day 27 - 4/06

i'm not even going to attempt to list all the food i ate in damascus cuz it will probably just make people sick to read it. just know that it was epic. damascus was a cool little trail town and the picture below is from a little mom and pop restaurant. i thought the motto was very apropos for not only the way i have chosen to live this life, but also for any thru-hiker. i had a nice leisurely morning at the coffee shop in town and made plans to meet my aunt and uncle this coming wednesday in bland, va, which is totally awesome and definitely not bland. it will be great to see supportive, familiar faces. it was so great to be back on the trail. exhilarating actually. and with all the food i ate i was really cruising. it was as if uphill was downhill. i made it to whitetop mt, which is just 6mi before mt rogers, the highest peak in va. the videos below are from buzzard rock, right before i set up camp. sorry about the bad editing and that it is in two parts, but it was already pretty cold and my fingers weren't working properly. lol! the terrain in this section is quite different for appalachia. with the trees not yet fully in bloom it is almost reminiscent of northern arizona or the southern siera nevadas. it is very unexpected. i also got the idea while hiking today to start mixing in some blueblaze posts. on the appalachian trail a blueblaze is a side trail that goes off somewhere else or skirts a section of trail. so i will use the term to mean a post that is an aside or off on a tangent from my everyday journal. so look for some blueblaze posts coming soon. i am also going to attempt to integrate a q&a section because i have been getting a fair amount of questions. well, i am settled in my hammock for probably my coldest night so far. it already feels like it is in the upper 30s at 20:30 at 5200ft. hopefully my water won't freeze. lol. 20.1mi from damascus to whitetop mt. 485.8 total.