70 Day AT Thru-Hike: Damascus to Bland

I left Damascus at 4am in the pouring rain. The weather broke a little bit during the day, but as I climbed up to the Grayson Highlands it steadily got worse. The trails turned in streams and the high elevation and rain made it quite cold for mid-June. I had hoped to stay in a shelter that night, but it was full. I had to press on another couple of miles and pitch my tent in heavy rain.


The rain pounded my tent all night long. I got a late start on Day 17 as I waited for the rain to let up to break camp. I eventually packed up in the rain and started hiking. The rain continued to come down into the afternoon. Being wet for so long, I got very chilled and soaked to the bone. To make things worse, the wetness caused severe chaffing -- to the point where I was bleeding. Finally, the rain slowed and stopped in the afternoon before I made it to the beautiful Partnership Shelter which had plenty of room that night.





Day 18 was a typical pre-dawn start. I got trail magic at the iconic Windamood School, a light resupply at a gas shortly thereafter, and crossed I-81 in sunshine. After passing the quarter way sign clouds moved back in and welcomed me with more rain. Dealing with the chafing and more rain for the afternoon and evening, I decided to call it an early day at the Knot Maul Branch Shelter and wait for coming dry weather.





I started at 2:30am on Day 19. It was dark, but -- finally -- dry. The climb up to Chestnut Knob was quite spectacular at sunrise and even though overcast persisted, the sun was trying to break through. The sun ultimately prevailed later that day, and I hiked the rest of the day in its glorious warmth. After 30 miles, I made it to the Brushy Mountain Outpost and devoured a much needed veggie burger and double order of fries. I hiked on that evening before finding a beautiful spot to camp with a view of the setting sun on a ridge.





I plan to release one video per week until the hike has been completely covered on YouTube. This is episode 5, covering days 16-19.





Day 16: 34.9 miles


Day 17: 28.4 miles


Day 18: 26.3 miles


Day 19: 38.6 miles








Follow/Contact on IG: @davidbraunlich





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