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| View from Appalachian Trail at Height of Land overlook in Maine |
Lately in New England as we have been ‘sampling’ sections
of the Appalachian Trail, we have seen many groups of ‘thru-hikers’ nearing the
end of their long journey. As October
approaches, the northbound AT hikers must reach Baxter State Park in Maine and
summit Mt. Katahdin before the trail closes on October 15 or they will be
unable to finish the trail this year.
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| Near the beginning of the AT in Georgia back in early spring |
There are so many different hikers of diverse ages and
backgrounds that attempt this arduous adventure every year. I’m sure the ‘gist’ of everyone’s hiking
story is similar. A long and difficult journey
begins with much hope yet no assurance of the outcome. Hardships are many and
challenges are often unexpected. Weather
can be brutal. But there is help along
the way and friendships are made. Some
will prevail, others will not. But all
will have a life changing experience. We
have been privileged this year to hike sections of the AT and hear a few ‘tales
of the trail.’
On the Appalachian Trail near summit of Blood Mountain, Georgia
In Maine we met one hiker in his late 60s on the trail. He was just about to reach 2,000 miles hiked
on the AT. Using hiking poles and moving
slowly but steadily, both of his knees were wrapped. He told us he usually hiked 10 or 12 miles a
day, but he never had a ‘zero’ day. He
hiked at least a few miles every day. He
started in Georgia in early February and said he had a crash course in winter
camping. This year the winter was
particularly brutal and spring was late. A couple of nights he thought he was
going to freeze to death. But when we met him he was just 230 miles from Mt.
Katahdin and thought he would finish the trail by the end of September.
In contrast, we met Snickers (his trail name) in New Hampshire
just 20 miles from the Maine border. He
was only a week behind the 60 year-old but he had started the AT the first of
May (3 months later!) and was on schedule to finish before the end of
September. His average was about 30 miles
a day. Snickers had 24 year-old knees, no
injuries and hiked without poles.
Checking out the AT shelter at Rattle River, New Hampshire
One day in Maine, we were stopped at an overlook where
the AT crossed a high pass. We were
scouting it out for a possible hike when a couple who were also stopped there
noticed our Texas license plates and started talking to us. Geoff and Tina were from Washington D.C., but
Geoff had gone to high school in Midland, TX.
We all laughed at the coincidence as David and I grew up 20 miles away
in Odessa.
We learned that their college son was an AT hiker but had
gotten Lyme disease and finally had become too weak and sick in Vermont and had
to give up his dream of finishing this year.
It was a big disappointment, but Twigs (again, his trail name) came home
to recover. Feeling much better now, he
is going to meet his parents in a couple of weeks to summit Mt. Katahdin and make
the last hike on the AT before heading back to college. Next summer Twigs will complete the parts of
the trail he didn’t finish this year.
Near the top of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire
We made plans to meet Geoff and Tina for dinner a couple
of nights later and had a great evening talking of many things but again tales
of the AT dominated the conversation. Geoff
said he had been very skeptical for his son to take a semester off from college
to hike the AT but Tina was all for it.
They sent their son off alone in March waving goodbye to their boy at
Springer Mountain, Georgia. Later in the
summer they welcomed home a man.
Many hikers start
out on the trail alone but quickly make friends. Twigs, like most AT hikers, soon had a ‘trail
family,’ hikers that more or less travel along together and look out for each
other. Late one day in early spring a
cold front blew in and Twigs became so cold that he was hypothermic. One of his trail family recognized that Twigs
was in danger and made him sleep in his tent that night so he could get warmer.
Without someone looking out for him,
Twigs might have died. There have been a
couple of deaths this year on the AT from hypothermia.
"Inchworm" Missing...
On a very sad note, there is a hiker that is
missing. In late July we heard about
‘Inchworm,’ a 66 year-old woman hiking the AT. She was to meet her husband at a highway
crossing in Maine for resupplies but never showed. She was seen the day before she disappeared. Inchworm was a very experienced hiker and was
carrying extra food. Professional
searchers and the local AT community searched continuously for her until just
recently. When we were in Maine 2 weeks
ago, her posters were still up along the trail and in nearby towns in hope that
someone might still find her. Only 1% of
AT hikers become lost and nearly all are found within 48 hours. Inchworm is still missing…
We have passed a few Gulf War Veterans hiking the
AT. They are usually pretty intense and
don’t stop. Hopefully, nature will work
her magic and they will find the peace they need on the trail. We have also seen a few ‘characters’ along
the way. There was ‘Brohawk,’ a late
twenty-something guy with a very cool Mohawk haircut. Then there was the Canadian with his flag and
large plastic pink flamingo tied to his backpack. I know it didn’t weigh much,
but to carry a pink flamingo over 2,000 miles…
White AT blaze marks the trail on rocky section
We heard about Hans, an 87 year-old mountaineer from Germany. He is the oldest thru-hiker on the AT this
year and maybe one of the oldest to ever hike it. Hans is hiking alone and other AT hikers have
told us he is in pretty amazing physical shape for his age, but he sometimes
gets lost and has been found by those who know him to be hiking south on the
trail when he should be going north. I
cannot fathom hiking over 2,000 miles alone at age 87. Most of us will be lucky to be walking to the
bathroom alone at 87. We sure hope he
continues to head north and completes the AT safely.
Gifts from Trail Angels
The AT community is really supportive of its hikers and there
are many ‘Trail Angels’ along the way.
We have heard heartwarming stories of people who stop and give hikers
rides into town to buy groceries, give them food or even take hikers into their
homes for a good meal, a shower and a night’s sleep in a real bed. Some Trail Angels put food or drinks out at
trail intersections. A few grill burgers
and hot dogs at trail head areas to feed the thru-hikers. Twigs’ parents were being Trail Angels when
we met them. They had an ice chest and
were putting out cold drinks for the hikers because their son had told them how
much a cold ice tea, soda or even water can mean to a tired hiker.
These are just a few of the stories we have heard this
season as we have been following the AT north.
There are likely as many more as there are hikers. Our wish for all the hikers is the adventure of a lifetime and then to arrive home safely.
AT near Clingman's Dome in Smoky Mountains
