Appalachian Trail Section hiking: Tennessee 91 to Campsite before Damascus

May 28, 2013
15.6 miles
9:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The staircase leading to our bedroom at the Hiker's Inn.

We were up early and headed to the Dairy King for breakfast. We enjoyed French toast, eggs, bacon and home diced tators.

We had arranged for a shuttle from the Mt. Rogers Outfitter in Damascus. When we got there, we discovered that a man we had talked to in Dairy King was our driver. We left the car in their parking lot and he took us back to Tenn. 91. Today’s section must have been what folks told us about and we were expecting yesterday. From Tennessee 91 north into Damascus is a very pleasant hike; not too challenging, mostly along the ridgeline.

The main street of Damascus.

We leapfrogged with Tails, Chief and Lightening all day today. They were planning to camp in the woods tonight and get up early in the morning to be in Damascus for breakfast. We told them about the Dairy King breakfast and they said that’s where they were going. They were ahead of us as we took out from Abingdon Gap Shelter. We stopped at a campsite for the night and they went on a little further to another campsite.

The bunkhouse at the Hiker's Inn.

Early in the day, Wait-up discovered that he had inadvertently left his bed roll in the car this morning. Oh, well - too late now. “It’s okay,” he said, “I’ve slept on the ground before.” When we reached the campsite he began to stuff leaves into my bivvy sack to make his bed. It was a good plan – until he discovered that with those leaves came acorns. We didn’t sleep much that night.