I left Lost Mountain Shelter bright and early this morning for the hike into Damascus. We had rain last night but I stayed dry; sort of: the humidity continues to top 80%, as it has the entire trek.

After 2 miles on the AT, it joined the Virginia Creeper Trail, which parallels the AT into Damascus. The VCT is a “rails to trails” path. It’s flat and graded; a welcome change to rock hopping on the AT.

Old Train Trestle Bridge

Virginia Creeper Trail

I almost flew into town, propelled by the thoughts of a warm shower 🚿 , laundry 🧺 and a clean bed 🛏. I was in town by early afternoon.

I did pass a snake on the trail. Geez, I’ve seen so many this trip: 3 copperheads, 2 black snakes and 2 garter snakes.

Yikes! Big Copperhead

But here I am in Damascus! I’m so thrilled to have completed my goal and finished the AT through Virginia.

I’m at the Woodchuck Hostel for a short break before heading on.

And Yippee, I’m done. 🎉

I’ll put one more blog post up tomorrow with my final thoughts from the trail.

AT Thru-Hike Stats
Section Day #23 (5/31/19)
Start — Lost Mountain Shelter (486.6)
End — Damascus, VA (470.6)
Today’s Mileage: 16.0
Total Section Miles: 259.2
Total Miles on AT: 974.6
Section Avg. Daily Miles: 11.3
“Zeros” Taken: 2
Section Avg. w/o Zeros: 12.3
Distance to Damascus: 0.0 Yippee!

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. – Confucius