Man oh man, Damascus Trail Days is something to see. I never in my life have seen anything like it. I don't even know where to begin. I guess I'll start by describing Tent City.
Tent City is insane. Literally thousands of hikers come in and take over a very, very large section of woods outside Damascus. By the time I got there on Friday, entire neighborhoods and subdivisions had been built in the woods. A few names of subdivisions include Trail Talk, Billville, and Riff Raff. Riff Raff had so many tarps hanging from trees, they had more square footage than most moderately sized houses. It was just insane. The Riff Raff area alone was so big you could get lost in there. By the time night rolled around, all of Tent City was one big party. If you wanted to find the heart of the party, literally all you had to do was follow the beat. Located in the center of Tent City was the largest fire pit I have ever seen. It must have been over 15' across, with walls around 2'. The flames rose to twice the height of any human. A massive drum circle was located around this fire ring, and people were all hanging out, listening to the music, or dancing around the fire. I'm not gonna lie, I took a lap of two around the flames. I mean what can I say? When in Rome, sometimes you have to do as the Romans do.
The best part of my time in Damascus was catching up with some really good friends of mine, Zeus and Spider. I spent the entire weekend with them and we had a great time! We spent hours wandering through Damascus, catching up with old friends and talking down vendors. Vendors will do anything for a current thru hiker! We had so much fun, we are already making plans together for Trail Days next year!
Man, what an experience. I wish all of you had been here to see it! Catch you down the trail!
Breeze
You son of a..... getting the whoopie sling setup for half of what I paid. See you soon.
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