Day 11

Game Over.  Mountains win.  I'm done.  My knees just can't take the uphill climbs or the downhill slopes.  I have tried on two attempts and that's all.  If I ever complete the whole trail it will be by doing a section at a time.  My knees just do not work like they did years ago, so I am happy to be home.  Today while I was waiting for my wife to pick me up, I was sitting in the Holiday Inn Express with my back to the lobby door when I hear someone call my name.  When I turned around there stood a hiker from North Carolina that said Jane had just dropped him off and told him that if he saw me to say Hi.  This hiker thought he might have broken a bone in his foot.  He had been sitting at Unicoi Gap for about 2 hours when someone offered him a ride.  That someone was none other than my trail angel, Jane Kuck. Here is a picture of Jane and I.

In yesterday's post I mentioned that God puts people in our path to help us or teach us something.  I failed to mention that sometimes it may be us that God is using to help someone else.  It is quite possible that we may not even be aware of it at the time.  We may never put it together that God used us in that way.  One thing I am sure of, Jane is a true trail angel.  As the hiker told his story to me, and I shared how Jane had just appeared on the trail to help me we both agreed that Jane is one of those special people, a true trail angel.

What did I accomplish on my journey?  I did cover 52.9 miles of the AT plus the 8 miles of the Approach Trail that do not count.  Added together I hiked 66 miles.  For anyone who is doing the math remember I hiked a 5.5 mile section twice.  What was the most enjoyable part?  I would have to answer the nights at Blood Mountain Cabins.  I am really a couch potato and enjoy the comforts of home as opposed to sleeping in a tent.  The reality is that I knew my knees were in bad shape because I had to have help to stand up after crawling out of my tent in the morning.  I always made sure that my hiking poles were real close when I crawled into my tent because I needed them to help me get up each morning.  I am not convinced that being overweight had that much of an effect on my knees, but it probably did add to the problem.  Another best part would be the people that I met along the way.  Every person that I met was very friendly.  Sometimes you would know and remember a persons name, like Tom who had just gotten out of the Navy and started hiking. Or you would know them by a trail name, like Slo-Mo and Green Mile, a father and son hiking part of the trail. Or, you would just remember the state where a person was from, like the hiker from Maine that I gave all my food.  Everyone who passed me usually stopped to talk for a minute or two.  Was I ever discouraged?  Sure.  This occurred almost every time I looked up and thought I was just about to reach the top of a mountain only to find out that I was wrong and the top was still uphill some more.  Or when I did reach a mountain top only to be able to see the next mountain I would be climbing and dreading the climb I knew was ahead.  I could do pretty good on level ground, but there wasn't much of that anywhere.  Was there anything I did not like?  Yes, the taste of hot water from a 2 liter bladder bag I carried.  When I was  thirsty warm water was not what I needed to quince my thirst.  I really believe that if I had found someone hiking at my slow pace to pair up with I would have enjoyed it more and could have gone further.  The old saying "misery loves company" has a lot of truth there.  Don't get me wrong, I am proud of my journey.  I now know that I am one of the 7 out of 10 that do not complete a thru hike.  From now on I will be a weekend camper, a couple of days at a time.

What's next for me?  I will turn my attention to my garden and start fishing again.  I will put my hiking equipment up for now and maybe try to do another section next year.  I will continue with this blog because it is all about my life journey.  More to come later.