Day 32 - Mar 24

I woke up at 715 feeling very refreshed. Over the years I have changed my sleeping style many time. The position that I wake up feeling most rested in now is when I can sleep on my back and sprawl out. Since I have a limited range of movement in my sleeping bag, it was nice to sleep how I would normally sleep at home.

We finished packing up by 830 so I started heating up some pans for breakfast. Another nice feature about the room we stayed in was that it had a kitchen. Instead of going out to a diner and spending however much money, we got a dozen eggs and a pack of sausages for 6 dollars... pretty good deal. After mixing that all together in a pan and throwing cheese in as well, we were properly full.

We left the inn around 1015 and started our walk through town. Just like in Hot Springs, the trail goes directly through main street. After walking the one mile in town, we crossed the road and started our ascent back into the mountains.

I think Walker and I are getting better at buying the right amount of food. Although our packs were heavier, we didn't struggle going uphill 1000 feet for the first 2 miles of the day. We actually made pretty good time throughout the entire day. In addition, the downpour that we were supposed to recieve today was actually just a light rain that came and went as the day progressed.

Nearing the evening the rain did pick up. At 5 we were walking past the lost mountain shelter and I recommended that instead of going to camp right then, we should cook under the roof of the shelter and avoid the rain. And that is what we did. By the time we had finished eating, the rain had basically stopped.

We walked one more mile to camp and set up. Within one minute of having everything done and inside our tents, the sky began to open up. It's currently not raining to hard, but we may recieve an inch of rain tonight so that would really be something. Although the rain should last into the morning, it looks like it should clear up in the afternoon, leading into a clear night tomorrow.

We walked from Damascus to a campsite past U.S. route 53, making it a 17 mile day. Tomorrow we are planning on doing a 20 mile day. We enter the grayson highlands tomorrow, climbing over whiterop and mt Roger's, the highest peak in Virginia.

So far, the trail and shelters have been very well maintained in Virginia. There are even privies and bear canisters that we could use if we were staying at a shelter. The trail seems to be well routed with plenty of switchbacks and blazes. A nice change from Tennessee, where I'm not sure they cared about the A.T. going through their state whatsoever.

Looking forward to tomorrow, I've heard alot of good things about the grayson highlands and am looking forward to seeing them myself.

We also ran into quicksand today. He is a fellow hiker and vlogger. Had a nice conversation with him and was cool to meet another semi famous hiker.

Goodnight,
Tyler M.