trail towns: damascus to bland va

[mellow]

Hey guys, is there a decent place to re-supply food between these two points? Prefer to hit a town rather than ship food. Thanks

[Bankrobber]

Resupply at Atkins.

[mellow]

how far is atkins from the trail?

[Jack Tarlin]

Mellow--

Atkins (the town) is actually several miles off the Trail and not many hikers actually go there.

There are several re-supply possibilities between Damascus and Bland:

* You can go into Troutdale, VA

*You can go to Sugar Grove

*Near Atkins, the Trail goes directly past a convenience store; there's also a restaurant nearby as well as a fine motel that accepts maildrop parcels.

Information on these places (and others) is available in such works as the Thru-Hiker's Handbook, and the Thru-Hiker's Companion. These books are updated annually and are generally available (the new edition) in January. If you wish to examine the 2003 Edition, you can view it on-line at www.aldha.org For more information on shopping, re-supply, etc., I strongly suggest you pick up one or both of these books, as they provide very comprehensive data that willl answer most, if not all of your questions.

[Mountain Dew]

Near Atkins is also a dairyqueen if not mistaken right on the trail. Next to that is a gas station that has a resupply.

[Deerleg]

Hey guys, is there a decent place to re-supply food between these two points? Prefer to hit a town rather than ship food. Thanks

I have walked this section more than once. The above is correct. As of this spring DQ, restaurant,gas station, and hotel. Stayed there once in 2000. Many thru hikers stay at the hotel which is right next to the trail where the AT comes out to RT11. It’s about a 4-5 mile hitch south for a real grocery store.
Have a good hike.

[SalParadise]

Mellow,
I was in Atkins about 3 weeks ago thru-hiking. Just off the trail is a Dairy Queen, a gas station and a cafe (the cafe is cheaper and better than Dairy Queen, btw). The gas station does not carry Liptons or Ramen or much else in the way of dinner foods, so you'll probably need to go into town unless you can live on candy.
Atkins is 3.5 miles away. The grocery is what you'd expect: small and expensive, but it has the basics. You can get hot sandwiches there, too.
And I wish you luck getting a ride into town. I would have had as much luck sticking out my middle finger as my thumb.
--Sal Paradise