My First Zero Day, Leaving Damascus, Playing Catch up

I took my first zero day in Damascus VA. Atlas was getting off trail the next day and I figured after spending so much time together a day off waiting for him to get picked up would be nice. We went to the diner and a restaurant called Wicked Chicken that served some fantastic wings. Doggone and Steel Bridge headed out that day, the 8th, and we sat around relaxing. Later we got some pizzas and beers from a gas station while I tried to plan my next few days. I had one goal in mind and that was to catch back up to Doggone and Steel Bridge.

    The next day the hostel wanted me out because I wasn’t paying them any more so I left town just before noon. Atlas’s dad hadn’t arrived so we said goodbye and he wished me luck. I set out and hiked 16 miles out of town. Damascus, along with the AT has a bike trail called the creeper trail. I’d heard the climb out of town was rough and if you were looking for an easy day you could take the creeper and in the same miles not do any of the climbing. I’m something of a purist though and that felt like cheating so I did the climbs. They weren’t nearly as bad as they’d been made out to be. Maybe it was just that my legs were fresh but I felt like it was a pretty easy 16. 

    I could smell a camp fire about a quarter mile before I actually got to camp. The hikers sitting around the fire invited me to join and I did. There was an Alaskan student named Delorean and a metal head named Spruce Goose along with several other hikers who’s names I was never able to get. I spent the next few days bopping back and forth with the whole group.

    The next day I was feeling good and didn’t have anyone to hike with so I just threw on some music and walked till I got tired then stopped for lunch. I was feeling ambitious after the marathon and was trying to make it 23 miles to Old Orchard Shelter. This took me through the Grayson Highlands. 

    It was a hard, rainy day for the first 12 miles and I was hurting. I stopped at Thomas Knob Shelter to get out of the weather for a few minutes and met was a hiker named BC who had decided to just sit there for the whole day. I didn’t blame him, he seemed to be having a better day than I was at that point. Another hiker from the night before walked up shortly after and reassured me it was mostly down hill from there. BC gave me a hit of a very strong weed pen and I got moving again.

    Within a mile of the shelter I crossed the 500 mile point and just after that saw one of the famous Grayson Highlands wild ponies. The ponies were released into the Highlands years ago to keep the grass short and are such beautiful creatures. They’re known to try to lick the sweat off hikers as there’s no natural source of salt up there and as it approached me I backed away. I was feeling very good but the day still had a lot in store for me. 

    The Highlands are absolutely breathtaking. It was still raining lightly and the clouds blocked most of the views but the area itself is still stunning. High up and with many huge rocks it was like a garden of technical terrain and plant life. At one point you pass through a spot called Fatman Squeeze which is almost a cave with a narrow exit. It was nice hiking alone for something so striking.

    After passing through the squeeze the rain started in earnest again. Sometimes you’re hiking and it’s raining and it’s not so bad, other times it’s raining harder and it is bad, but sometimes the weather gets so bad it becomes funny. I had a smile on my face as the rain soaked through my jacket and shoes. I was laughing as it turned to hail the size of aquarium gravel and the wind picked up. The hail was pelting me and stinging every piece of exposed skin. My calves and face were stinging and I was expecting to have welts on my hands the next day. By this point I was heading down hill and running into a lot of day hikers who I’m sure we’re asking themselves what they’d gotten into but I just kept trekking along. If you get the chance to hike the Grayson Highlands I highly recommend it.

    Coming down the mountain I ran into some teenagers who asked what the weather up there was like. I said something to the effect of “there’s a lot of it and it’s changing constantly”, maybe not the most helpful. After that I headed through a horse pasture called The Scales where a lot of weekend campers were hanging out and chatted with a few people before moving on. I didn’t make it to old orchard shelter. At some point I looked to my left and there was a camp site and looked at my map and saw I’d done 21 miles and figured that was plenty.

    The next day I slept till about 8:30 which might as well be 2 PM for hikers. I made it about 9 miles before stopping for lunch near hurricane mountain shelter where I met a hiker named karaoke. We discussed the reiki mushrooms that were growing abundantly in the area and I took a nice long lunch to read some of my book. Delorean and her crew rolled up just as I was leaving and we talked about the town of Marion that was coming up. They were planing to go to a hostel but I was still trying to catch Doggone and Steel Bridge.

    Most of the rest of the day was pretty uneventful and I camped near a spot marked on the map as campsite and stream. It was raining as I got there and the stream was flowing well so I didn’t get more water figuring I could just grab some in the morning before heading out. Big mistake. The next morning once the rain had stopped so had the stream. I was kicking myself for waking up at 3 AM and chugging the last of my water, but we all know how great water is at 3 AM so can you blame me? The next water source wasn’t for 5 miles.

    I tried to think of it as winter hiking. In the winter your goal is to move at a speed where you don’t sweat because once you stop the sweat freezes on you and cools you down dramatically. I walked slowly and deliberately for those 5 miles and drank probably half a gallon of water when I finally reached that river crossing. Delorean and friends walked up as I was downing another bottle and were like “Wow you must be really thirsty.” When I explained my situation they said it made sense. 

    By this time I was also running very low on food. The next shelter, Partnership Shelter is famous because it’s very near a welcome center that sits on a busy road and some places in Marion will deliver food there. At the welcome center Delorean’s crew were sitting with two older women. I explained my situation and debated if I would have enough to get to the next road, route 81 where there was a Mexican restaurant and a gas station. Two cars pulled up and Delorean and them got into one to go to the hostel and the two older women received a pizza delivery from the other. One of the women, Praiseful had ordered the largest calzone I’ve ever seen and offered me half which I readily accepted. 

    The welcome center was closed but there was a phone on the wall to order food from town. That day was may 12th, Mother’s Day. I hadn’t had phone service for days so I tried to call my mom from the phone but it seemed to not make calls out of town. Full of meat and cheese I carried on heading to VA Route 81 and still looking for Doggone and Steel Bridge. 

    Maybe an hour later I was high enough out of the valley I checked for service again. I was able to call my mom and got word from Doggone that they’d gotten to 81 and headed to the same hostel Delorean and them were at. I got to 81 and had a large meal at the Mexican restaurant then went to the gas station and bought about 4 days worth of peanuts and ramen for $81.

   I left the gas station in the dark and headed another mile and a half to a camp site doing a 19.5 mile day. I’d hiked 76 miles since leaving Damascus 4 days earlier and knew I would see my friends again when I woke up the next morning. I slept very well feeling like I’d accomplished something