[at-l] Trail Days report

[chance317@yahoo.com (Denise)]

It's hard to believe that a week ago I was catching a plane for
the first leg of my first trip to Trail Days.  I've wanted to
write my thoughts and share them for days, but life in the
"real" world had other plans for me this week.  

As a newbie, and as a basically shy and quiet person, I was a
bit uncertain about finding my "place" in Damascus ... and
discovered almost instantly that I needn't have been.  With each
person I met, including each awesome AT-L'er, it seemed as
though I connected with ... family.  The entire weekend I felt
as though I was at a family gathering being held in someone's
huge backyard. The conversations all around me about the trials
and joys of the Trail, gear issues, food <smile>, doubts, fears
and triumphs; the laughter and comraderie ... thank you all, for
welcoming me.  Hard to express how it feels to visit a place for
the very first time and know immediately that I'd come ... home.
 It was all new to me and yet so familiar in the most profound
ways. 

As this was my first TDZ, so it was my first time on the Trail. 
As someone has colorfully and accurately said to me, I'm now in
deep doo-doo. :D  How is it possible to lose my heart so
completely in such short order?!  On Sat., Vera, Jim and I
headed out northbound fairly early (hey, we tried for 6 a.m. but
the drum circle was too much fun!).  Our plan was to meet up
with Sloetoe, who was running southbound, but it didn't work out
that way.  Most of the time I was by myself, but not really,
because I was surrounded by and reveling in an unsurpassed
beauty.  The fragrance of the air was captivating like no other.
 The quiet and the greenness, heightened by the soft morning
were tangible entities that enveloped and embraced me
completely.  There were many times in this all too brief hike
that I simply stopped, mouth hanging open in awe and disbelief
("tongue-gaping stare"), and laughed out loud from the undiluted
joy of being there.  As I headed upward, I found myself in the
fog (low clouds?), and looking down through the mist and the
trees was a singular kind of magic.  The riotous colors of the
rhodies and mountain laurel were so vibrant in the softness ...
and I was talking out loud to the flowers and they to me... Time
passed much too quickly, and at an agreed upon time I was
supposed to turn back, but I kept on, one more bend, one more
climb, one more vista.  I discovered when we hooked back up,
that we'd all done the same thing!  Filled with post-hike
euphoria, it's amazing how the simplest of things, such as a hot
cup of coffee after a cold, damp hike, becomes elevated to be
among life's greatest pleasures ... it's all so incredible!

Sunday brought many more joys and discoveries, beginning with
partaking in the traditional breakfast ... though I understand
it was quite different from past years because of logistics; :(
still it was grand ...  Spent most of the day talking, sharing
laughter and love with new friends and old; checked out the
vendors (hennessey hammocks and moonbow packs seemed
particularly tasty] and then it was late afternoon and time to
pack up and leave ...

We headed to Whitetop Mountain and Elk Garden for the last
goodbye of the weekend ... if the rest of the weekend had been
spent in a vacuum, this adventure all by itself would have given
me more than I would have dreamed possible ... as it was, I was
already filled to overflowing with so much, and being in these 2
spots brought me to a place within that I haven't been in a long
time.  This'll have to be a separate post, I fear, judging by
all that I've yet to say! :)

To sum up:  Wow.  And, it's really good to know that those of
you who read this will probably understand the part about
talking to the flowers, and everything else, too! :)

Denise



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