Hmm, What Do I Need?
I hiked 126.4 miles and climbed about 29,000 feet in the last seven days, averaging just over 18 mpd. I walked into Damascus tired, footsore, dirty, smelly, shaggy, and seriously behind on my calorie count. And yes, Tentman, I could use a frosty cold one.
Damascus is set up to take care of those kinds of problems. I ate, showered, ate more, slept on clean sheets, ate again, did the laundry, got a haircut, took Gus to the dog park for some fetch, and ate more. Then I lounged around with Northstar all afternoon. And then we ate dinner. But the Dollar General is still open…
Lesson Learned
One word of advice: small town barbershops in the south may not be best place for a Phoenix boy to get a haircut. Fortunately, I brought my favorite Alaska ball cap. Expect to see it in photos for a few weeks.
Batter Up!
Tomorrow I’ll start on Virginia’s 541.7 miles of trail. That’s 71 more miles than I’ve done so far, and about 25% of the entire AT. I’m guessing Virginia will take me five weeks, Lord willing, two more pairs of shoes, and a few more audiobooks.
Daily Stats:
- Start: Damascus (Mile 470.7)
- End: Damascus (Mile 470.7)
- Weather: A nice day to hike, and a nicer one not to.
- Earworm: Earworms don’t visit on zero days.
- Meditation: Rom 11:33
- Plant of the Day: The pricker bush Gus covered on his morning walk. LOL.
- Best Thing: Hamburgers. Plural.
- Worst Thing: Northstar accidentally tossing out my leftover pizza.
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