Hello friends! 

This post is coming to you from Damascus, VA. I’ve spent the last two days here at the annual Trail Days festival. It’s a huge celebration of former thru-hikers, aspiring thru-hikers, and all sorts of other A.T. enthusiasts. There’s been music, entertainment, a vendor village, free food, and even a thru-hiker parade through town. Good times for all!!

I crossed the Tennessee/Virginia state line on Friday, which makes it three states under my belt thus far. Virginia is by far the longest state on the trail, so I won’t be seeing another state line for at least a month. It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve had a chance to post anything, so I’ll do my best to share the most memorable moments.

CARLOS EL BADIDO

While staying at Uncle Johnny’s hostel in Erwin, TN we were treated to a little complimentary entertainment by the boys in blue. To make a long story short-ish, a local gentlemen named Carlos showed up at the hostel one afternoon with a heavily intoxicated hiker. Apparently the two had linked up somehow a few days earlier, and had been cruising around the town on some sort of wild bender ever since. They had returned to the hostel to retrieve the belongings of the spun-out hiker, who had checked into the hostel 4 days earlier, before wandering off with Carlos. Somewhere in the process of packing up the hikers belongings, we all heard yelling coming from the driveway of the hostel. We spun around quickly to see Carlos held at gunpoint by an Erwin police officer. In Carlos’ hands were two trekking poles, which he had apparently picked up as the officer was approaching, in an effort to blend in. As fifteen or twenty of us thru-hikers watched in excitement from the front porch, the officer kept his gun pointed at Carlos and demanded that he get on the ground and don’t move until his backup arrived. It was at this point that the following exchange occurred: 

Officer: (holding Carlos at gunpoint) “God damnit Carlos, we been friends for too long, don’t make me do this!”

Carlos: “Well shoot me then damnit!”

Uncle Johnny: (hostel owner, walking up the front steps) “Entertainment is free here at Uncle Johnny’s!”

Four other police cars arrived shortly after, and detained both Carlos and the shit-faced hiker. It was at this time we learned that Carlos was being arrested for grand theft auto; it turns out that they had stolen the PT Cruiser that they had been whipping around town in for the past 3 days. It all made for a very exciting evening…

MURPHY THE A.T. PUP

Just outside of Erwin, I had the great pleasure of meeting Murphy, the now famous thru-hiking Australian Shepherd puppy. A story about a hiker finding the 8 week old puppy and deciding to carry her with him to Maine had recently gone viral on social media, and my mom sent me a link to the story, asking if I had met the dog and its owner yet. As it turns out the story on social media wasn’t completely true, but Murphy is stupid cute, and she is indeed being carried to Maine. 

GOOD FOOD AND GREAT COMPANY

My wonderful parents came up one Sunday evening to treat us to a night off the trail in a cabin near Roan Mountain, Tennessee. They rented an awesome little house on a river right near the trail, and brought up tons of beer, food, and games to play. They picked up a few friends and I from the trail around 2 PM and shuttled us down to the cabin. We feasted on pasta and homemade meatballs with sauce, chips and guacamole, lemon pound cake, and many a Fat Tires. We watched a couple of movies and played some Catch Phrase before enjoying a warm bed for the night. We had a big breakfast in the morning and got back on the trail around 10:00 AM. It was awesome to see my parents, and a treat to have a hearty meal and a bed for the night.

HIKING THE ROAN HIGHLANDS

The stretch of trail through the Roan Highlands was some of my favorite hiking on the trail so far. It crossed several wide open balds and offered dramatic views. We took our time crossing the balds, and stopped a few times to shoot the shit and enjoy a beer. The weather was great, and it made for one of my favorite days on trail thus far. 

LOUNGING AT OVERMOUNAIN

We took a short day to make sure we could spend a night at Overmountain Shelter. It’s one of the better known shelters on the trail, and for good reason. It’s a big red converted barn, which sleeps over twenty hikers. It has two stories, amazing views, and tons of flat grass for tenting. We showed up early and lounged around in the grass all afternoon, snacking and napping and talking about nonsense. A local couple even showed up with trail magic, laying out fresh fruit and cookies and nuts on a picnic blanket in front of the shelter. It was an awesome night, and we all took our time getting out the following morning. 

TRAIL DAYS!

Trail Days has been a really good time. Some of the highlights for me were strolling the vendor village and picking up a couple of new pieces of gear, walking in the parade, and being invited for cheeseburgers and moonshine in the backyard of some Damascus residents. That white lightning is the real deal! We also met triple crowner Chimp and his wife Tipsy at a pub yesterday. They bought us beers and hung out to talk trails for a while. Awesome folks. 

I’ll be packing up and walking back to the trail this afternoon. The couple of days off have been really great, but I’m ready to cover some more ground. I’ll be walking through the Grayson Highlands in the next couple of days, so you can expect some wild pony pics in my next post. The 1/4 way mark is within sight! 

Cheers, 

McLovin