Day: |
023 |
Date: |
Sunday, 25 May 1986 |
Start: |
|
Finish: |
|
Daily
AT Miles: |
25.8 |
Daily Other Miles |
1.0 (around Damascus) |
Total
AT Miles: |
450.0 |
Total All Miles |
463.3 |
Weather: |
Cloudy, continual rain showers, mild. |
Accommodation: |
|
Nutrition: |
Breakfast: Muesli, health drink. Lunch:
Biscuits and peanut butter, Mars Bar. Dinner: Chicken slaw,
cheeseburger, chips, ice-cream. |
Aches: |
Occasional hip joint pain. |
Animals Seen: |
Grouse. |
People Seen: |
Five AT Thru-Hikers, eight overnight
hikers, many others. |
Pictures: |
Here |
GPS Track: |
|
Journal: |
Got up at 6am and left at 7:20am for the 26
mile walk into Damascus. It was gloomy and threatened rain. I told
Mark I would see him there. The Trail was relatively level and I
made good time along the ridge though the views weren’t up to
much. It began raining mid-morning but I pushed on in good spirits
and enjoyed listening to my Walkman. Because of the rain, I pushed
on to Abingdon Gap Shelter for lunch and arrived at 1pm leaving me
only 10 miles to go in the afternoon after 16 in the morning. After
lunch I walked down into Damascus on mostly gentle grades in
continuing showers and arrived in town at about 4:45pm. As I walked
down the main street, I met Stuart, another AT Thru-Hiker who was
about a day ahead of me and was now waiting for John to arrive so
they could team up. He didn’t think there was a motel in town so I
all but abandoned the idea and followed him to The Place, the
Methodist-run hostel for AT hikers and trans-continental
cyclists. I was a bit taken aback at how run-down it was and the
fact that there was a smoking drunk in the kitchen (who later turned
out to be relatively sober, a “professional” AT hiker aka
“Greyhound”, who had slurred speech). Another resident was Tim aka
“Marshmallow” who’d been there for two weeks while a stress fracture
mended. The hostel was dirty, run-down, and the beds were moth-eaten
pieces of foam runner on the floor. Not very wholesome but the guys
there seemed friendly enough and honest. Mark, whom I’d met
in Nolichucky, turned up by car having abandoned his Thru-Hike. So
there were a few despondent people there. I resigned myself to the
two nights and a day to be spent in The Place since tomorrow was
Memorial Day and the Post Office would be closed. I walked round
the town a bit, had a chicken dinner at a diner and later came back
for a cheeseburger to fill me up. I wasn’t sure when I’d get
breakfast tomorrow because the diner didn’t open until 10am. Back
at The Place I chatted with the other residents and did some
schedule planning before retiring about 10:40pm. |
|
ADVENTURE LIST
Round Ireland
(2016)
Hume & Hovell Walking Track
(2013)
Via Alpina
(2012)
Australian Alps Walking
Track (2011)
Land's End to John O'Groats
(2010)
Round Oz Bike Record Attempt
(2009)
Round Oz Bike Record Attempt
(2008)
Round Oz Bike Record Attempt
(2007)
Australia Tip to Top MTB
(2006)
Adelaide to Darwin MTB
(2005)
Sydney to Melbourne MTB
(2004)
Three Peaks Race
(2004)
Appalachian Trail
(1986)
Alpine Track
(1983)
|