“My Journey Is My Destination...” continued
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Day 131 15.8 miles Damascus, VA
I am so excited to get to Damascus. I woke up at 6:15, hiking in the dark by 6:45. I hit the Creeper Trail. It would have been nice to follow the trail all the way into town, but the AT
had a few more mountains for me to climb.
I walked into town about noon. I’ve been coming up here since I was a kid with my dad. The outfitter was closed on Sunday. I wanted to stay at Dave’s Place. Dave owns the Outfitter also. When I was ten Dave thru hiked the AT. He was bigger than life to me then.
I walked over to the burrito spot for some lunch. While I was there a guy walked up and asked, “need a room." “Yep,” I said. He got me a key to Dave’s Place… Score! This guy was 'The Pirate,' a mainstay of the Appalachian Trail. He has hiked it many times and I was happy to meet him. He’s a good guy and crazy in a good way.
As I left lunch I saw Dave. We stood at front of the Hostel and swapped stories for two hours. Man, that
made my day!
I could finally relate and share stories with my childhood hero. Talking to him was fitting. With the way this trip has gone, everything just
works out.
I stopped over at “The Place”, a legendary hostel of the AT. I met two girls, Lisa and Rowan, who were riding their bicycles from Providence,
RI to Austin, TX.
“That’s cool” I thought. We talked stories of travel. They are on a shoestring budget, raising money as being puppet performers, and
really being dependent on others for help.
Traveling for the sake of traveling, It’s pretty cool.
