Note on post titles: they were getting cumbersome, so the title will now just be where I was at the start of the post and where I was at the end. The subheadings will be where I slept each night (and my current mileage on the trail).

5/16 Mile 534.1 – Partnership Shelter

Relaxed 12ish miles into Partnership shelter, then set up my tent under the lovely pines around 1:30PM, much earlier than usual. With camp made, Gwen and I hitched into Marion, VA for our resupply (thanks to Ashley and her adorable dog Scout!). We once again got some luxuries for the night, and Gwen experienced his first Walmart as well as getting to have a nice long talk with his parents.

I had my pick of the sites at Partnership Shelter

Supplies in hand, a nice man told us to hop in the bed of his pickup and drove us back up the mountain. We began a luxurious dinner with sandwiches from Ingles, wine, bread, and brie. The weather quickly closed in, and we transferred to the shelter’s covered picnic table as it started to storm heavily. We continued enjoying our wine and cheese, and the others in the shelter joined our chat. Someone already in their sleeping bag pointed out that watching us all through the front of the shelter was like watching a movie play out on a big screen, and they were really enjoying it. Legs showed up; I’ve seen her name in logbooks for weeks but hadn’t met her yet, we had a lovely chat. Eventually we finished our wine and the storm let up, and I made my way back to my tent, which had stayed entirely dry through the monsoon (pretty proud of my site selection, I had the storm in mind).

The good vibes of the night quickly came to an end however, as I woke up around midnight realizing I had a stomach flu (probably norovirus, which has been going around out here). That woke me up several more times throughout the night.

5/17 Mile 538.3 – Glade Mountain Road Campsite

Today was a hard one. I hung behind at Partnership Shelter to wait out Noro. Gwen moved on, which would be our first time hiking separately in a bit. He wished me luck and hit the trail, while I checked out the nearby visitor center to see if I could keep down a Powerade, and then a Sprite (only for a little while, unfortunately). I slept in my tent on and off throughout the day. All in all, this was a decent shelter to have Noro at, considering the nearby visitor center with a real bathroom and vending machine, and the good weather.

Toward the end of the day I was beginning to feel better. I still hadn’t successfully held down any food or liquids, but I had plenty with me, and decided to hike a little. Since I had slept all day, I figured hiking some would make it easier to sleep that night, and boy was that true. I started around 5:30 pm and hiked the hardest 4 miles of my life. I came upon a campsite just off a tiny road with nearby water and immediately plopped down for the night. I had zero energy remaining, I was totally drained after getting water and setting up my tent.

So glad this site was there

5/18 Mile 545.7 Trail Days!

I felt so much better when I woke up. Still weak from not eating the day before and with a dehydration headache, but the nausea and other symptoms were entirely gone and I was very ready to start eating again.

I wasn’t originally planning to get to trail days so early, but my only two decent options for hitching a ride were in 7 miles and 50 miles, and I wasn’t feeling confident about the second option. I figured I would head to Damascus and finish resting up there (being very careful in case I was still contagious, obviously). I eventually got to the highway interchange I was heading for near Atkins, got a gas station chicken sandwich and relaxed for a moment, then headed to the Southbound ramp of I80 and stuck my thumb out. Within 5 minutes I was riding with a great guy named Cecil. The first thing I noticed when I got in the car was his Embry Riddle coffee mug, and I asked if he flew. He did, and his son did as well! We spent the whole 40 minutes to Damascus talking airplanes and flying, it was great. He’s lucky enough to go flying with his son nearly every day while his son is home for the summer from Riddle, which I think is amazing.

Being in Damascus for the second time a week or so later was a strange feeling. Very different atmosphere this time, as the town of 600 was in the process of becoming a town of 20,000. Cecil dropped me off in the park, and I made my way to Tent City and set up. After taking a nice nap and having my laundry done by the free laundry service operated by a local church, I almost immediately started to see old friends. First Pyro and Nick; lovely to see them for the first time since Standing Bear. Then Travis and I found each other and started catching up as Feral Goat, Olivia (now Protractor), Josh (now Doo Doo Brown) and Firefly made their way into town for the free 7:30 fried chicken dinner. It was incredible to see everyone again, it truly felt like being reunited with friends I hadn’t seen in years. And the chicken was great too!

After dinner, we hung around chatting for a while, then made our way into the woods to join the party for a bit. Tent City consists of the field area, which is a bit quieter, and the woods, which becomes party central at night. Particularly the part of the woods where a group of thru-hikers and former thru-hikers called Riff Raff sets up. We ventured in; it really is structured like a city, with streets between the many branching rows of tents. The Riff Raff area has a massive bonfire (usually burning logs 2-3 feet in diameter) and a dance floor with a massive tarp roof. We joined the party for a while (which was great, when we were there it was very mid-2000s dance music), then eventually made our way back out to our tents in the quieter field area for some much-needed rest.

Bonfire in Riff Raff’s area!

5/19–5/20 Mile 545.7 More Trail Days!

I stayed at Trail Days until Sunday morning. There were constant, wonderful reunions with so many people I’ve known from every part of the trail. People shuttled back or forward for it, or walked straight into Damascus. Gwen, Double H, Teabag, Medic T, Aaron, and others showed up on Friday; they had gone 45 miles further than me, to Bland. I was going to have some catching up to do. I had done some more sleeping before they got there Friday, but got a new wave of energy when they showed up that afternoon and set up near me. We had our own little group in Tent City.

During the daytimes, various groups of us made the long trek from Tent City back to the main festival area several times, where there were vendor booths, free food at times, fair food, concerts, a gear auction, so many gear raffles*, and the “main event,” Saturday’s hiker parade. The nights involved things such as the famous drum circle around a massive fire in the woods, an amazing concert Friday night that a large group of us went to together, and just general joyous revelry. I’m really glad I chose not to miss this. It’ll be nice to come back in the future, but attending Trail Days as a current thru hiker is a unique experience.

*Side note: Olivia (now Protractor) won the grand prize in Outdoor magazine’s gear raffle! Hundreds of dollars of gear, including a pack, trekking poles, and lots of other good stuff. She just had to figure out how to get it home, which was a little bit of a struggle on short notice.

During an afternoon concert; there was live music most of the weekend
Tent City begins to fill in. The woods had at least as many tents as the field, if not more
A little taste of the woods portion of Tent City. There were many, many “streets” like this, and this was Friday before it had fully filled in.
Was amazing to have so many amazing folks I’ve hiked with all in the same place. Little hangouts like this were one of the best things about Trail Days. Clockwise starting after Gwen: Coyote, Double H, Banana, Firefly, Billy Bob, Sprout, Teabag, Medic T
Billy Bob, Gwen, and Teabag in our spot in Tent City
Killer concert. Celtic-Bluegrass-Punk? The Tan and Sober Gentlemen were so good, we were all having a fantastic time. Afterwards, Double H and I ventured back into the woods to check out the drum circle. I got to see Britches for the first time since before the Smokies!
The parade begins!
The parade contains current thru hikers at the rear, and each former year is marked by a sign. Former thru hikers stand with others from their “class,” with those who hiked longest ago leading the parade. The person I saw who hiked the longest ago finished in 1971!
It’s tradition for the townsfolk to spray the hikers with water guns during the parade (because we’re dirty). The little bit of rain we got toward the end just helped with that! Some people sprayed us with hoses instead; Chilidog brought soap with him and essentially took a full shower during the parade.
Post-parade speech in the park
Post-dinner Saturday night with Firefly, Doo Doo Brown, Protractor, and Spices. So good to catch up with folks who I’ve missed a ton over the past few weeks, and to meet the new friends they’ve made along the way as well! The diner got a new walk-in and we were some of the first thru-hikers to sign it!