miss Janet gave 'em all a ride to the Ruck.
Then they went back south and were Springer bound.
When they got to the end they just turned around.
Now they're making their way back to Baxter Peak,
Tracing their footsteps, their future to seek.
I'll be hiking 3 more weeks, hopefully to Waynesboro, VA, then I'll pause the hike and fly north to help Ready/Trailmixup get ready to move to Atlanta. We should arrive at Trail Days together sometime on Friday the 19th in a U-Haul truck full of her stuff.
We plan to get married in a family ceremony at my house in Atlanta on May 27. Around June 1 we'll head back to the trail and start north from wherever I left off.
I have a nearly-realtime hiker journal going online. You can find it at:
http://www.spursjournal.com . You can read it on the web or if you prefer, you can opt to receive entries via email as I post them using my Pocketmail device.
We'll be staying on the backporch of Apple Tree B&B during Trail Days. Hope to see many of you then.
Spur, GA-ME 99,00,01
P.S. If you happen to reply to this, please cc: me as I won't be seeing at-l posts for awhile yet.
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