June 4, 2004 - I had planned on getting up early and getting a good start on hiking, but when I woke up at 6 am the rain began again. So went back to sleep for another hour hoping it would stop. I’ve had enough walking in the mud. I hate having wet socks. It was only 26 miles to Damascus and wanted to get in town early so I left the shelter at 7:30am. Then the rain let up some. About 30 minutes after I left the shelter it really started to come down. I just felt horrible for the 1st time on the trail; that much rain will do that to you. I made it 8 miles to the next shelter where a big group was still hanging out. I ended up staying over an hour because I needed a rain break. I just sat in the shelter hoping the rain would go away. So after an hour I knew I had to go so I would be in town by 5:00 pm. Once I got going again I felt much better and the rain slowly went away and began to find my groove. I made it to the last shelter before Damascus by 2 pm where I ate lunch and refilled on water. Then I was off to town, only 10 more miles which was mostly downhill. I made it to the road by 5 pm having done the last 10 miles in 2.5 hours. Then I went straight to the hostel known as the “The Place”, it’s part of a church for hikers to stay. It holds about 20 people. Then I went to buy supplies where I took down half a gallon of chocolate milk in about 5 minutes. Then went back to the hostel and meet back up with Joe and Will where we went out to eat pizza. Now it’s about time for bed. I got in 26.3 miles for the day.
