Day 32

13ish mile day

The shelter we camped at last night was terrible. The weather was bad and the people in the shelter were not that nice. They had zero’d there all day and we taking up the entire shelter even with a dog. The table had only been pulled in halfway out of the rain and they had all their stuff strewn over everything so all of us coming in from the cold and wet couldn’t even sit down to make our dinners. Common courtesy would dictate that they would have at least made a little space when we arrived but after a while I had to straight up ask them to move their stuff so we could at least sit down and have a hot meal. They weren’t that nice about it, grumbling the whole time.

In the morning we packed all our stuff up soaking wet and took off. It was only a half day to get to Boots Off Hostel. We wanted to get their early so we could get to bed early so that we could attempt the Damascus Dash. That’s 42 miles from the hostel to Damascus with 8k elevation gain and loss in under 24 hours. We passed a beautiful waterfall on the way to town and had lunch at a shelter with a few other hikers who we chatted with and played cards. I’m getting really good at American Speed. Two Tone has taught me the British version and it’s much more popular and she beats me every time so I try to only play our version so that I can win lol.

We get to the trailhead and start walking into town. It’s only a mile so we don’t even attempt to hitch but a brand new Ford Bronco honks and pulls over in front of us and offers us a ride. I’ve never turned down a hitch and I don’t intend to start now even though it was only for about half a mile.

We resupply at Dollar General for the upcoming 42 mile dash. I got 4 packets of beef jerky, 6 Honey buns, a bag of Cheetos, a block of cheese, bag of fruit snacks, chocolate covered pistachios and cranberries, a red bull, and four 5 Hour Energies. We had lunch across the street at which I believe is the only place in town and we both order the special. Chicken and Dumplings. Apparently the chef is the also the owner and this is their favorite recipe. It wasn’t mine but I like to try the local delicacies. Comes with fried corn bread, coleslaw, and we were given a free slice of strawberry shortcake because it was Mother’s Day.

We get to the hostel and quickly start doing chores, laundry, drying out wet gear, calling our moms, etc. Two Tome gets the shuttle back in to town to buy ingredients to make a makeshift spaghetti bolognese. She does all the cooking while the rest of us stand around and bs for a while. So many hikers here. This is a really great hostel. Apparently we are one day before the live music is going to play.

Anyways, we eat until we can’t anymore, enjoy a couple of beers, and hit the hay early since we have to be up at 4 am for the dash tomorrow.