We were leaving Black Bear Resort, where we stayed to dry out our gear, and headed for Watauga Lake. Right down the trail was Laurel Falls, which was very pretty! It was the biggest waterfall we've seen so far. The trail down was steep and all rocks, which was pretty treacherous at times. The trail around there wasn't very well marked and we got confused a few times. We found a nice creek area and Gary threw some sticks for Roofus who really enjoyed a good swim. We crossed lots of footbridges along the streams and began our climb up to Pond Flats. We'd been spoiled for a few days with nice, gradual terrain so this climb felt exceptionally long. Let me preface by saying that the day before this, I'd tripped and fallen along the trail into sort of a lunge type position. I (Kaci) had joked with Cody that I thought I'd pulled a butt muscle because it hurt and felt like it was about to cramp the rest of the day. By the end of this climb, I knew something was wrong. Climbing down this mountain after passing Pond Flats my hip started hurting really bad. My pace had slowed dramatically, about twice as slow and normal. I hobbled my way down the trail, very frustrated, very worried and pretty angry that I was dealing with more physical issues and limitations. We made it to Watauga Lake and found a detour because part of the trail was underwater for
flooding. We ran into Mama Goose (Warrior Hiker Sharon) and our friend from the trail Neema. Mama Goose looked at my hip and knew just what it was by the way I was walking. It turned out that when I had fallen the day before I'd pulled/had micro-tears in my Gluteus Medius (yes, that means I pulled my butt!) Mama Goose said since I'd continued hiking on it, it caused my Busra (a sac that is in our hips...and are in other joints too) had become irritated and inflamed. Exactly what any hiker is really thrilled to deal with....joking. Mama Goose said, "No more hiking!!" When we found our campsite that night I called my parents, who were luckily in the area hiking, to come get me. Of course they had no signal so I couldn't get ahold of them until the next morning. They drove down (about an hour away), picked me up and we headed for Damascus where I spent 2 days resting (and going insane!!) waiting for Cody and Gary to arrive.
Tuesday May 14th
By Cody
Kaci's parents made it Watauga Lake around 1230 today We were lucky Rick and Lola were in the area or we would have had to get a hotel in Hampton for a few days. Hampton isn't the town to be stuck in either, with only Mickey D's in sight. Gary and I left camp around 100pm and hiked out with Warrior Hiker Jesse and his dog Cooper, who had recently returned to the trail because he had left the trail due to an illness. We started out and crossed Watauga Dam and made our way up to the ridge line. The terrain wasn't to bad, but we had a lot more uphill climbs then I was expecting. I prefer hiking ridge lines because the up hills and down hills are less dramatic. There are more changes, but I'd rather have 10 little hills than 1 massive climb. So we walked the ridge most of the day and had nice views of Watauga Lake from 3000ft up. For those reading this from Southern Indiana, just picture Lake Monroe! We put in about 13 miles total and stopped for the night. Our chosen campsite was pretty crowded so Gary and I mashed down some tall weeds and plants and camped away from the main group.
Wednesday May 15
I got my trail name today! Yesterday while we were stopped getting water, I had mentioned during introductions that I didn't have a trail name yet ( Sorry to Triton if you're reading this, but Sergeant Magic Johnson didn't stick!) I got some pretty weird looks and they said that I needed a trail name before Trail Days. Jesse came up with Nonstick because things don't really seem to bother me and just bounce off. I thought it was appropriate it so it stayed! Anyway, we set out fairly early in hopes of having a high mileage day. We went pretty fast for awhile and put in around 8 miles by 1. We came across a hiker group that calls themselves Riff Raff. They had set up a camp for 3 days in a farmers field in preparation for Trail Days. We stopped for about 2 hours to relax and enjoy a cold adult beverage. It was a beautiful day for the 2nd day in a row so we tried to soak in some sun. Gary and I took off about 4pm and headed back north. We knocked out another 6 miles relatively quickly, and still felt good, so we chose to try to go another 8 before dark to the next shelter. We beat feet for a few more hours and got to Abingdon Shelter. It had just gotten dark and Gary was feeling like putting in his biggest day so far. I felt good so I agreed to hike on into the night for the Tennessee/Virginia state line. It was another 7 miles or so, on very favorable terrain, so we made good time. I wouldn't want to night hike everyday, but I did enjoy it. It's cooler out and it's just really relaxed. We made it to the border about 1230am and it was awesome! It felt really good to put another state behind us. There was a campsite right by the sign, so we set up camp right there. We ended up hiking almost 26 miles in about 14.5 hours, making it he longest day for both of us. Other than some tired feet, we felt pretty good!
Thursday May 16th
With only 3.5 miles to go till we get to Damascus for Trail Days, we got up and around fairly early by our standards and left camp about 1030. We were excited for a couple down days and I was ready to see Kaci again! We did the 3.5 miles in 59 minutes on very easy terrain. We got into town while all the vendors were setting up and met up with Kaci and her folks at the Old Mill where they had agreed to let all the Warrior Hikers camp. Tent City is where all the hikers camp for Trail Days, which is notorious for a raucous 3 day party. The Old Mill is private, which should allow for a good night sleep. We made camp by 2 creeks and spent the rest of the day relaxing....with some rain of course.
Thursday May 16th-Tuesday May 21st
Damascus, VA: Trail Days!
A little background on Trail Days. Trail Days has been going on for 27 years and is the annual gathering of the current years thru hiking class and former thru hikers getting back together for a reunion. Damascus is a town of 910 but welcomes in around 20,000 people a year for the 3 day festival. It is mainly a reunion/ party and almost all hikers on the AT try to get to town, no matter where they are on the trail.
As a group, we spent about 5 full days in Damascus, which was too long. We were supposed to leave on Monday, but of course, rain. It was a complete washout so we stayed till Tuesday. Since we were there 5 days, I will just hit some of the highlights and unfortunately, there were some lowlights.
We found out a friend most of us had met along the way named Biscuit had died. He was the guy Mama Goose and Jesse had helped in the Smokies when he tore up his knee. I had talked to him about a week before at Black Bear Resort and he had been asking about the Warrior Hikers, those two in particular. Everybody has said he loved our group and always tried to meet up with us when he could. He passed away at a couples house in town, but we haven't heard a cause of death. There wasn't drugs or foul play involved, be we just haven't heard yet. Mama Goose has talked to his mom and the couple he was with and has possession of his beloved Notre Dame hat he wore everyday. We are going to make sure it makes it all the way to Mt. Katahdin in Maine before being returned to his mom. His mom hiked the AT last year with a broken pelvis and he was deadset on making in this year, so in a way, he will be making it all the way.
The last lowlight came from the annual hiker parade. It takes place on the second day of the festival and most of the hikers walk in it. Everybody in the parade and watching has squirt guns and everybody is supposed to have a great time and soak people and whatnot. Some of you reading this probably heard about the incident on the news las week. An elderly man supposedly had a stroke and drove his car into a huge crowd of hikers right after it started. Around 50 or 60 people were injured with 6 being critical. One girl was even trapped under the car and a bunch of people literally picked it up off the ground to get her out. There were 5 Medevac helicopters called in and it was pretty scary seeing them all flying around. Kaci and I weren't walking in the parade because her hip was hurting, so we didn't actually see the incident. As soon as we got word of what happened I tried to find all the Warrior Hikers and make sure everybody was okay. It took about a good 30 minutes for us to track everybody down because they had gotten split up, so it was a nerve wracking half hour just hoping our group was okay. Eventually we found all and they were okay. A few of them were only about 10 feet away from the crash and watched it happen, so they were pretty shook up. All the hikers were clearly pretty upset because a lot of us know each other, at least in passing, and nobody really knew who was hurt or how bad. We came to realize that we barely know anybody's real name, just their trail name, so it would probably be awhile till we could find out. About 2 hours later the town held a town hall meeting and word trickled out that everyone lived and would be okay. You could probably hear the collective sigh of relief from everyone. That was not a good day overall.
Okay, no more of the sad stuff, on to some of the highlights:
Friday evening Granite Gear, the sponsor of Warrior Hike's back packs hosted us for an after hours party and fed us ribs, polish sausage, salad. It was delicious of course and we devoured it like we always do. They also had two coolers full of Devils Backbone brewery beer. The brewery wanted to help out our group so they graciously donated us beer! It was excellent beer and I highly recommend it! I'm pretty sure it's based out of northern Tennessee or southern Virginia, so keep an eye out. We also met AWOL, author of one of the AT thru hiking guides and Tin Man, who does pocket profile maps and mileage markers for us. It was neat to talk to some of the guys who put together the books that help us out everyday. Someone eventually broke out the jar of moonshine and it was tough. I love watching the faces of everyone who takes a swig, because that stuff is ssstttrrrooonnggg! It was a fun night, having all the Warrior Hikers plus Sean, the founder and leader of Warrior Hike who put it all together for us, and all the friends of the group, together in one spot for the first time since basically the beginning. We all had a blast that night, some more so then others! After we left Granite Gear, we went into the woods to the drum circle. Here lies a massive fire pit in the woods that the hikers use and have a huge bonfire. All the hikers gather around and play drums and dance and sing and just have a good time. Around the fire it was probably 15-20 people deep with people dancing around the fire. It's hard to explain but it was an awesome experience I never thought I'd be a part of. Just a bunch of people having a good time! We got back to the Mill where we were camping around midnight and called it a day.
Rick and Lola headed back to Indiana on Saturday ending their two week vacation. I think they were excited to sleep in their own bed, but that's about it! They headed out around and 11am to get home at a descent time. We also had to say bye to Dexter and Roofus as it was time to send them home as well. It was sad to see them off because I know they had a great time. Dexter did about 150 miles with us and Roofus did closer to 200. We were talking about getting them patches with their miles on them to sew onto a bandana they can wear to commemorate their time on the AT. Overall they did great and it was so much fun having them with us! It's a lot tougher having a dog to take care out here, just imagine hiking with a 4 year old for 3 weeks and you get the idea! My recommendation is, if you ever want to long distance hike with your dog, make sure both of you are mentally and physically prepared and go over all he different scenarios that could arise, and if you aren't absolutely positive you are ready, don't even try! And don't let anyone say little dogs can't hike, because Dexter proved they can!
The rest of our time in Damascus was spent relaxing and trying rest aching bodies. Overall we had a good time, although I think we were there a bit to long.
Tuesday May 21st
Finally leaving Damascus! After an overall good 5 days off, we are chomping at the bit to hike. I felt like the person who goes to a house party and stays waaaayyyy to long and overstays their welcome! Most of the hikers had left and we finally rolled out around noon and headed north. It was a hot and sticky afternoon as we made our way back into the hills of southern VA. Steve-O AKA Popeye returned to the hike after recovering from his appendectomy, so it was good having him back. About 8 of us were hiking together so we were trying to ease back into things. We went about 7 miles on the day and came across a really nice campsite near a creek an the Virginia Creeper Trail which is a rail-to-trail bike path. SteveO was hurting a bit as was Kaci, so we all stopped for the evening. It was a bummer having Kaci hurting again as we thought a week off would help her hip and knee. We stopped around 500pm and had dinner. It was a good idea to stop, no since in pushing people past their breaking point and hurting themselves worse. Around 8 the skies got dark and it started to storm. We all scurried for tents before it opened up. The storm was right on top of us with huge thunder and a steady strobe light of lightning. We were in a pretty safe spot, but with lightning like that, and only a nylon tent around you, it's hard to feel too safe. It stormed for a good two hours before finally letting up and we could finally get some good sleep!
Wednesday May 22nd
Woke up to some sunshine this morning and we had hopes of a nice day. Kaci and I decided to hike on the Creeper Trail for 8 miles because it is long and flat and has no climbs because it is an old railroad track. It links back up with the AT so we figured we'd hike on that to help Kaci out. Gary and Liz joined us and we took off around 11am. We put in about 4 miles in the sun and came across a nice cafe. We enjoyed a chili cheese dog, tater tots, and an ice cold Pepsi for lunch. I also had some birthday cake ice cream which was amazing! While eating the storm clouds blew up and we knew we had rain coming again. We decided to push our luck and head to meet the others. We did get rained on, but luckily we had a lot of tree cover and didn't get soaked. We met up with Mama Goose, SteveO and Kevin at the 8 mile mark SteveO was hurting pretty good so we went another mile or so to set up camp and wait for the storms to pass. We camped near and old train trestle which is a really cool backdrop to camp by. All told we saw 4 snakes today which is 4 to many if you ask me. One was dead, one was a baby, and the other two were big black snakes hanging on to the train trestle. We were eating dinner when the next rain came through. As of this writing (on May 23) we have had 15 days of rain over the 23 days this month! Going back further we have been rained on 19 of the last 30!! We all knew it would rain, but this is getting ridiculous!
No worries about the trail names!
ReplyDeleteI had a few days of sore gluts which is weird-- how does one explain that one's ass hurts?
You 2013 people are having a wet year, I'm sorry to hear. Still, you folks are on the trail going north-- so good for you! Happy trails.
Proud of all ot you! It has to be pretty demoralizing to have to fight the weather and the terrain. Keep making wise decisions, and he careful!
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