Day 13 Damascus

A log cabin church we saw along the way.

Tjhe church on the hill.


Our bikes parked for the night.

Some of the hikers staying at the church on the hill with us.

The Bike Station in Damascus shuttles riders up the road to the start of the Virginia Creeper bike trail. Then they ride all the way back down.


A trout fisherman and his grand son. The older fellow actually caught one while we wee thee.

These horses got it made in the shade. Thee were six of them in there.

Another shot of the log cabin church.

We passed a horse camp where folks would trail ride on their horses for the day, and camp for the weekend.

Just one more of these beautiful little streams that we passed.

A perfect spot for a break as we headed in to Damascus.


Day 13, Troutdale to Damascus. 25 mi,

Hello again, what a beautiful morning. The view from our camp site is simply spectacular. The fog settled in over night, but is lifting as of now. It looks like we might be in for a wet day. Today our destination is Damascus, home of the Appellation Trail Days Festival. Luckily for us, that happened last week, if not for that, we would not have been able to find a place to stay. Our ride today took us through thick forested high country. All that climbing for the last few days is now paying off. We were cruising along at an average speed of about 18 to 20 miles per hour, mostly down hill. We passed many mountain streams, and a few small farms with breath taking vistas of open country, and rolling hills. It was by far our easiest day on the road so far. We were having such a great time, that we did not even break for lunch. On the stops we did make, we just sort of took in the beauty and talked about how beautiful this part of the country is. Pardon me for sounding so optimistic, but I truly believe this is one hell of a great place for bicycle touring. We encountered a number of Appellation Trail hikers at various points along the route as the trail crosses the highway several times though out the day. We talked to a few of them, and found out that they are from all walks of life, using this experience to refocus on their life. I goes to a point, it is exactly the same thing I am doing with this bike trip.

Upon arriving at Damascus, we had no trouble finding the hostel in which we are staying tonight, run by the United Methodist Church. Here we have a shower and restrooms, it has a kitchen, common room, and three bedrooms with bunk beds. Since there were a lot of hikers here, we decided to pitch our tents and rough it. We met Bob Pederson, from Maui who is taking 5 to 6 months to hike the entire Appellation trail. He started on April 4th and is expected to finish sometime in September. Bob is a great guy, he spotted me as a local right off the bat, and we had a nice chat.

Dinner tonight is pizza, hopefully we can get wifi so I can update the blog. Good night, Thank you once again for all the moral support, and prayers. Aloha, Ted.