Damascus Virginia once again hosted a three day festival of Appalachian Trail experiences.
This is the place to check out the latest in ultra-lite hiking tents and hammocks. All these were displayed along the Appalachian Trail that runs through the park in Damascus.
And there were evening slideshows, thru-hiker talks, music, dancing and sharing AT experiences in general.

Here is Ed Speer of Speer Hammocks discussing hammock camping with some AT hikers. Interested hikers were checking out the many subtle variations of hammock design and accessories.

In addition to hiking equipment vendors, there were hordes of food vendors and craft tents.
Deep fried Oreo cookies anyone?
You need to get your energy boosted for the inter-active parade at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.

I don’t know who started it or when, but there is tradition of water balloons and squirt guns from both paraders and parade watchers.
It has usually been hikers in the parade versus the hikers not in the parade in the water-balloon and squirt gun battles.
But the excitement is contagious and cannot be contained.  Everyone, fire trucks, beauty queens and classic cars got at least sprinkled while parading through town.

The big battle was the hikers. I mean we are talking about massive roof top ambushes and pint-sized assaults from knee level.  I’m glad it was a warm and sunny day on Saturday.

This guy was an experienced Trail Days parader.

Why take a puny squirt gun for a parade all the way through town. You will empty it in the first block. Then you are just a target like everyone else.  Why not take five gallons in a pressurized long-range squirting banjo?

Mark your calendar and your Appalachian Trail maps for the 2010 Trail Days, Damascus VA.