Reporting back on this hike as promised for Canoe.
Great hike. It's 41 miles from Fox Creek to Damascus. In Maine, I average 8 miles a day. I can do more, but that's my average including stops for food and breaks along the way. So I planned 5 days to do these 41 miles. It ended up only taking me 4 days.
Now, that being said: The last day it rained quite a bit and the dog and I were pretty soaked. When I got to the campsite I'd been planning on it was 4pm and I was only 5 miles from town. So, considering that and since this was a section hike, we took the creeper trail into town for the last 5 miles that night so we could be dry.
I found the terrain down here to be much easier than Maine. I would have no trouble averaging 10-12 miles a day in similar terrain and I consider myself a slow hiker.
Highlights about this trip:
* Crazy Larry's Hostel - Super nice guy and he introduced me to bacon pancakes. YUM.
* Wild ponies. Gosh they are pretty. They have no fear of people, and walk right up to you. I wouldn't say they are aggressive, but they are assertive. Don't open your snack bag around them.
* Great tenting at Wise Shelter (though not allowed near the shelter for some reason), Lost Mountain Shelter and Saunders Shelter. Not great tenting at Thomas Knob Shelter, at least that I could see. It was socked in with clouds and rain the day I stopped there.
* Tons of campsites along the way
* Not a great water source at Thomas Knob. If you have a pump you'll be fine, but otherwise it may take some time. I'd recommend asking about water conditions there right before the trip and maybe carrying water into that area. It was basically a puddle.
* I loved walking in and out of the woods out into open pasture and fields. Really lovely.
* There are no bear cables in this area, and every hiker camping near me had trouble finding a place to bear bag. Honestly, I slept with my food without issue, as did most others.
*If the weather is clear, there are lots of views.
If you are hankering for other details, I journaled about it here:
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=460436
If you have any questions, feel free to give me a shout.