We had arranged for Joe from Adventure Damascus (the alter ego company of Sundog Outfitters) to shuttle us back to the point we left the trail at TN 91 on Monday, and he had us back on the AT in 27 minutes flat. As we had the luxury of walking back to the same B&B, we left a bunch of stuff back at our room and kept our gear weight for the day to the absolute minimum, carrying two quarts of water, a few snacks, and the lightest of rain gear. Our slack packing goal was to cover the 20+ miles back to Damascus before we ran out of daylight.

This stretch of the AT is no doubt the most monotonous we have encountered to date. But if there is a lack of great vantage points, it usually means there are also no great climbs and descents, and that makes for easy hiking.

We spent most of the day walking a ridge line at about 3,600′ elevation before dropping down to 2,000′ over the last six miles coming into Damascus. The weather was ideal for hiking – sunny and cool, and even counting our breaks for snacks and water, we averaged 2.5 mph. (We wish we could find a way to do this every day!)

As far as N’s test of his back, without a pack he was virtually pain free. So he will be doing more stretching than he has up until now, try to distribute the weight more evenly as he packs, and take more breaks as the day wears on. [Adopting a more vertical hiking posture was probably the biggest piece of the puzzle…]

Four days ago, we reported N’s 24 hour go-round with the oh so prevalent hiker bug. In part two of our current health report, today it was X’s turn to deal with this illness. Her symptoms were the same as N’s, only to a more severe degree. After vomiting the night before, she hiked all day on the edge of nausea. She had no appetite and a banana was the only thing she was able to eat, which she did in small bites throughout the day. [X’s appetite has been an issue since we started. She has no interest in most things sweet, which would include most things with lots of calories. Think then what common trail food turns her off? Pop Tarts, Honey Buns, GORP…]

We got her to bed as soon as we got back to the B&B. After an hour’s sleep, she was able to eat some potato soup and crackers. We hope, like N, this will be a 24-hour “thing,” and that she will be much better in the morning.

Damascus is really hopping as the crowd arrives for “Trail Days,” and after two nights in town, we are ready again for the solitude of the woods. We are leaving friends we have been leap-frogging with since Georgia, as most of them want to stick around for the festivities through the weekend. We visited with several of them yesterday afternoon who wanted an update on N’s back. It’s a bit sad to think we may not see them again…

And for those of you keeping track at home, after 36 days on the trail, N has now lost 20 pounds, going from 178 to 158 and two pants sizes; while X has lost 16 pounds, going from 166 to 150 and one pants size.