[at-l] Damascus, from rockdancer

[rockdancer97 at comcast.net]

Well the trip from Erwin to Deep Gap, just past Beauty Spot was a chore in the fog and rain. It's the day after July 4, shouldn't it be warm in the South? I had a 2-mile town walk and the church people were all in church, not a single vehicle passed by, so quiet after such a loud night. Missed Beauty Spot in the fog/rain and finally pitched tent in the gap before Unaka Mountain. 



Unaka was great - I love the red spruce forest on top. Again hardly any hikers out in this stretch but when I reached Clyde Smith Shelter I met "I'll Try" , a volunteer from the Harpers Ferry ATC office. He's been out for 3 months, heading S, has gone about 600 miles and has lost 50 pounds. He was heading for Greasy Creek Hostel the next day. Nice to see a familiar face. His plan is to get to Springer and then go to Katahdin to hike back to Harpers Ferry. 



I camped near the shelter and woke with a 2-ft snake hugging me through the coated nylon. It was another cold night and mr. snake needed the warmth I guess. 



Did Roan Mountain in my best time ever, 2 hours for the 3-mile, 2300 foot climb. Had a nice lunch in the SUN! and then headed to Carver Gap. Made Overmountain Shelter (the red barn) by 5 pm, listening to NPR on my $5 radio (bought at Dollar General in Hot Springs to replace my $200 mp3 player). Set up my tent and had supper with the two section hikers already there. After supper a group arrives on the 1/2 mile dirt road - turns out to be Otto! (with his niece and her 3 kids). I haven't seen Otto since 2007 Thanksgiving at Kincora. No Raven (dog) just Otto but a real treat. 



Had a wonderrful sunset & a full moon rise and then the fireflies came out, a place of beauty for sure when the weather's nice. Next day was a short day to get to 19E (past Apple House Shelter) and then a ride to Kincora from Otto. I hiked from there for a couple of days until I caught sick. In a way I lost my momentum but that's OK. I wanted to spend time with Bob during the quiet period to catch up on the past year since his wife Pat died. He's been to the pilgrim trail in Spain and has got great stories about his 500-mile walk there. But after 5 days at Kincora it was time to move on, so now I'm here in Damascus ready to start the slow journey home to Mass. 



So the trip was 400 miles, 35 days. It's about 7 days faster than my 1997 hike, I'm proud of that. I think it's a combination of travelling smarter and travelling lighter. Certainly the 12 years and worsening back problems would've made me proud if I did it even in the same amount of time. Maybe I've finally learned how to do this right? Nah, as witnessed the other day when I carefully added a heaping teaspoon of salt to my morning coffee... some lessons are never learned! --RockDancer 
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