Day 70: Headed to Trail Days!

The Wait

Today was a day of excitement. I was headed to Trail Days. I once again woke up early and dinked around on my phone waiting for the 8:00 breakfast. Duck woke up ten minutes before it was served. It was another cheesy potato casserole, but with ham, and waffles and a hot mixed berry puree to go on top. It was, once again, another great meal. The one know-it-all hiker was monologing again, so I left. Quickly. 

You can’t comprehend how big this toilet was. I had to share a picture since it embodied the title of throne.

Check out wasn’t until 11:00, so I laid about reading. I finished the last book of this one series and had teared up. Books are so good. I then decided to pack and move my stuff outside. Duck was right behind me. 

On the Road

Bunny, the person who was shuttling us, was coming at 1:30. We hung out outside while the intense sun burned my skin. I did blog stuff, as per usual. I paid for my stay and ate lunch. Bunny showed up and we got our stuff placed in the car. I took a picture of the license plate and immediately sent it to my dad. You got to stay safe some way. We then headed out. Duck was excited to be on the interstate because of how it feels to be going so fast. Bunny pointed out a cyber trunk and we immediately lost our shit. I honestly thought they weren’t on the road yet. We never did catch up to it to take a picture. It was a moment of excitement though. 

We chatted the entire way to Marion where we were picking up another hiker. The time went by quickly and as we got into the town, I felt a weird feeling wash over me. Marion was 200 miles ago and I was hiking with a completely different crew back then. I didn’t think I’d be back. We stopped at the Walmart to pick up the hiker and I went inside to grab some more contact solution and DudeWipes. The others went to the bathroom and I wish I had used it before we set out. A hiker named Cool Breeze had joined us and was welcomed with a conversation about bowel movements. Do you know how hard it is when you’re used to peeing whenever and wherever, to be stuck in a car? I got lucky this time.

Back in Damascus

Pretty soon, we were back in Damascus. It wasn’t as crazy as I’d thought it be. Apparently, that’s for tomorrow. We found a parking spot near tent city and I walked up to the booth. A lady and her son flagged us down and gave us a meal ticket for tonight. Yay! Free dinner! At the booth, I grabbed the festival guide and decided to wait on getting a tent city wristband until tomorrow. I was staying someplace else.

I left to head to the house and met the person who had allowed me into their home. I wasn’t there long though. There were a few reasons I didn’t stay, but already I felt distant from all the activities (for good and for bad). I wanted to be with friends and feel like an actual thru-hiker. I texted Duck and, after I got a wristband, showed me where she was camped. I set up next to her and marveled that a good chunk of tents were Durston tents. We then headed to dinner. The nearby church was providing food. The menu for the night was fried chicken, mac n cheese, and dessert. The line was wrapped around the large building. The food was good and we sat with hikers of previous years. We hung around until we were told to leave so the next group could come in.

Queue the Early Partying

We were immediately directed from a previous thru-hiker to go into the woods – a.k.a, the party zone. I found it funny that everyone said  ‘into the woods’. Almost like the fae were there and ready to snatch drunken hikers. In the woods, there were tents everywhere and blinking lights leading the way. Fires were everywhere and free alcohol and food as far as the eye could see.

I was starting to get overwhelmed since I didn’t know anybody. Another thru-hiker called Fingies that I had just met, walked back with me to our respective tents. I did the usual bedtime routine and read for a few hours. During that time, I heard, “I do have religious trauma! I do have religious trauma! I went to Catholic school!” This came from a drunk lady nearby who was yelling this. I also later heard, “Can I get an ooooooohhhhh yeeeeeeaaaaaaah?” The entire field of tenters responded, “Ooooooohhhhh yeeeeeeeaaaaaah!” It was a back and forth event for a while. I later put in the ear plugs (which was very nessisary) and was able to go to bed.

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Comments 5

  • thetentman : Jun 8th

    Nice post.

    Read this – ‘ No Horses, No Parents, No Bedtime’ by Tucker Atwood on Amazon.

    A fast, funny, good writing thru-hiker.

    Cheers.

    Reply
    • Steven : Jun 8th

      You go girl. I’m rooting for you. So wish I had done something like what you are doing, when I was a young man. God Speed.

      Reply
  • John Tercius Rutkowski : Jun 8th

    You write some funny sh*t. I know most of it is true, but it’s still funny.

    Carry on!

    Reply
  • Roni : Jun 9th

    How funny, this year I’ve been following both you and Cool Brease and you met him!!

    I’m glad you are settling back into it!

    Reply
    • Melinda Way : Jun 9th

      Morgan, I’m really proud of you for soldiering on! Happy to read about stretching the confines of your comfort zone.

      Reply

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