4/30/01
A zero day in Damascus, VA is a fun experience! After yesterday's marathon 26 miler I was pooped and slept in until 8:30. Two Trax, Shambola, Tea Tree, Cusi, Samurai and I went to breakfast and I had a power breakfast. Then it was a trip to the laundromat followed by a trip to the post office and the outfitter for fuel. I was happy with myself for resisting the temptation to buy anything while there (there's a marmot summer bag I was eyeing that only weighs 14 oz.) After errands and chores I relaxed at "The Place" during the afternoon. A large group of us went to dinner at Quincy's, an Italian eatery. From there the party moved to Dot's Inn and restaurant, then to the riverside bridge. Suffice it to say, it was a late evening with tons of fun and camaraderie with the thru-hiker group. Damascus is known as the friendliest trail town on the whole AT and is the site of Trail Days which I plan to come back to on May 18 and 19 with Creeper. About that bear last night...I knew from his curious gestures that he would visit Abingdon shelter during the night last night, which he did with vigor. From the thru-hiker stories I heard today, the bear apparently circled the shelter until dark. Then around 3 a.m. he came into camp, chewed up Fiddler and Joe's water bag, and chewed the bite tube on Sneetch's water bag which had lemonade flavor on it. Sneetch's bag was hanging from the front of the shelter so the bear actually closed to within a couple feet of the sleeping hikers. I'm glad I was safely in the hiker hostel in Damascus. Trail towns are like a magnet for thru-hikers and Damascus is the best one yet I've spent time at. Great zero mile day.
