Trail Days
When the weather forecast called for an 80% chance of rain, its good to know you can still bet against the odds and win. It turned out to be hot (mid-80's) and sunny all day in Damascus for a good Trail Days celebration. Trail Days itself is like a giant festival in the smallest town imaginable. The town park was full of all kinds of vendors, one section set up with crafts and artisans, one section set up with food, and one section set up with gear shops, most of which were independent gear makers. There were at least six different hammock shops including Eagles Nest, Hennessey, and Grand Trunk (the Travel Hammock), and the others all made their own hammock shelters. A few others were showing off their ultra light tents, tarp tents, and tarps. The big gear venders were camped out at Tent City and offering gear repairs to through hikers and others with broken gear. It was a happy cooincidence that I was carrying my headlamp when I saw that Princeton Tec was there. I was able to get my cracked headlamp replaced on the spot. I also met Wayne Gregory, founder and designer of Gregory packs. He helped me out and decided that I do, in fact, fit into a small harness rather than a medium.
::Rewind::
At Evergreen Outfitters, I was fitted for the Gregory Packs and the results said I had an 18 inch torso length. Though I was pretty sure I was 17 inches the last time I got measured. But that inch was the difference between a small pack and a medium. So here I am thinking I need a medium when I find that Evergreen got a small in with their order. So I tried it on and it seemed to fit right, but I still wasn't sure and wanted to try a medium anyway. I suppose now I can just go in and get the small.
::/Rewind::
Last year, my parents went down to Trail Days when I couldn't make it. They got me a few hiking books by Jonny Molloy: Day & Overnight Hikes in Shenandoah, and Day & Overnight Hikes in the Monongahela. The latter had been free as an older edition. I like his books and his hike suggestions and have used the Shenanhdoah one quite a bit. I also like the formatting of the new editions better than the old, so I got the new edition of the Monongahela book, which offers a few different hikes as well.
I also watched a presentation and slide show about hiking to lookout towers in North Carolina, watched a short film on Olympic National Park, hung out at Backbone Rock for a bit, and stuck around for a bluegrass band before calling it a day.
Its been a long and good day and I'm ready for bed as soon as my laundry is done. The rain has hit Marion and I hope it passes relatively early through the morning so I can get in a good hike up in the highlands before heading back to camp.
::Rewind::
At Evergreen Outfitters, I was fitted for the Gregory Packs and the results said I had an 18 inch torso length. Though I was pretty sure I was 17 inches the last time I got measured. But that inch was the difference between a small pack and a medium. So here I am thinking I need a medium when I find that Evergreen got a small in with their order. So I tried it on and it seemed to fit right, but I still wasn't sure and wanted to try a medium anyway. I suppose now I can just go in and get the small.
::/Rewind::
Last year, my parents went down to Trail Days when I couldn't make it. They got me a few hiking books by Jonny Molloy: Day & Overnight Hikes in Shenandoah, and Day & Overnight Hikes in the Monongahela. The latter had been free as an older edition. I like his books and his hike suggestions and have used the Shenanhdoah one quite a bit. I also like the formatting of the new editions better than the old, so I got the new edition of the Monongahela book, which offers a few different hikes as well.
I also watched a presentation and slide show about hiking to lookout towers in North Carolina, watched a short film on Olympic National Park, hung out at Backbone Rock for a bit, and stuck around for a bluegrass band before calling it a day.
Its been a long and good day and I'm ready for bed as soon as my laundry is done. The rain has hit Marion and I hope it passes relatively early through the morning so I can get in a good hike up in the highlands before heading back to camp.