Gene Espy and McAffe Knob

Saturday (5-14) was a fun, interesting, and productive day in Damascus at Trail Days.  I showered, did laundry, and resupplied.  The never-ending saga with my sleeping bag continues!  I resent the sleeping bag back to Cindi AGAIN!  This time it is for good!  The sleeping bag that has been sent back and forth is a 30 degree sleeping bag but now that the weather is getting warmer, I bought a 45 degree sleeping bag.  It's smaller and lighter weight which is always a good thing.  I also bought more Aquamira--the water treatment.  The annual hiker parade brought all the "crazies" out in full force!  Quite a few dressed wildly and carried large squirt guns and water balloons while in the parade.  I met Gene Espy.  He is an 89-year-old man who was the second person to ever thru-hike the trail.  He did it in 1951--60 years ago!!  Earl Shaffer, now deceased, was the first person to thru-hike in 1948.  Here is our picture and you can check out my beard too!

It rained on and off all day.  I met up with Swamp Dawg and got a chance to talk to him for awhile.  He is doing well and hiking with two men and two women.  He is averaging 10-12 miles/day and having fun.  He is a great guy and I miss him but I'm about 160 miles ahead of him.  I know we'll continue to be friends long after this adventure is over.  On Sunday (5-15) there was more rain overnight.  I expected to leave Trail Days at 10 AM to return back to Catawba, VA where I was picked up on Friday.  Instead we didn't leave Damascus until 12:30 PM.  It took until 5:30 PM to get back due to an accident that tied up traffic for 10-15 miles on I-81.  So at 5:35 PM, I started my brief hike for the day.  I reached McAfee Knob, said to provide the best view in VA.  It was spectacular!!  Here I am in the picture.

At 8:15 PM I reached Campbell Shelter after hiking 4.4 miles for the day.  I set up my tent in the shelter since there was only one other person in it.  There were no mice to worry about since I was inside my tent.  I began hiking at 7:35 AM on Monday (5-16).  I only made it 40 yards from the shelter when I took my first and only tumble of the day.  I stepped on a piece of tree bark and down I went.  Other than mud on my pant leg, I was fine.  After lunch fatigue hit, and at 1:30 PM I found a shaded spot right next to the trail.  I put down my Tyvek sheet, wadded up my jacket as a pillow, and took an hour nap--refreshing!  At 5 PM I reached Daleville, VA and had pizza and salad at Pizza Hut.  I expected to hike a few more miles but the sky looked threatening.  Right across the street was a Howard Johnson motel and I saw a sign that a hot breakfast was included for only $40.10, tax included.  This also gave me a chance to shower, charge my phone, dry out my gear, sleep in a bed, and have a decent breakfast in the morning.  I was sold!  I hiked 15.4 miles.  After 8 weeks (56 days) I've had 4 non-hiking days and have gone 718.6 miles averaging 12.83 miles/day.