Total miles: 482.7
Left Damascus this morning after a relaxing day off yesterday. A long steep climb to start the day. This was kind of a relief; the terrain was so easy going into Virginia that I was beginning to worry about getting soft. But the climb at the beginning of the day and another at the end with rain in between kept me a hardened mountain man (sheeeit).
Beautiful hike overall today. The trail was festooned by rhododendron blossoms, and crossed over a river rapids on a long wooden bridge. I'm impressed with how well this section of the trail is maintained.
On hiker food (i.e. junk food): this is the most fantastic diet I've ever been on. When long-distance hiking, one burns 4500-6000 calories a day. So not only can you get away with a high-calorie, high-fat diet, you HAVE to eat that way. So yeah, I put olive oil on everything and eat lots of nuts, but how about quantity? Go for it. Pop tarts, peanut m&ms, snickers dipped in peanut butter? Paydays dipped in Nutella? Go for it! And I've lost at least 15 lbs. The challenge, of course, will be to once again eat like a normal human once I'm off the trail. But for now I'm gonna eat my heart out. Now gimme that butter for my cheesy hamhocks and some sour cream for my fried salad.
Took me but one attempt to throw my food bag line tonight. A perfect strike.
Staying at Lost Mountain shelter.
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