Boots Off Hostel to Damascus, VA

An A.T. Adventure – Part 1

Another year another hiking adventure! This time I am hiking from Boots Off Hostel in Hampton, TN to Damascus, Virginia. A 47-mile hike through the beautiful Iron Mountains of Tennessee.

But it almost didn’t happen.

Bob (aka Lumberjack) and I had planned to hike Oct 1 – 7th. Sunday through Friday. That gave us 5 days to hike and 2 for travel. Plenty of time to get some miles under our feet. Lumberjack is from Virginia and I am from Florida, so we usually meet up halfway somewhere between North Carolina and Tennessee. But this time we planned to meet up in northern Tennesee at an epic hostel named Boots Off. It’s right off the Appalachian trail in Hampton, TN. If you are heading North on the Appalachian Trail it’s mile 428.5.

But then Hurricane Ian made landfall on the west coast of Florida and sent rain right up the Appalachian Trail where we were going to hike. Even worse, was that Hurricane Ian was headed directly toward my city and house. I had to put the hike on pause to navigate the situation. That was tough to do after months and months of planning. I mean, my hiking bag was already packed and ready to go. So was my heart. So I waited with bated breath for Ian to do what he was going to do.

We got really lucky and just got a ton of rain and wind. The house didn’t flood, like from Hurricane Mathew and Irma. I was extremely thankful and grateful. Our street did flood though, and a few houses got water inside. Check out the video of the tarpon in the middle of my street, below.

We decided to push the hike out a week. But then temp dropped drastically and all the trees changed color. It was going to be epic!

Day 1 – The Drive

I left at 5 am. or maybe it was 5:30 pm. I don’t remember, I was too excited. Anyways I was headed North toward Tennessee. It’s a little over 9hrs to drive to Damascus, VA to pick up Lumberjack and then back to Boots Off offHostel in Hampton, TN. We were going to hike about 47 miles on the Appalachian Trail through the Iron Mountains.

I had to make a quick stop in Columbia, SC at the local REI to grab a new sleeping bag. My current 20-year-old sleeping bag uns raked for 50° and it was supposed to be in the 30s at night during our hike. Brrrr

Also, REI has to be one of my favorite stores. There is so much cool gear. I picked out a REl bag, olive green, and rated for 30°. And it was on sale! More importantly, I was going to be warm. I also picked up a new hat, because why not?

I felt way better and more confident about the hike, knowing I was going to be warm.

Onward to VA.

As I passed through Blowing Rock, I was completely blown away by the views. I let out an audible “Woo hoo” in the car while taking in all the view and elevation changes. The mountains were incredible. I could see why it was called the Blue Ridge Mountains. This Florida boy was super stoked.

I pulled into Damascus about 45 minutes before Lumberjack did. FYI they have free long-term public parking at the local library and the trail goes right by it. I stopped by the AT archway and took a selfie. I had seen this sign in many vlogs and it was incredibly cool to see it in person.

I went through my gear one more time trying to figure out where I could lose a few lbs and make sure I had the right gear to keep me warm. I just didn’t want to be cold and I didnt want to carry more than I had too. As I waited a few hikers passed by. They were just finishing a weekend hike. I picked their minds about the trail conditions, weather, temp, and views. They agreed that I would need my 30-degree sleeping bag and some long underwear. They said it was cold at night and cold in the morning but you warmed up quickly once you started hiking.

Lumberjack arrived and we hugged it out and jumped up and down and smiled from ear to ear. Then we realized that we needed to eat because we were both starving after that road trip. We went to a local diner called the Damascus Diner. I ordered the ham and cheese and Lumberjack the burger. We both had ice-cold beers. We talked about our plans, the route, the gear, temperatures for the next few days, and family. It was good to catch up.

We parked Lumberjack’s car at the trailhead and drove my car to Boots Off. It was about an hour or so drive to Hampton, TN. We talked about everything. We have been friend for over 20 years and its always good to catch up.

We eventually made it to Boots Off Hostel. Boots Off is a legendary must-see stop along the way. I remember seeing it on several vlogs of Thru-hikers that I follow. We arrived as it was getting dark and settled into the bunkhouse. It had 8 beds and we had it all to ourselves.

I could barely sleep that night. I was so excited. So pumped. So ready.