This post is dedicated to one of my best hiking friends, Peacock (who apparently goes by Nicole in normal, everyday life). Even though Peacock had to get off the trail due to a torn meniscus, we've been regularly keeping in contact and she's just a phone call away when I've had a rough day. She's "my trail person" and I can only hope her injuries heal enough for her to get back on and summit Katahdin!
Day 46: May 14th: Reunited!
So Bunny and I arrived in Damascus around noon and made our way to "tent city" where we proceeded to explore and try to find a camping spot big enough for all of us. We ran into SweetTime, who showed us all the different group locations - BillVille, Mellow Camp, Wonderland, Riff Raff (known for being the Trail Days 'frat'), and Miss Janets circle.
Groups come back to trail days for years and years.
We set up our tents and dropped Bunny's clothes off at the laundry station right as we see Dreamers car pulling into the parking lot with Quail, Punchline and Pizza Brains. I started walking towards the center of town when I got a text from Sassy (Shay) asking if I had made it to Damascus yet. I hadn't seen Sassy and Cotton for a week, so I turned around and decided to move my tent over by theirs. As we left tent city to walk towards town, we ran into Ron and Bandit (Yay Yay Yay!!!!).
My peeps! So so excited to see old friends.
So we made our way to the local restaurant - Bobo McFarlands. The entire menu was comprised of meat. So I caved and ordered a Turkey and Apple-Smoked Bacon wrap which was pretty delicious.
Afterwards, we walked to Dollar General/the gas station, bought some food and beer and began to casually drink in our tents - which is when I heard the voices of Flapjack and Nick (now going by Tunes)!! Honestly, running into old hiking partners was the best thing about Trail Days. Soon after, we all walked over to the Bingo Hall for the free Italian dinner supplied by One Way Ministries. Waiting in line was actually enjoyable because I got to see a million familiar faces. The dinner was delicious - especially their 'slaw' (which sounds gross but was nothing like I expected it to be) (Shay and I want the recipe...).
While waiting for food, Peacock arrived! Her phone wasn't getting service (AT&T sucks on the trail so far - Yay Verizon!), which turned out to be quite irritating throughout the weekend - but we agreed to meet at the Damascus Brewery later on that evening.
After going back to our tents and drinking with Flapjack and Tunes, we found a mutual friend, Squirrel, who I previously met at Mountain Harbour a few nights prior. Sassy, Cotton, Squirrel and I began to walk towards the Brewery (Tunes is only 19, so those guys didn't join us). As we were walking, a big van pulled up next to us and asked if we needed a hitch into town. It wasn't until we got in and asked to be taken to the Brewery that we realized we were asking the Ministry van to take us to the bar! We were extremely grateful for the ride though, especially because the Brewery was pretty far from Tent city.
Shelter: Tent City!
The wait-staff here is kind of terrible...
(But there aren't many restaurant options in Damacus)
Sassy and some local AT art!
Afterwards, we walked to Dollar General/the gas station, bought some food and beer and began to casually drink in our tents - which is when I heard the voices of Flapjack and Nick (now going by Tunes)!! Honestly, running into old hiking partners was the best thing about Trail Days. Soon after, we all walked over to the Bingo Hall for the free Italian dinner supplied by One Way Ministries. Waiting in line was actually enjoyable because I got to see a million familiar faces. The dinner was delicious - especially their 'slaw' (which sounds gross but was nothing like I expected it to be) (Shay and I want the recipe...).
Thank you One Way Ministries!
Your generosity was very much appreciated.
While waiting for food, Peacock arrived! Her phone wasn't getting service (AT&T sucks on the trail so far - Yay Verizon!), which turned out to be quite irritating throughout the weekend - but we agreed to meet at the Damascus Brewery later on that evening.
After going back to our tents and drinking with Flapjack and Tunes, we found a mutual friend, Squirrel, who I previously met at Mountain Harbour a few nights prior. Sassy, Cotton, Squirrel and I began to walk towards the Brewery (Tunes is only 19, so those guys didn't join us). As we were walking, a big van pulled up next to us and asked if we needed a hitch into town. It wasn't until we got in and asked to be taken to the Brewery that we realized we were asking the Ministry van to take us to the bar! We were extremely grateful for the ride though, especially because the Brewery was pretty far from Tent city.
Pretry sure the owner gave me an "Amberdelic" when I asked for a surprise beer.
Advice from the ladies bathroom!
And so we drank beer, and played a really pathetic round of darts until closing time, at which time we all squeezed into Peacocks brothers car and rode back to tent city.
Russell, a fellow thru-hiker and friend of Peacock
Obviously things weren't going so well.
You could hear the fire/drum circle before even stepping into the campground, so I followed the sounds until I found the crowd. This nights fire-circle was by far my favorite of the weekend because it was relatively small and was comprised of a ton of my friends. I spent a large portion of the evening with My Best Friend and Bobby Hill, as well as Honey Badger and Angel. People were going pretty hard on alcohol and miscellaneous drugs (eventually a guy ran around the fire-circle naked a few times), but I wasn't looking for a crazy night. Around midnight, I ran into Sunshine and Breeze, a couple I had played Egyptian Rat Screw with at Mountain Harbour. I rang in my birthday with them, and was honored with a crowd singing Happy Birthday (totally hated all the attention).
Miss Janet later told me that the drunks burnt a majority of the wood for the weekend during this first fire.
I spent about an hour wandering the circle and conversing with friends before trying to find my way back to my tent. I got lost somehow and ended up on the road, which was fine - I knew my way back from there. But for some reason, this is when I decided to jump the fence to use the restroom which resulted in me tearing a huge hole in the crotch of my $90 leggings. I was super annoyed, especially since I soon realized there was an open gate about 20 feet away. Luckily there were free gear repairs going on all weekend, so I vowed to get them sewed up the next morning.
Miles today: 0.0
Miles from Springer: 391.8
Miles to Katahdin: 1793.5
Day 47: May 15th: Turning 23!
The next morning was pretty decent and comprised of a ton of people asking if it was my birthday/wishing me a good one. I dropped off my clothes to be washed, got my leggings fixed, and checked out some of the vendors.
Afterwards, I dropped by the free foot clinic to get my injury checked out and was pleasantly surprised to be examined by an orthopedic surgeon. Luckily, he said that the location of my injury lead him to believe that it was not a stress fracture, but rather a tendon issue. Further investigation on the internet confirmed this diagnosis.
A 600-liter pack!
Afterwards, I dropped by the free foot clinic to get my injury checked out and was pleasantly surprised to be examined by an orthopedic surgeon. Luckily, he said that the location of my injury lead him to believe that it was not a stress fracture, but rather a tendon issue. Further investigation on the internet confirmed this diagnosis.
Apparently I "over-pronate", which results in all my weight being distributed straight onto my tendon.
The lower blue tendon shows the exact placement of my pain.
After receiving my good news (relatively speaking), Peacock and her brother drove me to Abington, where I picked up some tequila, and then dropped me off at the Lazy Fox B&B where I had a reservation for my birthday. The owner, Genny (the sweetest lady in her 80s or 90s), wasn't home, but I knew I reserved the downstairs bedroom, so the gardener let me in. I unpacked all my gear and found three packages waiting for me (One from my mom, one from my BFF Alex, and one from Outdoor 76 which had my new shoes)!
Fresh.
I had decided to book a room with a private bathroom, but to my surprise it only had a tub - not a shower. Honestly, I find it difficult to get clean in a bathtub, especially since as a hiker, my ankles are almost always caked in mud.
"I just took a bath, Jerry. A bath!"
"No good?"
"It's disgusting. I'm sitting there in a tepid pool of my own filth."
In the end, I managed to get squeaky clean, no worries. After this enjoyable bubble bath, I put on the dress my mom sent for me to wear for my birthday, and went to introduce myself to Genny. This is when she informed me that I didn't have the room reserved for this weekend. (Really weird side note: as Peacock was driving me to the B&B, I had an odd feeling that something went wrong with my reservation. I expressed this concern, but Peacock told me it would be fine...). Unfortunately, Genny had accidentally written my name for the week prior, and the room was reserved by another lady as well. Genny called the other person, but said that she was "not as agreeable" as I was.
The bed I would have slept in....
The B&B had a gorgeous wrap around porch.
Yes, I had my mom send me jean shorts. And no, I have not sent them home yet.
I was pretty upset, and Genny felt terrible, but I wasn't going to get angry at a sweet old lady for making a mistake. She let me camp out in her backyard for free and offered me breakfast both mornings. Her mistake saved me a ton of money (I was splurging for my birthday), so it wasn't such a huge loss.
Honestly, not a bad place to camp...
My Nana used to have this wooden swing.
(Now it's at my upstate house!)
The cute gazebo that I never actually sat in...
So I cleaned up all my stuff, put on my infamous eyeliner, and went to meet up with Sassy and Peacock over by the park. We hung out with the guys who ran the Rock Wall and the Bungee-cord trampoline thing, which they let me try for free! (Yay for slightly-drunken back flips!) (There's a video somewhere...).
What a cutie!
Cotton is a very serious climber back home.
While we were hanging around, I saw Guru walk by so I excitedly called his name and ran to give him a hug. He's now hiking with a girl Jessica, who I met in Hot Springs (she's a vegan on the trail!). They have a very similar hiking pace - it makes sense they would stick together (they are hundreds of miles ahead of me).
Sassy, Peacock and I walked through the vendors where I met Zach Davis from Appalachian Trials! He claimed to recognize me, which is possible because I made it to the Top 12 of his video contest (back in January). We hugged and talked for a bit before I wandered off and found my friends eating festival food and listening to some live music in the park.
That night, I stopped by the fire circle, but it was a much different vibe than the previous night and I wasn't really feeling it. Again, I got a ton of attention for my birthday, but the circle of people was just too big for me to enjoy - and I had a splitting headache and was already feeling hungover from my day-drinking. My tent was still set up in Tent City, but the rest of my gear was at the Lazy Fox. Cotton and Sassy offered up clothes and sleeping bags so that I didn't have to walk all the way to town, but I wanted to be in my own little home.
As I packed up my tent, I started to get extremely nauseous, so I rushed to the closest restroom (in all honesty, I wasn't even drunk). As I was dry-heaving into the sketchy town toilets, I had two thoughts. One = Wow, it would be really, really nice to have my own private bedroom and bathroom to puke in tonight. Two = I'm done drinking. I've always had a pretty crappy relationship with alcohol - my body just doesn't want it and the hangovers are never worth the potential fun. I'm not saying I'll never have a drink, but it will probably be a very rare occurance going forward.
So I finally gathered the courage to walk towards town - and I managed to set up my tent in the backyard before I scampered off to find the closer town bathroom. When I got back to the B&B, there were hikers who wanted to socialize, but I just excused myself so I could sleep it off. All in all, not the most fantastic birthday, but at least I learned something from it.
Miles today: 0.0
Miles from Springer: 391.8
Miles to Katahdin: 1793.5
Day 48: May 16th: Acceptance
I woke up the next morning feeling totally fine - thank goodness. Genny came outside to offer me some breakfast, so I went inside and ate the most delicious baked pineapple dish. Miss Janet (and her boyfriend(?)) were also staying at the B&B, so I talked with them for quite a while (Miss Janet calls me Princess Maybelline...).
The 16th was definitely the climax of Trail Days - the whole town was crowded with not only hikers, but families from all over. Live music, raffles, lectures, food and craft vendors, etc. Lines out the door for all the restaurants, not a single hostel/B&B had a vacancy.
I walked around that morning waiting for the parade line-up when I stumbled upon a lady with a box full of kittens!
Later that day I saw a thru-hiker had taken a kitten. I told him to put him back. The trail is no place for a tiny tiny kitten.
So ridiculously adorable.
I hung out there for a while, just hanging with the kittens and talking to everyone walking by. Then I bought some lemonade and made my way to Sundog Outfitters, where everyone was lining up to walk in the parade. To be honest, I hate parades, but I felt a tad bit obligated to be in this one. Lately, I feel like I've been forcing myself to do things that I am 'supposed' to enjoy. It is slightly affected by peer pressure, being that I sometimes get berated when I turn down certain activities. So halfway through the parade, I had an epiphany and just left. I went back to my tent, sat by the creek, relaxed and read my book for a while. And I enjoyed it so much more than the parade. And you know what? It doesn't make me boring or uptight, it just means my preferences are different.
I eventually made my way to the town park to meet up with Sassy, but I didn't stay very long. On my way back, I ran into My Best Friend and Zissou on their way to the river to go swimming behind The Old Mill. It wasn't super warm out, but a large group had congregated and convinced me to swim for a minute anyway.
A group I will probably never catch up to...
Snart making his way down the river
It rained that evening, so Sassy and I just relaxed in her tent for a while before we strolled around Tent City and encountered a really drunk guy.
A taste of tent city... and the drunk guy decked out in the US flag.
Hello Random Drunk Guy: I have no clue who you are - but take better care of your dog from now on please.
The fire-circle that night was much more subdued, and again, I just stopped by. Spent most of the evening with Bobby Hill listening to some impressive live music before I set off for bed.
Unexpected wood carvings!
Selfies with Cotton and Sassy
Yes, I know my shoes don't match my dress.
I've embodied the spirit of "Hiker Trash".
Not sure where a stand-up bass came from, but I loved it.
Shelter: Camping behind The Lazy Fox B&B
Miles today: 0.0
Miles from Springer: 391.8
Miles to Katahdin: 1793.5
Day 49: May 17th: Goodbyes and Hellos.
Though Trail Days technically continued through the 17th, almost everyone had cleared out by mid-day. I was pretty sure Bunny, Quail and Punchline wwere getting a ride back with Dreamer, which meant I was on my own and responsible for finding a hitch for myself. Since I had been hanging around Miss Janet quite a bit, I asked if she could take me back south, which meant I would have to wait until the following morning. Luckily I didn't have a problem with relaxing for another day.
Flowers and flags.
So I blogged and journaled and read and relaxed. Peacock got a hair-wrap while I took a "Long Distance Hiker Survey" (for some guys Masters thesis) and hung out with Ron and Bandit.
This is what you get when you don't smile for the camera.
And then I went for a ride with Peacock to pick up her brother (who had gone on a two day backpacking trip in the area). I enjoyed being in the car (I don't think anyone understands how much I miss my Jeep), and then I took a nap under a tree while we waited for him to arrive. I was recognized by a lot of hikers passing by as they hiked out of Damascus - it made me realize how many people I've met out here - and how far I'm falling behind the "bubble".
The always lovely Peacock.
Gonna be honest - I was very tempted to get in the car and head back to the CT/NY area with Peacock. If I was going to leave the trail, now would be the easiest time to do it. But while I loved entertaining the thought of heading home, I knew in the back of my mind that there was no way I would actually leave the trail yet. So we said our goodbyes and she headed north without me.
I moved my tent to Miss Janets circle so that we could coordinate rides in the morning. I met some new faces, and talked with "Pooh Bear" for a while - who will now be joining Miss Janet as she follows the crowd up to Katahdin. I sewed up my new shoes as a precaution and met a member of Riff Raff. While we sat around, he was approached by another Riff Raff member and informed that she just got engaged! Not my ideal proposal, but she seemed pretty thrilled.
Rainbows to end the weekend!
This is also when I met Tarzan and Big Papa - a father and son duo attempting a thru-hike! The kicker? The kid is only 5!
Tarzan seems to be permanently covered in dirt and cheese doodle dust.
That night I went to the Ministry to charge my phone and I ran into Squirrel-tooth, a guy I had met walking south-bound one day as I settled down for a nap on the trail. We talked for a bit, but I went to bed early that night - not many people were around and I was ready for the morning to come.
Shelter: Camping by Miss Janets Fire/Drum Circle
Miles today: 0.0
Miles from Springer: 391.8
Miles to Katahdin: 1793.5
Day 50: May 18th: Will I Ever Get Back On The Trail?
I knew I'd be waiting around for Miss Janet and company to get packed and ready to go, so I had a lazy morning making friendship bracelets and engaging with drunken hikers at 9am. Mostly I hung out with Mainer, solely because there was a chair near my tent that he sat in. After our conversation, he took to calling me 'Mom' because I couldn't help but offer advice on how/why he should get his shit together.
Mainer chopped a chunk of his skin off.
Drunkenly using tools.
I walked around Tent City, cleaned up some trash, and tried to organize the shuttles back south. Somehow it got all messed up, but I ended up on the first ride back to Mountain Harbour. The ride was twisty, and I felt pretty car-sick, but soon Miss Janet stopped so we could get some Subway to eat.
Miss Janet - A Legend.
Coyote and I got dropped off at the B&B - I only had intentions to stop by for an hour or so, but of course I got sucked in to staying another night. (It started raining! Who wants to get all their gear soaked the moment they start hiking?!).
I busted out some henna, we put on Jurassic Park, and we all enjoyed each others company.
Henna that didn't quite set.
Wooo for slight burns/slight tans!
That night I met Shwayze and StarStuff (who were on mandatory bed-rest for heat exhaustion), Prana, Walkie-Talkie and Brother Timothy (who called me high maintenance when he found out I wear eyeliner on the trail, but later came and apologized).
Even though I only paid to tent, it was heavily raining and everyone in the hostel insisted I sleep on the couch. Sweet deal!
Shelter: Mountain Harbour B&B
Miles today: 0.0
Miles from Springer: 391.8
Miles to Katahdin: 1793.5
