TRAIL DAYS

We made it to Trail Days in Damascus, Virginia after hauling many long miles to get here on time. When we walked out of the woods Friday morning, we were tired and very wet from a few long days in the pouring rain. There was a lady there to greet us with water, snacks, and a brochure of events for the weekend. Continuing to walk through town we found tons of gear booths from various companies such as Osprey, Gregory, Princeton, Backpacker Magazine, Eno, and the list goes on and on. They all were giving away "free swag" including stickers, raffle prizes, gear, etc. Teton and I were both able to get a few things fixed and adjusted with our gear. Damascus is coined "the friendliest town on the trail" and this proved to be true throughout the weekend.

Free showers, laundry, and food were just a few more of the perks here at Trail Days. We paid $5 for a full weekend of camping in "tent city" which was full of hundreds of tents. Current and previous thru-hikers, outdoor enthusiasts, townspeople and anyone looking to have a good time set up their tent here as their home for the weekend. During the day, hikers relaxed and walked around visiting while the night time was very active and loud with lots of partying!

Live music, food vendors and contests (food eating, best beard, etc) kept the small town swarming with people. Saturday, a hiker parade took place where each class of hikers gathered together to walk through the town. The class of 2014 brought up the end, cheering and singing "Trail Songs" with our fellow hikers. (Many hikers who were far ahead or behind got shuttled to Damascus for the event.)

Most people cleared out on Sunday which left "tent city" looking a lot emptier. We chose to stay in order to explore the town more by biking the Creeper Trail. We were shuttled about 30 minutes up the trail and took our time biking down the mountain next to a river taking in the historic, ex-railroad, beautiful trail.

What a great weekend full of Trail Magic, lots of great food, friends, and fun! We can't wait to come back to Trail Days in the years to come.

Now it's time to get back to hiking! Don't forget to check instagram for more pictures (which now you can see at the bottom of this page)!

On the road again...