Trail Days!!

Trail Days Damascus VA

Well Trail days has come and gone for another year.  What a year it was!  Rain, fun, beer, good friends, food and of course, everyone knows of the tragedy that happened during the parade. The good news from the that is everyone will survive to hike again. 

Anyway, I am not going to dwell on the vehicle vrs pedestrian or in my opinion, the poor showing by the local police, fire and EMS crews.  I do have to wonder about a town of 1000 people who can have multiple humvee's for their police (why do they need those) but seem to have no training in MCI structure and command.  I would have to suspect the town is spending homeland security monies and my taxes on toys and not training.  Stupid.



Hikers Camping

Ok so there was my rant.  We arrived in Damascus Thursday night and quickly set up in the
campgrounds.  I had brought my tarp and quickly found a suitable  spot to pitch it.  Consideration was made to the terrain as well as for dead limbs in the trees as there was a prediction of severe storms in the forcast.  We ate, walked around the campgounds, partook of a few adult beverages and hung out with the hikers camping around us.  Luckily the storms never arived.

Friday I woke up early and we headed out to see what was going on.  We walked to town, moseyed around and ended up at Cowboys for breakfast.  Nothing like a great biscuit/gravy/egg breakfast with a side of locals gossiping.  The rest of the day was spend walking around enjoying the festival. Who can't resist people watching when there are 1000's of stinky hikers around.  The day was spent eating, the Blue Blaze sucks....I want Quincy's back, drinking and walking around looking at vendors.  So the big story of the day was I lost my phone.

Yes, I lost my phone.  It was raining and we decided to take a shuttle back into town because it was raining.  We got dropped of, went to get something to eat, talked for about an hour and a half and I noticed my phone was missing.  Well, long story short, after dumpster diving through chicken bones and garbage, I had given up on finding the stupid thing and decided to head back to the camp and head out to the next town to get a new one.  We picked up the shuttle back to camp and lo and behold, my phone was there with the driver.  There are still good people in this world.  Thank you to whoever turned in my phone.

Ad Hoc rear rain protection for
my tarp.

So the rest of the day was spent dodging raindrops and shopping.  I managed to buy a new pair of trail runners, picked up my tent from Yama Mountain Gear and had a wonderful if cool and rainy day.  Evening was spent eating and hanging out by the fire (a good hot fire will keep going even in the rain) and staying damp.  It was a good day.


The night brought rain and a bit of lighning but I stayed dry under my tarp.  However, the time honored drum circle and bonfire on the other side of the camp and the copious amounts of pot and alcohol being used in the camp made for a noisy night.  Oh well, no big deal it was funny listening to the stoners as I fell asleep.  Gotta love them.


Saturday we awoke and headed out to a bit of breakfast at the Volunteer Fire Department, packed up camp and moved to downtown Damascus where we were to check into the Old Mill Inn for the evening.  Sweet, a place to hang wet tents and tarps and a real hot shower.  A bit more walking around and we took our places to watch the hiker parade.  Ok, that did not happen and a somber mood fell across the town.  Google it if you want to find out more.  I do not care to go into it.  Suffice to say it was not good.  After that, an hour at the Hiker Talent Show put us in a better mood and we found our laughter again.  A brief walk back to the Inn and a bit of dinner and again another day of Trail Days was put to bed. 

Sunday we spent a leisurely morning between the Inn and the vendors, packed our stuff, bid goodbye to one of my favorite small towns and headed back home.  Sad that Trail Days had ended but with renewed want to hike the trail again.

Life is good.

Next Post will provide more pictures of Trail Days.

Updates.

Not much here other than I updated my gear page...so check it out.

Yama Mountain Gear Cuben Fiber Cirriform DW

A New Tent and Shaving Ounces Off My Base Weight.

So, after watching more and more of my hiker friends who are attempting to thru hike the AT get off the trail and give up the dream of a thru hike this year, it seems that many of them are coming off due to knee and feet issues.  Ok, the weather this year has been bad.  The snow and cold weather that has been lacking for the last 10 years or so in the southern Appalachians was back with a vengeance.  If you started you hike in February, you probably were not prepared for the cold snowy weather this year.  Other than the weather, it seems that the knees and feet are problematic for many people hiking this year.  In fact most of the people I know that have come off the trail made it through the snow and ice only to be sidelined by knee pain and stress fractures.  One thing common to these people that have come off the trail seems to be they are carrying heavier packs, which have to contribute to their knee and foot problems.

So, I have been looking at my pack weights. I am a light weight hiker.  I do not over pack and I am conscious about the weight I carry.  At the moment, my pack weight with 5 days food and water for a hike on the AT is less than 28 pounds and that is when I am packed with my winter gear.  Saying that, I do have room to lessen that weight.  There are items that I am carrying that are the lightest I can carry, however I can reduce weight of things like my tent, stakes,ground cloths among other things.  So I began the search to find a new shelter.

At the moment, I have a silnylon tarp weighing in at 14 ounces and a Lightheart Gear tent which weighs in at a respectable 27 ounces.  Both of these shelters are considered light, however with cuben fiber available, I could shave 8 to 10 ounces off my pack weight by moving away from silnylon and into cuben fiber shelters.

I narrowed my choice down to the HMG Echo 1 cuben fiber shelter or the Yama Mountain Gear cuben fiber Cirriform Double Wall Shelter.  Both are great shelters from great boutique gear companies.  Both are well made and have a great reputation.  I selected the Yama Mountain Gear shelter due to its lighter weight and to be honest, Gen (the owner) and his superb customer service.  Gen answered my questions via email quickly and was even willing to make this shelter and deliver it to me at Trail Days even though it was less than a week away from when I ordered it.  Oh, I also wanted him to modify the tent and add tie outs and he was accommodating to my requests as well.

Cuben Fiber Yama Mountain Gear's Cirriform Tarp.

 

 



So, check out some info on the new Cirriform Tent. 

This shelter comes in either a single wall or double wall version.  I elected the double wall version as I will be able to remove the "inner tent" before and after bug season when it is not really needed and I will have about a 10 ounce shelter.  With the bug "tent" added in the summer, the total weight is less than 18 ounces.  Talk about dropping weight quickly! I reduced my tent weight by 10 ounces!

So, Gen is bringing my new Cirriform DW to Trail Days and I will be able to actually set it up and use it that same weekend!  I promise pictures and a detailed review shortly after Trail Days.  Suffice to say I am excited at the possibilities with this shelter.

Until next time....hike your own hike.




Updates

Wow, How Time Flies:

Wow, how time flies.  Since I last posted almost 2.5 months ago so many things have occurred.  I got my first good hike in this year.  I hiked around Damascus, (of course), did about 40 miles and experienced everything from freezing cold temperatures, sunny warm days, rain, snow, sleet and mud.  You have to love what the mountains can throw at you in March.  I did realize I had really lost muscle tone and spent way to much time sitting behind a desk last winter.  HAHA.

I continue to plan my hike.  I know that 2014 must be the year I must commit to the hike.  I have a year of planning behind me already.  I have pared my gear down, experimented with what works best, worked on getting my pack weight down and fine tuned my equipment. 
I seek the solitude of the woods, camaraderie of like minded persons. Persons with wanderlust and a sense of freedom. Yes, I yearn to be a gypsy of the woods.

I have made my decision.  I have the assets to make the hike.  Well, if I sell my truck I will have the money to hike as well as a bit left over to begin my life again.  I realize I do not need much to be happy.  I know I can survive if I need to with very little money and be happy.  However, the rational side of me says that to hike 6 months at my age, when I have no savings and my future is questionable, I should ignore the feelings of wanderlust and concentrate on getting back on my feet financially and forgo this hike.  However, I know that is not the correct choice for me. I know this,however, I feel like once I commit totally to this endeavor, many people will try to get me to change my mind.  They will see this as foolhardy, a waste of time, a diversion.  Well, Fuck Them......

Ok, well that may have been a bit strong...haha......but the sentiment is honest.  Sometimes to grow you must close your eyes and just step off the cliff.  Take the risk, learn, grow, have fun.  This is what I am going to do.  There will be opportunity for me after I reach Katahdin.  In fact, a new person may emerge with focus and clarity found.  I am going on an adventure most people can only dream about. 

Ok so my ramblings are over for the time.  I guess I needed to vent a bit and now, with clarity, I bid everyone good night.

CW