Damascus, VA to Erwin, TN

Back on the trail until Springer, we've already had some highlights to share on the stretch between Damascus, VA and Erwin, TN.

Bluebird walked into three bear cubs surrounding her without their mother around on the first day out of Damascus, while we were hiking opposite of each other using the car.

After that hike Buster was waiting for Bluebird to show up back in Damascus when a B&B owner asked him to come eat lunch with them (at 2:30). He had a cold hamburger that was probably sitting around for a while that ended up making him sick that night on our way up to a wedding in Winchester, VA.

After the wedding we returned to the trail thanks to a shuttle from Bluebird's Aunt Cynthia and Uncle Jack and a stay at her Grandparents in North Carolina (Thank you all).

The first day back with no stopping until the end of the trail, we wound up in a shelter with a big loud church group and were visited by a pack of racoons that dragged off one of the campers backpacks. We had nothing taken by the racoons.

The next day we hiked around Watuga Lake and over the Watuga Lake Dam built by the TVA in the 1940's to provide electricity, jobs and recreation to the area, but also displacing those living in the valley. We also hiked to Laurel Falls in a rainstorm that cleared up quickly for our walk to the Kincora Hiker Hostel.
We agree that this has got to be the best hostel on the trail that we've run into yet. For a suggested donation of $4 you have a bunk, access to the kitchen, laundry, shower, and a ride to town to pick up supplies if needed. And the most valuable aspect of the stay was getting to talk with Bob Peoples the operator of Kincora, Director of the trail crew that maintains over 100 miles of the AT in TN and on the TN/NC boder, and board member of ALDHA, the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association.

On his recommendation we did 15 miles the next day to The Mountaineer shelter built in 2006 by thru-hikers and other volunteers during "Hardcore" a 1.5 day volunteer trail work day following Trail Days in Damascus. This was a great shelter with two stories and a loft that was added later. Here Buster was the lone male with a group of 11 female hikers from all over the country. They were a lot of fun around camp and were very nice to share their beans and rice dinner with us.

The next day (Summer Solstice) there was a long 5.5 mile climb up Hump Mountain with the last mile being bald on top. 2/3 of the way up we were passed by two section hikers who complained to us about all the rocks. We were shocked that on a 5.5 mile uphill climb we would meet someone coming down complaining to us about the trail. At the end of the day after almost 5,000 feet of climbing over the course of the day we were happy to stop at Overmountain Shelter, a barn converted to house 20 or so hikers a night.

Getting an early start out of Overmountain Shelter around 7:00 am we hiked 22 or so miles over Roan Mountain and the Roan Highlands past the highest shelter on the trail (close to 6,000 feet and said to be the coldest shelter). It was our longest day since returning to the trail and the steeper slopes with rocks and roots had reminded us of hiking through Maine.

Today we've come into Erwin just in time to pick up our box of food from the Post Office and will be heading out of town after we find some lunch to Uncle Johnny's Hostel where we'll get a much needed shower.

We hope everyone is well at home and having a great summer.

Buster & Bluebird

Atkins, VA to Damascus, VA

Buster and Bluebird are back on trail! We resumed our hike on Rt. 42 near Ceres, VA on June 6th (a symbolic date by chance because that's when we started our hike up Katahdin last year). We already had a lot of our geat ready from last year. But as an early wedding present we got a Squal II Tarptent. That was a REALLY nice addition to our gear.

We started out with a couple of 17-mile days. Even though we were both sore we pushed on. It's hard to describe the energy we have right now to get this hike done. Sometimes I feel like I'm running on adrenaline. Each day we passed about 20 northbounders! I think we are somewhat of an anomily to them- looking experienced and moving fast... yet going the other direction.

The third day out we did 20 miles. But towards the end of the day after a large climb up to the 5,000 ft. range where the Grayson Highlands are, Garrett's sore calf muscle was getting much more severe. We had to take the last three miles really slow since we was mostly carryig himself with his arms and poles. This scared both of us a lot. We decided that the best thing to do would be to go to Damascus to let it rest for a couple days (thinking it was a pulled muscle).

The next morning we hiked down from Wise Shelter on a horse trail to the Grayson Highlands State Park and hitched a ride out. Damascus was only 33 trail miles away so we thought it wouldn't be hard to get a ride there. FOUR hitches and three hours later we got to Damascus! It was quite an adventure. It felt odd for us to be in Damascus, such an iconic little trail town, and not have hiked in and to also have a car there in the parking lot (we had left a car there when my dad shuttled us up to Ceres so we can come up to Winchester this weekend for a wedding). We met a lot of northbounders at The Place (Damascus' popular hiker hostel). The two days of rest helped Buster out a lot so we decided to head back to the Highlands on Monday. Getting back to where we left the trail was about as easy as getting to Damascus was. A shuttle from one of the outfitters would cost about $50 and an hour of hitching produced no hits. Eventually we ran into Bag O' Tricks, a famous bestoer of trail magic all up and down the trail with his buddies in Billville. We had seen him at the ALDHA Gathering and he very kindly offered to take us back up to the trail (about an hour's drive on curvy Rt. 58). He told us all kinds of great stories about trail legends and people. Thank you so much, Tricks!   

Back on the trail, Buster's leg was still bothering him. We slowed our pace and only did 7 miles across the Grayson Highlands. This section was incredibly beautiful. It reminded us of the Whites, specifically Franconia Ridge, with wide open treeless ridges and plently of rocks. BUT there were wild ponies too! Dozens of them would come right up to you and lick your hands and even give you a little kiss. It was great fun.

We're now back in Damascus after a couple more days of hiking. Buster think's his calf/knee pain is caused by cramps that come and go. We're hopeful this is all it is and that it will end soon!

We'll leave the lovely state of Virginia tomorrow and do a short bit in Tennessee before heading up to Winchester for the weekend. Virginia was a great state, but we are very ready to be moving on.

happy trails to all!
Bluebird (and Buster)

Going back to the AT!

It's hot and muggy in New York, but our plans are swiftly moving us back to the hotter south where another 550 miles of our beloved trail await our steps.

Buster and I left our southbound thru-hike last October when my own knee pain and a complication with his foot led us to make the decision to stop for the season. It was heartbreaking in every sense of the word for months afterward as I thought constantly about the trail we had left. We moved on with our life, though. I moved up to New York after the first of the year to be closer to where Buster lives and in late January we decided to get engaged! We picked an early August date of this year for the wedding.

The only thing we could think more appropriate to do before the wedding was to finish the trail that had brought us together. So now we have now decided to hike from Atkins, VA to Springer Mt between June 5th and mid July! Everyday we get more and more excited about getting back out there and resuming the thru-hiker's life that seemed second nature last summer and fall. Ramen cooked over the little can stove will never have tasted so good.

Until then, we look forward to continuing our journey and our story with all of you!

Buster and Bluebird.