Erwin to Damascus already seems like it happened years ago! I will do my best to go from my trail notes and memory to update this section of the trail in the blog. We started 20 trail miles north of Erwin when we left because we had slack packed while enjoying an extra night at Sandy and Duane’s house. The day we left, Duane drove us to the trailhead and we set off north.
I was greeted with some beautiful views over the next couple days as I made my way over Roan Mountain and Carver’s Gap, I had previously hiked this section 4 years ago and was very excited to re-hike it again on my thru hike!
After that stretch of trail I made my way to Mountain Harbor Hostel, the first hostel I ever stayed in on the Appalachian Trail 4 years ago! They are known as having the best breakfast on trail and it is easy to see why! So much so that I had to have it twice. I was revisited by Allison since I had extra space in the hotel room I had rented. She also gave me a 10-mile slack pack over a really pretty area which prevented me from carrying my pack during that stretch. Thanks again Allison!
Pretty pictures from my slack pack, to include Jones Falls! I took my longest lunch yet on the trail here 🙂
After leaving Mountain Harbor Hostel I continued north towards Damascus. On the way I stopped at a hostel, Boots Off, so I could have a pizza instead of the gross lunch I had in my pack!
Later that day I ended my hike a couple miles early so I could stealth camp on Watuga lake, totally worth it!
However, since I ended my hike a little early the day before, I grabbed a little cabin so I could pay for a slack pack to get my gear to Damascus with little weight on my back. The hike in to Damascus was pretty unglamorous with most of it along a ridgeline.
As mentioned at the beginning of my last post, I was hit with norovirus on my way into Damascus, and while I was there. Luckily it was a planned zero day so I booked a private room while I recovered. I had a cute cat to keep me company!
Hiking Through with Feather Blue 