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Appalachian Trail – Crossing into Damascus, Virginia

North Carolina / Tennessee

“I think that all good, right thinking people in this country are sick and tired of being told that all good, right thinking people in this country are fed up with being told that all good, right thinking people in this country are fed up with being sick and tired. I am certainly not, and I am sick and tired of being told that I am!”

- Monty Python

Journal Entry 4.11.00
“14.5 miles today. We’re at the Laurel Fork Shelter. A long, hard morning – lots of ups and downs. Tomorrow we have a hard day – 15.4 miles – not looking forward to that. We’re hanging out with Perry at the shelter tonight. He’s talking about ingrown toenails – gross! Sometimes the topics of conversation out here disgust me, like “powdering the donuts”. I miss girl talk!”

Journal Entry 4.12.00
“5:30pm at the Vandeventer Shelter. 15.4 miles today. A killer hike up Pond “Flats” – I though I had died and gone to hiker hell. It just kept going up and up and up and up. 33.3 miles to Damascus and it’s supposed to be all flat. Lots of people do it in one day but I’m not sure the ol’ Gimpy can handle all these miles on the foot. Definitely looking forward to crossing into Virginia.”

Journal Entry 4.13.00
“8pm at Abington Gap Shelter. 23.3 miles today. Rained ALL day. Ugh. But man am I glad to be here in my nice warm sleeping bag. Still thinking about ways to reduce weight… I’m going to unload one pair of socks, the titanium kettle, and one of my ditty bags. Anything to get the pack lighter. Can’t wait to have a day off – it’s been way overdue. Yes it will feel good to cross that state line tomorrow.”

Journal Entry 4.14.00
“5pm at the Place Hostel in Damascus, VA. A $3 donation/night to stay in a full house with showers and a kitchen. I hiked 10 miles from the last shelter and crossed the TN / VA state line – awesome!! 454 miles down, 1700-some to go! ”

trail fact: First solo thru-hiker. In 1948, Earl V. Shaffer became the first solo thru-hiker, walking the entire Trail from Georgia to Maine. He hiked again – this time from Maine to Georgia – in 1965. On his third thru-hike, in 1998, 50 years after his first hike, he became the oldest thru-hiker at age 79.

Journal Index

Georgia – Overview And the poop on the Trail Divorce

0 (miles from Georgia) – Springer Mountain, Georgia Whose idea was this again??
87.7 – Georgia / North Carolina Aint no all-inclusive package vacation story…
161.7 – Fontana Dam, North Carolina No Rain, No Pain, No Maine
204.6 – Great Smoky Mountains National Park I My deodorant gets the heave-ho!
268.7 – Great Smoky Mountains National Park II The Food Appreciation Trail
336.5 – North Carolina / Tennessee & Trail Names How the Gimp got her name
390.7 – North Carolina / Tennessee The famous Roan Mountain hitch
452.9 – Crossing into Damascus, Virginia 3 states down, 11 to go!
516.7 – Grayson Highlands State Park Roughin it at Partnership Shelter
573.3 – Bland, Virginia My wonderful trail angels!
665.3 – Pearisburg, Virginia The switch from boots to sandals
767.4 – Catawba / Troutville, Virginia Heat wave in Virginia
839.4 – Montebello / Rockfish Gap, Virginia ‘Hiking with Gimpy Sr.
920.0 – Shenandoah National Park Rattlesnakes, Jack Daniels, and bears – oh my!
988.3 – Front Royal, Virginia Invasion of the Boy Scouts
1001.1 – Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia The mental half-way point
1061.4 – Maryland / Pennsyltucky Y’all done drank enough beer!
1123.8 – Duncannon, Pennsylvania The Half-Gallon Challenge
1208.9 – Port Clinton, Pennsylvania $1 Yuengling drafts and the rocks of PA
1283.9 – Pennsylvania / New Jersey Friends and family visit WonderGimp
1334.2 – High Point, New Jersey Rain, rain, rain, trail magic, and more rain
1440.7 – Bear Mountain, New York Hike Naked Day!
1486.1 – Kent, Connecticut Gimpy Sr. and Barkeater hike with W.Gimp
1543.8 – Great Barrington, MassachusettsWelcome to Mosquito Hell
1618.0 – Massachusetts / VermontPhoton and strobe lights for the 4th of July
1687.3 – Killington, Vermont The Inn at the Long Trail
1738.1 – New Hampshire Live Free or Die!
1794.4 – North Woodstock, New Hampshire Gettin’ above treeline
1814.4 – AMC-land, New Hampshire Entering the White Mountains!
1854.0 – Pinkham Notch, New Hampshire Mooning the tourists on Mt. Washington
1869.2 – Gorham, New Hampshire My first Moose sighting!
1920.7 – Andover, Maine The way Life should be…
1979.3 – Rangeley, Maine Closing in on the end
2015.6 – Kennebec River, Maine Eye of the Tiger!
2095.7 – Monson, Maine 100-mile Wilderness
2152.0 – Abol Bridge, Maine Katahdin is in sight!
2167.1 – Baxter Peak, Mount Katahdin, Maine Goodbye Capilene – Hello Cotton!!

Other Pages:
Map – Yep, 14 states
Gear – What to Bring
FAQs – See for yourself
Glossary (learn the AT lingo)
Links to Additional Info
Trail Injuries Everything from blisters to swampfoot
Trail Privies Bring your own TP
Class of 2000 Katahdin Thru-Hiker Pictures