Trail Days and Beyond

Trail Days is a really fantastic event held in the town of Damascus, Virginia. It's a hiker festival the town hosts each year. There are gear booths and food stand and a huge campground! Thursday night Max and I got there and stayed at the campground and it was a huge party all night. We went to bed relatively early and could hear it going on for hours!
The next day Sara's parents came down and we stayed and hung out with them. It was so nice to see them and to spend the day browsing the booths with them. Max and I participated in the hiker parade, which normally a a huge fun water fight down the Main Street. This year turned tragic when I car lost control and went into the parade of hikers. Luckily no one was killed or wounded more seriously than they were. We also feel so lucky as to have been in the front of the parade away from the accident.
We spent the two nights Sara's parents were down in a cabin with them a few miles from the town. It felt nice to relax and spend time with loved ones! It was sad to say goodbye on Sunday morning, and we miss them already!
However, finally getting back on the trail felt good! We met up with YNOT2K, Rammy, and Squirrel for breakfast and to hike out with. We wanted to get on the trail with fervor and do a 14 mile day but 8 miles in we realized how taking 2 zero days can really put you out of shape! We all decided to stay at the first shelter and get out of the storm that was on the way. It rained all night but thankfully we had a spot in the shelter. The next day we decided to stay out of the storm and actually took a zero in the shelter. We were really so tired and off schedule that day. We watched as the rest of our group headed out. The next day we got on the trail with a vengeance! We pulled out 18 miles over Mt Rogers! We even got to see some wild ponies! One particularly friendly one name Salt Licker liked to nibble on our clothing. We arrived at the shelter just in time to setup our tent before a thunderstorm came rolling through! Probably one of the most terrifying nights with our tent in the middle of a field and a lightning storm above our heads! We survived and the next day we really felt good and began cranking out the miles when another lightning storm came through! It really slowed us down, so now after 11 miles we are in a shelter. Safe from the thunder and safe from the rain!