April 20 & 21 - 32.9 / 463.5

Whose radio is going off as an alarm? That was the thought going through my head. Then the music got louder and louder and didn't turn off. I was so confused at what was going on. Then out of the corner of my eye I see some shadowy figures crossing the trail in front of the shelter. I realized it was DS, DM, SW, TW, and SB doing their 40 mile hike into Damascus. SB had hooked up his ipod to some speakers and had it playing for everyone as they hiked. They began their hike around 3 in the morning and made it to my shelter by 5:25. I got out of my sleeping bag and told DS and SW I would catch up with them later. They walked on, and I feel back asleep.

I woke up around 6:30 and started to get ready. That is when Akido Joe said Roughin It was not there. Without anyone hearing it, Roughin It had got up around 3 to hike 33 miles into Damascus. I had thought about that too, but felt I would probably only hike 23 to the last shelter before the town. I was the next to last to leave the shelter. For some reason, I take some time packing up.

It wasn't too long before I was passing the others from the shelter. I was setting a pretty good pace. The last one to pass was Scruggs. He was sitting on the side of the trail resting and eating lunch. It wasn't 500 yards pass him that something magical happened. I see a sign on a tree and a huge metal orange box...TRAIL MAGIC! It was from the kids at Nelson Chapel Baptist Church. Inside the box was soft drinks and oatmeal cream pies. I grabbed an RC Cola and two pies.

I soon crossed a road and the trail opened up. For the next mile or so the trail crossed through an open field. The old buildings and green green grass was perfect. I took some pics and moved on.

I made it to Double Springs Shelter around 2 and had lunch. I had 7 or so miles to go to the last shelter. I told myself that I was going to hike on to the city if the shelter was full. If not I would make a decision to hike on by 5 pm. I got to the shelter. The only person in the shelter was Missionary and soon after Boston showed up. I spoke with Missionary for about 30 minutes. He is a born again christian. It was cool to hear his story. He now is trying to get the word out about teenage pregnancy and fatherhood.

At 5:00, I decided I had the energy to make the last 10 miles into Damascus. I think at some points I was running down the trail. With four miles to go, I crossed into Virginia. That makes 3 states down and 11 to go. I made it into town right after 8. As I started to walk down the first road a lady came out of her house and asked if I saw a bear. I told her I had not. She responded with telling me the guy 4 minutes before me did. The guy in front of me was Scruggs. I spoke with the lady a little more. Her and her husband hiked the trail a few years back.

Not knowing where the rest of the crew was, I decided I would hike to the center of town and call someone. I saw Cowgirl's dog, Kelly, laying outside of a restaurant so I figured hikers would be there. I walked up to the window and in the first booth was everyone. I was glad to see them. Since all of us were in town, I hiked 33 in a day and the others hiked 40. We celebrated, but were also exhausted. We finished dinner and then went to a hostel ran by one of the local churches.

Not ready for bed, DM, SB, and I went to a bar and played darts.

The next day was a zero for all of us. In the morning I went and got coffee and had a huge breakfast. I also went to an outfitter to get my pack fixed and also my air mattress fixed. A buckle on my pack had broken a few days back. My mattress got a hole in it two days ago. The outfitter fixed both for free. The rest of the day was spent at the library uploading pictures and relaxing. All of us plus Roughin It and less SB went back to Quincy's again for dinner. I ate way to much. Skywalker also got hustled by a 10 year old at pool. The 10 year old was pretty funny and definitely talked the trash.

I got a chance to speak with my Young Life kids. As part of the skit, Dalton called me on a speaker phone. They would ask me questions. It was fun to hear from all of them.