Day 37

Day 37

Being in Damascus again was a somewhat surreal experience. Even though it's only mile marker 472, just being back in Virginia seems like we're finally making decent progress. Also pushing out marathon days will do that.

We got on trail around 9:45 and started the ascent out of town. Even though the climbs are less steep and long, going into town is always followed by a climb back into the mountains. Most of the morning was spent going up and over ridges, trending upwards. 

Around noon we stopped next to a beautiful, clear mountain stream and ate our first lunch. For some reason, I must have thought that I was going on a 7 day expedition -- I way overpacked on food! I don't know what was going through my mind. 

After lunch, we could see whitetop mountain, our big climb for the day. Our plan was to camp right after whitetop but before mount Roger's. 

Going up whitetop was pretty much as challenging as it was last time. Over the course of 4 miles or so, you gain 2200 feet of elevation at a constant grade. Even with the constant incline. By the time we got to the top, we were quite happy. And with a bright blue sky, the views were well worth the climb. 

Our biggest challenge of the day was actually finding camping. We forget that for most people, the days of the week actually matter, and when we got to our camping spot by VA 600, the parking lot was full and there were a bunch of people camping out for the night. After we got setup, a group of college kids rolled in, setup camp 40 yards from us, and started playing music, talking loudly, and began breaking sticks for a fire. We weren't sure how well we'd sleep, but after they quieted down around 11, and our tiredness caught up with us, we finally managed to get some sleep. 

Day 37 daily recap:
- Total miles: 24.2
- From: mile marker 471 to 495.2
- From dancing bear inn to VA 600
- high temp of 60
- low temp (morning) 30
- low temp (evening) 45
- total ascent: 6,371
- total descent: 3,924

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