Appalachian Trail Days Festival 2016 – Damascus VA

I drove 6.5 hours down to the 30th Appalachian Trail Days Festival in Damascus, VA. The festival spanned May 13-15 this year. http://www.traildays.us/
I left early in the morning, around 2AM so I could get down there and find parking and then go get breakfast at the Fire House.  I spent the day there and left to drove back home at 5PM. It was a long day, but worth it.  I parked in the Old Mill public parking lot next to a bunch of people fishing. There was plenty of space early in the day. The town is really nice and I enjoyed being there early in the morning to walk around and take some pictures and video before the Hikers woke up and the visiting crowds arrived. The crowds did show up and I’d estimate a peak of around 15,000 or so during the parade.  I’ll update this official numbers if I see any.  The vendor exhibits were really good with lots of experienced personnel to talk to about whatever gear or cause they represented. I was especially impressed with the quality of the tents from Zpacks. http://www.zpacks.com/
Will Wood “Red Beard” was there to represent their product and was very experienced when it came to discussing the gear and his experiences on the Appalachian Trail. I’ve included a link to his YouTube video channel below. Another tent I was impressed with was made by Light Heart Gear. http://www.lightheartgear.com/index.php
I stopped by the Hiker Yearbook rolling Tiny House (Bus) and talked with them for a while too.  Over 750 people signed up to be in the next addition of the Hiker Yearbook. https://www.facebook.com/thehikeryearbook/?fref=photo
Also very cool, I ran into the Real Hiking Viking at the Appalachian Trials tent - http://appalachiantrials.com/
https://therealhikingviking.com/
https://www.facebook.com/therealhikingviking/
He recently completed an AT SOBO winter hike.  For a portion of his his hike, he carried Paul’s Boots (Paul passed away before he could do his through hike).  Learn More about Paul and his boots here:  http://www.ducttapethenbeer.com/paulsboots

I was also surprised I was able to actually find WolfPine and Tink, Friends and Family of someone I work with who did not complete the trail last year, and are making another shot at it this year.