Damascus, VA - Too Far

Saturday morning was beautiful. After breakfast, we headed back up the side trail to the shelter for a short nature stop prior to moving on. Jeremiah, his dogs and the car were was already gone. He had mentioned driving to another place where the trail crossed the forest road and then hiking to an “awesome shelter” that some other hikers had told him about. (I guessed that these little trips were his “vacations” from his usual work week.) A few miles along the trail we crossed the forest service road again and found his car parked near the trail crossing. We didn’t see him again although when the Scout troop returned to the area in June, he was still around and remembered our having met.

Our Fearless Leader

We spent Saturday morning going up and down along the AT. Our goal was to avoid significant descents and ascents during the day. Once we were on the AT, most of our route was along the top ridges of the mountains; however those ridges rise & fall. We spent the first 9 miles of the day going up and down….Once again, I felt like I hadn’t done enough to get “ready” for the trip.

Since this was early April and the leaves were not out yet on the mountain tops, we were rewarded by significantly more “views” than is typical of the AT during the summer months. As the AT left the ridge line, we descended into Beartree Camp. This was where the troop would backpack to and then use as a base camp for the biking and rock climbing planned for the end of their week long trip in June.

After leaving Beartree, there was another climb and then a precipitous descent to the Creeper trail. The Creeper is a former rail bed converted to a scenic multi-use trail that is very popular with tourists. The surface is wide and for the most part graded with packed cinders. It is a gradual descent along a smooth trail. Once we got to the Creeper, the trail would lead us right back to our vehicle.

As the final descent on the AT began, we encountered a group of about 20 hikers. The group was on a day hike up the mountain and back down to a small grill/diner located along the Creeper Trail. The average age of this group was close to 60 and they were having a good time laughing and joking as they hiked. I was impressed...

We arrived at the Creeper Trail about 2:30 PM. We filtered water from the stream and started talking about what we planned to do next. Originally, we were planning to walk along the Creeper Trail for a mile, find a place to camp for the night and then finish the hike out on Sunday morning. Apparently, the fresh cool water had an intoxicating effect on us. Once under its influence, we forgot about the 11 or so miles that we had already hiked that day. The intoxication of the water plus the gravitational pull of the mini-van, were more than we could resist. We made the decision to wake the remaining 7 miles to Damascus that afternoon.

What was I thinking? Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. However, the euphoria of the stream water soon wore off and I realized I had committed to finish the hike, so I walked/stumbled/dragged myself the rest of the trail to the mini-van. One of the other guys had it much worse with multiple blisters from new poorly fitting shoes. Glad that wasn’t me….

After a shower and a great meal, we headed home. Another great adventure! I don’t think I will ever forget my reflection in the store front windows as I crossed the street to get in the van to head home. Out of the corner I saw the reflection of a crippled looking old man as he hobbled across the street. I didn’t care. The leather seats of the van were waiting.

Damascus, VA - Caretaker

Later that evening after dinner, we visited with him a second time at shelter about 100 yards up a side trail. He sat & talked with us for awhile, telling us more of his adventures. Again, he seemed very nervous that the local guy was going to show up. He went into the 3 sided Adirondack style shelter and produced the shelter’s log book as justification for his concerns.

The log book was a spiral bound notebook, like I have seen at many shelters. Typically, those who use the shelter will record a few thoughts for those who will follow. The entries usually include the date, weather and other random comments. However, the log that Jeremiah showed us, contained pages of entries in the same hand writing, supposedly penned by the local caretaker. While we only had time to glance at a few pages, Jeremiah told us some of the guy’s sad tale. Apparently he had a wife with drug problems who ran off and left him. He was raising their young child on his own when she suddenly reappeared and managed to get legal custody of the child and left town. This left him very angry and bitter. The logbook had become a collection of misogynistic ramblings and rants on how life was unfair. Jeremiah seemed convinced that if the caretaker caught him living at the shelter, he might end up a whipping boy.

As it seemed like he could just go on & on, we finally excused ourselves and made our way back to our camp for a couple of hours of pleasant conversation before retiring for the night. During the course of that conversation, we learned that our fearless leader had mapped out the route for the full day of hiking on Saturday. The plan was to continue on the Iron Mountain Trail for a few miles and then cross to the AT which would take us to the Virginia Creeper Trail where we planned to camp Saturday night.

Damascus, VA - Jeremiah

After we pitched camp, it was too early to cook, so I decided to check out the area close to our campsite. At this point we hadn’t found the shelter, so I headed up the trail a few hundred yards. I knew we were near a forest service road. I heard a car engine so I took a side trail toward the sound of the car, it turned out to be a truck full of locals who were leaving. However there was also an mid-80’s BMW parked near the shelter on the road. As I got closer I encountered a couple of small rat terriers and a large yellow lab. The 2 little dogs were orbiting the big dog as they came toward me. Then I saw the owner of the car.

We never did learn his name and I certainly knew better than to ask him for a picture. He was very articulate. He looked he was about 30-35 years old and sporting an impressive Jeremiah Johnson coiffure. He had an old rusty bike lying next to the car. That car was amazing. I had never seen a BMW in this shape. The trunk and back doors were both standing open. Both door panels were missing. The trunk & back seat were full of sleeping bags, clothes, food and enough miscellaneous camping gear to stock aisle 13 & 14 at the nearest Dick’s Sporting Goods.

I spent about 30 minutes talking to him. He claimed to be retired. His story was that he had been living in Florida and working at a puppy farm, which explains the dogs. One of the little rat terriers never stopped moving and wouldn’t allow me to touch him. Apparently, the dog had serious socialization problems at the farm and his current “owner” had adopted him to save him from euthanasia. He told me the dog was doing much better. He was becoming comfortable enough in his new “pack” that he would almost allow his “owner” to touch him. When it was time to go somewhere in the car, he would “Jeremiah” would just open the door. The two friendly dogs would pile in and then the other dog would follow. He told me that had been travelling together for 3-4 months, living at the current shelter for a few weeks. He was supporting everyone by working at a t-shirt factory in Damascus.

His goal was to be in Damascus for Trail Days which is in early May. Trail Days is an annual event and “trail folks” descend on Damascus from all over to swap stories buy & sell tie-dyed clothes and beads and who know what else. He told us that it was not to be missed…

The whole time we talked he kept looking around nervously. He told me about some local who had taken it upon himself to maintain the Sandy Flats shelter. From time to time he would show up and inspect the site removing any trash that he found. Apparently, this could include any campers that he deemed undesirable. Jeremiah seemed to be concerned that he might fit in this category, so he did his best to avoid any encounter with the “caretaker”.

Damasus, VA - Time to Climb

We had been planning this trip for awhile. The purpose was a shakedown of the general area, roads and camping sites for the trip with the scout troop in June. Our Plan was to leave Damascus, VA headed north on the AT and then use some connectors to do a loop of about 20 miles over a couple of days; about 6 miles on Friday, 8-11 on Saturday and then the balance on Sunday to get back to the car.

We headed out of town on the AT. We climbed for a few miles and then crossed to the Iron Mountain Trail. The IMT is a multi-use trail for hikers, horses & mountain bikers. As we continued to climb the trail, I kept thinking about the possibility of riding this trail down to Damascus when we returned in June. It is fairly smooth single track with a moderate down hill most of the way….

We kept pushing up the IMT searching for a suitable campsite for Friday night. After about 4- 5 hours, we finally reached the Sandy Flats Shelter after about 8.5 miles and an elevation gain of close to 2,000 feet. There was a good water source and a relatively flat site for the tents.

While we ended up covering about 2.5 miles more than we had planned, the trails were great. Good day, but I was ready to put down the pack.

Sushi Paddling

We headed to Everett B Jordan Lake on Saturday for a morning paddle near where the Haw River empties into the lake. We put in at the Robeson Creek canoe access to the Haw. The Water was down about 3' & we bit bottom a few times as we worked through the exposed rocks to the "lake".

A few of the trees have begun to change color giving the shoreline a hint of the colors ahead. While we were looking forward to this as a nice way to start the weekend, the lake turned out to not be the beautiful place we expected. There was an oily scum on the water, a foul smell & hundreds of dead hybrid bass floating all over the water. The bass were the source of the smell. These were good sized fish that probably averaged close to 24" in length.

Lot's of other wildlife: the usual great blue herons, a few bald eagles and almost as many vultures as there were dead fish.

We paddled down to Robeson Creek & up it a ways, before we decided that we had enough not so pristine environment & headed back to the car. From talking to some local fisherman, this fish kill is normal for this time of year when the temperature of the water and other factors drive the oxygen content to almost zero and the fish suffocate. This coincides with the huge fish kills on the Neuse River reported in the news lately. Next trip may need to be a hike....