Friday, 5/15 - (At the Virginia Inn at Marion, VA) Got up at 6:30; I quickly ran back over to the Magnusson for a final email check - none. So returned to the room and finished packing. At 7:30, Mark and I hit the Continental Breakfast again, this time with two other fellow hikers (who we had not seen before). At 8:10 Nat and Bill showed up, and we loaded our gear into the back of their SUV and headed off to Damascus. This time via I-81 S and U.S. 58, so a much less hair-raising ride than what we had faced coming down from Elk Garden two days ago! Surprisingly,there was very little vehicular or pedestrian traffic in town, and it was frankly hard to see where the "up to 25,000 people" estimate was coming from (I'm not seeing it). Nat and Bill stopped near the Montgomery B&B, and with the help of Blackbird (the sick hiker we assisted at Apple House), we got some photos under the Trail Days Banner. With that, Nat and Bill took off for another one of their hikes, with our grateful appreciation. We got permission from Suzie Montgomery to leave our packs on her front porch, which saved us a lot of aggravation for the day.
Once we transferred our gear over, Mark and I then headed down to the main vendor area, and did a full up and return sweep of all the booths. Lots of amazing stuff there, including a wide variety of ultralight sil-nyl tents - one of which I think I will almost certainly buy tomorrow (I'm deciding between two different models). We went through the area one more time, and then headed up to the "Tent City" area, where many hikers were tenting out. On the way, we passed some free food at the "Rock School" because of the very long lines there; as it turned out, they sold out there in about 15 minutes, so just as well that we didn't wait. At Tent City, there were still more vendors, including about a half a dozen who were offering various repair services for packs, hiking poles, boots, and so on.After checking out all the options, we headed back to the B&B, emptied our packs, and started back to Tent City.
I first stopped at the Mt. Rogers Outfitters to see if they had any replacement hip-belts and shoulder straps (they didn't), and also to price their lightest tents. But the guy adjusted my straps a bit, and it did seem to ride a bit easier when he was done. Then we headed back up to Tent City; Mark dropped off his pack (lift strap ripped out, shoulder strap going quickly too), while I dropped off my poles at the Leki tent. While Mark was checking out the other vendors, I also brought my pack to the "general gear repair" tent, where they further adjusted my various straps and re-sewed my hip belt, right there on the spot. I asked about my shoulder straps, but they felt that they were better left alone as opposed to having an abrasive line (from the thread) on my shoulders. One of the guys there worked at the Outdoor Center at Neel's Gap, and begged me for mypack as a "wall-hanger" for the store, if it made it to Maine - well, OK!
While at the vendor area, we saw a few of our fellow hikers that we knew, and still more as we headed back through the main vendor area, including many we hadn't seen in weeks. It was nice to catch up. However, we also learned of many people who were dropping out at Damascus, right after Trail Days. Heading back towards the B&B, we grabbed lunch at Quincey's. We tried Mark Barker's cell phone (he was coming down to meet us), but only got his voicemail. Then we split up for awhile - I headed back over and carefully reloaded my pack, making a few additional adjustments to the various straps. Mark checked out a few more in-town displays (don't have details). I also moved Mark's stuff a little more undercover, because the weather was looking a bit more threatening as the day wore on. Once I was happy that we were OK even if it rained hard, I headed back over to the library for a quick check of email and the blog. That only took a few minutes, and when I headed back to the B&B, Mark was reading a book and sunning himself. We tried to call Mark Barker's cell phone again, but only got his voicemail (again). Since it was getting on, we checked out the various programs being offered, and decided to hit a documentary on hiking the Continental Divide Trail (the CDT, running along the Rockies from the Mexican Border in NM to Glacier National Park in MT). This is of course one of the ones I am considering doing in some future year (or life). This was being shown at a Youth Ministry Center, and at least 100 hikers were in attendance. A very interesting film - and intimidating as hell - even given the propensity for the filmmakers to glamorize the difficulties, the CDT makes the AT look like a walk in the park. Hmmmmm....
Around 7:00 pm, Mark noted that I had turned my cell phone off (because no signal), so he took it outside, and got through to Mark Barker - they were already in Abingdon, at the Day's Inn, and had been there for about 30 minutes. So Mark W. had them come right away, and then came in to get me. Mark B. and Mel showed up about 25 minutes later, and we guided them to the B&B via cell phone. Despite the long drive, both seemed very happy to see us. After meeting and greetings were over, we loaded up our packs and returned to Abingdon, where Mark B. had brought some trail magic of his own - a grill and a cooler filled with ribs, hamburgers, hot dogs, beer, and soda. And so we had a very pleasant barbecue right there in the parking lot, running up til about 9:45 pm or so. Once we cleaned up, we headed back to our respective rooms, and hit the rack around 10:30 or so. Weather Channel showed a lot of thunderstorms all around southwest Virginia, but we were spared all day, and all night. Thanks much to Mark B. and Mel for their thoughtfulness - way above the call of duty. Another day of rest for Mark W.'s leg; he's feeling better.
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