Saturday, June 6 8:58 pm 0.0 miles
Damascus, VA 471.0
Weather: Warm and sunny
Hostel: Broken Fiddle
Shops: Mt Rogers Outfitters, Adventure Damascus, Food City resupply
Food: Gas station breakfast, Pizza Plus lunch, Wicked Chicken dinner
My Condition: It was AWESOME to see mom, Andy, Bear, and Huxley. I hope they weren’t bored out of their minds. I was so focused on the nitty gritty to get ready for the trail stuff – food resupply, gear replacement and repair, packing – that I didn’t feel I got to visit with them as much as I’d have liked, and vice versa. Visit went too fast, although we’ll still get to do some hiking in the Grayson Highlands the day after tomorrow. I sent my Lightheart gear rain jacket and old Salomon Triple Crown shoes, stinking and riddled with holes, back home with them. I hope that they found the trip worthwhile rather than boring and uncomfortable, especially since they were sleeping in the car with the pups. I opened up my June 6 letter from Kelsey, and teared up reading it. I am so lucky to have such amazing friends and family. I was reminded of the ugly fact that no good deed goes unpunished, however. I lent Pops my iphone charging (USB → lightning) cable the night of June 4. His phone was dead and his cable was no good – we tested different combinations and determined his cable was the problem. Sadly, he returned his dud cable to me and kept my good cable. Guess I should’ve checked, but a shame. I hate being taken advantage of. Hope it was an honest mistake!
Post Trail Analysis
The Lightheart Gear rain jacket got me through some of the wettest sections of the trail, but ultimately I wanted more durability and more breathability so I swapped back to my Arcteryx. The lady who runs the company couldn’t be nicer and I respect her company, but I found that some combination of user error and the rigors of the trail led to the rain pants getting completely trashed beyond repair, and the jacket worn down in spots. I switched to a new pair of the Triple Crowns, which were a great shoe that I was quite happy with, but ultimately I swapped to a different brand that was both easier to find and much more padded as my feet became more tender. I really enjoyed my conversation with Pops at the shelter a couple nights previous, and like to think that he didn’t take my cable maliciously. I grabbed a new one, so all was well with the world. As per my usual routine, I got my bag packed up so I could roll out early in the morning. As I was putting the finishing touches on this, one of the other hiker’s dogs wandered past, out of the room and over towards the door. I didn’t notice it until much later, but it became abundantly clear that the dog had had a fecal emergency which did not get resolved. His person was one of a couple people fast asleep in the next room and I wasn’t entirely sure which one it was, so I cleaned up the mess myself and eventually let the right guy know when he wandered past to use the bathroom himself. Having a dog myself, it’s not a big deal to clean up a mess. I’m a big believer in the see a problem, fix a problem philosophy. Hiking with a dog has its own set of very real challenges, but I’d like to think that if I were out there with Bear that hopefully my fellow hikers would show me that same kind of kindness should a similar situation have happened. This ended up being the last that I’d see mom and Andy, and the dogs, until after the trail. COVID parking closures made a meet up at the Greyson Highlands too difficult. Glad they were able to make the trip up, that I was able to see and spend some time with them, and that they still got to see the ponies on their own schedule. Really didn’t want them to miss out on that incredible experience! They mean the world to me, and I’m lucky to have them!
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