Posted on 07/30/2024 12:57:08 PM PDT by Twotone
There are a lot of homeless meth heads living out in the woods around there.
I own (and have read) SO MANY books about it, including Walking with Spring, Earl Shaffer’s account..he was eventually credited with being the first thru-hiker. He and his buddy grew up near the AT and planned to go after the war, but only Earl came back :(. Grandma Gatewood, THAT is a story. Anyway, I have been on just a few select miles of it but absolutely adore it.
What a GREAT story!
Great to have something uplifting for a change!
He started out a boy, and finished it, a man!
PING to a few buddies whom I think will love this story!
Thanks again, Twotone.
TY for the ping, I love AT stories!
We have several trailheads a few miles away in each direction
On the way back, near the parking lot, we met a woman hiking from Georgia. She talked about how her next stop was for some food, and that she literally couldn't eat enough to maintain her weight. So we became "Trail Angels." We happened to have cases of protein bars, RxBars, Granola Bars, and Kind Bars, and gave her as many as she wanted.
For about the last twenty years, I have been writing on FR some of my life experiences, and I keep text snippets of them on my computer. I figure there may be a time I would want to look at them, for reference, if nothing else!
But I like sharing with this community. I’ve met quite a few FReepers in person...never been disappointed.
Some of these folks I have been talking with for twenty years now, and I have found it is indeed possible, with an honest person, to get a handle on who and what they are from simple conversation and civil discourse.
About 1/4 of it. Maintained sections of it for about 20 years.
I graduated from Waynesboro High School down in the Shenandoah Valley. The old Girls Gym and the old original Auditorium had not been demolished and were in use back then.
You made me laugh, thanks.
The northern portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is separately administered by the National Park Service, runs through the Forest.Over 2,000 miles (3,000 km) of hiking trails, including segments of the Appalachian Trail, go through the forest.
I hiked thru Mt. Mitchell and Roan Moutain in June. I love secton hiking the AT. 800 miles and counting....
Having not met you, I spent much of time with others as they thrilled my heart and burnt the memories in my mind as I watched them play with stars and rivers, rain and oceans, snow and diamonds and very importantly with others who cavort with seals and whales, eagles and lions. How lucky we are to have enlarged our lives by such behavior. Ah....
Indeed, Bodega...indeed!
For me, the AT is home. I have hiked many a mile, spent many nights enjoying the mountains. It passes to the east of me, along the visible mountain tops that extend in both directions, north and south. I have not traversed the entire trail but have hiked the portions across the Smokies northward to around Damascus, Virginia many times.
Having talked with several “through hikers” on occasion, I was put off by their obsessive thoughts of miles per day and or elevation gained. By speeding along, they missed the inherent subtlety of where they are and just being.
They missed the glory of the acres of Catawba Rhododendron and the spectacular blaze of the orange wild azaleas. They missed the tastes of the water taken from the many springs along the way. They missed the joy of traipsing through a carpet of Bluets, or the rarity of Gray’s Lilly.
But,that’s just me.
I’m not a hiker, but that would certainly be the point for me: The glory of this beautiful world we’ve been blessed with.
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