Day 48-49 – Line Dancing in Damascus

Stoker and I were on our own on the way out of Boots Off. Since we did the aquablazing while the boys of the tramily did not, we were shuttled to a road crossing 21 miles up the AT, leaving the boys behind to take two long days to hike to Damascus while for us it would be one longer day and one short one.

For some reason, my feet were absolutely aching during our relatively flat hike after the aqua blaze, so much that I took some of Stoker’s ibuprofen before we reached camp for the night. I suspected that sleeping in my hammock would help for the next day, but in the meantime I had an audiobook to keep me preoccupied and not worry about my feet too much.

The next morning, after a lovely and quiet night at camp and reading my book on my phone, Stoker and I only had 5 miles to hike down into town. We were undecided only if we would take a Nero or a hero in town, especially considering that the rest of the tramily was about a day behind us. Once we got into town, we got an update that the boys had gathered a crew at the last shelter, and that they would be completing the marathon into Damascus that night. Basically, there’s a shelter exactly a marathon distance from downtown Damascus, and it’s become a bit of a challenge for hikers to do the distance all in one day.

I was a little bummed to miss the event with the rest of the tramily, but I was more excited to be in town for the day. We enjoyed breakfast at the diner, toured around town, I sent a postcard out, and even more excitingly, I found a new button down shirt to buy from a cute little shop selling second hand clothes. My previous shirt had been destroyed by time and friction, and I had mercy killed it before it became unwearable, saving a piece to use as a rag with my cooking pot. A new shirt was very exciting indeed.

Even better than a new shirt was an excuse to wear it out on the town! The local distillery/brewery had a sign advertising line dancing in the evening! It’s been years since I went line dancing, and while I won’t claim to be any good, I think it’s an extremely fun activity. Stoker and I planned to revisit the brewery in the evening and invited some fellow hikers who would be in town later.

We toodled around town, getting town chores done, resupplying at the grocery store, and soaking up the sun with some ice cream in hand. Damascus is another cute town, and it was interesting to see it call itself “trail town USA” and then have a no camping ordinance in apparently the whole city. The outfitters in town also seemed to cater more to the bicyclists that would come through on the Virginia Creeper trail than the hikers of the AT. I suspect the townsfolk get hikered-out from the mass amounts of us that come through for Trail Days, and they certainly don’t want dirty stinky hikers tenting in their lovely riverside park.

Stoker and I enjoyed some tacos from the taco truck and a beer while we waited for line dancing to start, and in rolled our friends who were completing their marathon! We cheered and clapped for them, instigating some other patrons of the brewery to clap as well, although I’m not sure they knew what for. They all looked so tired, and they definitely earned their day off that they would be taking in town! It’s too bad they were too tired for line dancing, but it was good to see them and congratulate them on their accomplishment.

Finally, we line danced. It was seriously so much fun, and I highly recommend it as an activity if you’re ever bored and have a bar that offers line dancing lessons nearby.

The marathoners stayed the night at the Broken Fiddle in town, while Stoker and I ended up staying at The Place hostel hosted by the local Methodist Church for only $10 donation a night. We wanted to be well rested before our next 4 day stint between Damascus and Marion, where we would meet back up with the tramily (including Mr Cheese!) and take our own zero.

We will be back in Damascus in just a few weeks from now for trail days, which hopefully is fun and not an overcrowded noro-fest.