AT Summer '16: Heading to Damascus (Day 0)

Today's the day! We packed up the Honda and headed to southwest Virginia for another 65-ish miles on the Appalachian Trail.  This time there are five of us: Jay, Joe, Matt, and Tim. We ended up taking two cars because five people and five backpacks was too much to shoehorn into the Honda. Here are Jay, Joe, and Matt at a gas station in northern Ohio, where we stopped to meet up with Tim. 

It will be a different experience this time, not only on account of having a larger group, but also because we are hiking north to south, reason being that we really wanted to start and end in Damascus like last time. It's such a nice trail town, so we booked the Hikers Inn hostel again and are using Sun Dog Outfitters to shuttle us north tomorrow to begin our hike at Partnership Shelter. That's just a stone's throw from the Mt. Rogers recreation area headquarters.

Since we arrived in Damascus right around dinner time, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to eat at Hey Joe's in Damascus. Fish tacos and nachos all around. Here's a good shot of Joe under his namesake sign.

The weather forecast this week looks iffy. They are saying rain will start mid-week and could continue all the way through Friday. I guess I don't mind all that much, since the temps will be pretty warm. But I really want at least one clear day near Grayson Highlands so we can see the famous wild ponies! I've been hearing about these ponies for years from other hikers who have section-hiked Virginia. The ponies were brought into the area in 1974 to graze on the highland balds and keep invasive plant species at bay. Supposedly they are pretty friendly and don't mind hikers. I really hope we see some!