Day 33 - Demascus (May 11)

I had my first bear encounter this morning. I was unzipping my tent in the early morning hours, and I heard a crashing through the woods. By the time I got my light out, I could not see anything. I'm guessing the bear was about 20 to 30 yards from my tent when it ran off.

We did about 26 miles into Damascus. I feel really good. Thought Foot is hurting a little. He needs to zero in order to recover. It was raining most of the day. At times, there was even some hale and strong winds. Rain soaked through my rain pants for some reason, and I was damp most of the day. It was cold enough outside so that I felt a chill when ever I stopped.

Thought Foot's camera got soaked. He left his rain gear in Hot Springs by accident. He found a rain jacket on the trail out of Hot Springs, but it apparently had more leaks than he expected. He put his camera in a zippered pocket, but the pocket filled with water.

I've been trying to give Thought Foot some pointers on taking nature pictures. He is always complaining because what ever he wants to photograph keeps moving. I told him he needs to kill and then pose what ever he wants to photograph. He hasn't taken my advice yet, and he keeps missing good photographic opportunities.

We stayed in a Methodist hostile called The Place. This was another free for all. Every bunk was taken. There was no other bunks available in town. I was going to sleep on the floor, but I managed to score the couch, which was the best place to sleep. All of the bunks are wooden plywood platforms that you need to put your sleeping mat on. The cost for the hostile is only $4. There is no alcohol allowed, but there is a bar not too far away that I went to.

I think the next few hundred miles are going to be different than what we seen so far. We have been above the spring greenery for most of the trip so far. There are few leaves out even now at the higher elevations. The leaves are coming out everywhere now. Virginia is going to be hot, enclosed in the green tunnel, and buggy. The wildflowers are probably going to disappear soon too. I think this is where many will drop out, and possibly for good reason. I would like to really push hard to get through Virginia. The terrain is much easier here or at least it has been the last few days. I think its going to continue to be a lot less steep.