Hampton, TN to Damascus, VA

Mile 465

We are in VIRGINIA! It always seemed like Damascus (the first town in VA) seemed so far away, but somehow, I made it here.  (Sidenote: I'm not sure when to use "I" and "we".  This is a weird transition from solo hiking to couple hiking. :) )

I know we just updated a few days ago, and really, not much has changed since then.  Beau did two 15+ mile days in a row and feels great.  My hair can go into pigtails (think baby pigtails). Beau learned how to drain a blister.

A few pictures:

Coming out of Hampton, the trail looped around a lake for several miles and crossed over a dam.  Beau was hoping someone would be out waterskiing so he could get a ride.

There was a half mile of the trail that was part of a handicapped accessible path. Isn't that nice?

On this particular day, we had stayed at a shelter that was exactly 26.2 miles from Damascus.  Several hikers attempted/succeeded in hiking a marathon day into town.

I realized that I've never talked about trail names on here.  Almost all hikers take on a trail name within a few weeks of starting that they pretty much exclusively use.  There are log books at every shelter that most hikers sign and leave a message.  It's a fun way to keep track of who is ahead of you or learn information.  My trail name is "Progress" and Beau's is "Joiner".  Some people come to the trail with their trail names already decided on, some pick them up quickly after some humorous event, and others just kind of come about.  I hadn't heard any that I loved for myself.  One hiker suggested Bluebird, because I normally have a blue shirt on (and he thought my eyes were blue?) and because of my apparently sunny disposition.  Another suggestion was "Owl Bait" after a dead mouse appeared outside my tent on a night we had heard several owls.  I thought of Progress and liked how it sounded and thought it was meaningful.  Not really an exciting story to go with it. :) Beau and I independently thought of Joiner for his trail name, for more obvious reasons.

Time is up on the computer here at the Damascus library, time for some Quincey's pizza!