After a non-eventful zero day in Buena Vista, Virginia, I hitched a ride up Highway 60 to where I had left off two days ago.  It was hot and humid again as I headed up a 2,000′ climb right off the bat up to the first ridge, where I did enjoy some good views of the valley below.  I did not know how my body would respond with a heavy pack on my back again climbing in the heat and humidity.  I took it slow, taking lots of breaks.  I did pass a group of three guys from the Natural Bridge AT Club doing their Wednesday maintenance on the trail.  Dave, Robert, and Norman were up on a hot day clearing trees from the trail that had fallen over.  Their club maintains a 90 mile section of the AT, again, on a volunteer basis as all do.  Although the trail passes through many two National Parks and eight National Forests, the actual maintenance is all done by faithful volunteers, who devote tens of thousands of hours annually to the maintenance and upkeep of the trail.  It is very much appreciated by hikers such as me.

I was moving slower and slower as the day progressed.  Gone were the days earlier in my journey when I could crank out average mileage at 2-3 miles per hour, going 16-20 miles per day.   On this day, it was all I could do to average about 1.5 per hour with all the breaks I was having to take due to the heat.  Water was drying up, as it was 4:00 in the afternoon until I passed a stream or spring with water in it.  I made the shelter at about 6:00 that evening, covering  just 14.5 miles that day.  I was somewhat surprised to see someone there, as the trail was about devoid of hikers now.   Russell, a middle-aged man from South Carolina and his daughter from college were on a father-daughter hike for a few days.  It was good to have company for once at a shelter, as the mice don’t carry on much of a conversation.

For just the second time in my trip, I actually had phone reception at the shelter, so I was able to call home.  I had just about made the decision to just fly home from Wayesborough, the next town on the AT.  While I would only be 161 miles from Harpers Ferry at Waynesborough, the heat was just miserable.  I began to question why I should struggle to cover just 15 miles or so per day now, if that, when I could be hiking this section in late October when the temperatures are much cooler, the trees are turning, and water should be plentiful.  I was feeling an urge to just go home.  I felt just like Forrest Gump did, at the end of his running adventure, when he said, “I’m tired now.  I think I’ll go home now.”   After hearing that my Dad had spent a day in the hospital due to a heart issue, the decision was final.  I told my wife to book a flight home from Waynesborough, and I’d fly home in a few days from Waynesborough.  I’d then be able to spend over two weeks at home to rest up, get some work done, see my family, and fly up to Maine on October 18th for my southbound trip.  My days of strenuous, sweaty, hot hiking with heat indexes over 100 would be over, as I’d enjoy much cooler weather up north.

I made arrangements to meet Lyle, my shuttle driver, down at the Tye River Valley at about 3:30 the next afternoon to catch a ride to Wayesborough with another hiker he was picking up there, so it worked out great.  I only had about 11.5 miles to do, with much of it downhill.  There was a difficult climb up the The Priest mountaintop at over 4,000′, before a

long, steep descent into the Tye River Valley.  Even on the downhill sections, I was having to stop, rest, and cool off about every 30 minutes or so.  At about 3:00, I made it down to the Tye River, dropped my pack, stripped down to my shorts, and plunged into the cold, clear river.  It felt great, and cooled me down right away.  The other hiker was already there, a section hiker from Maryland, soaking in the cold river.  We had a good 45 minute visit before Lyle got there to take us both to Waynesborough, and he graciously paid the entire shuttle fee for me, since I was doing this for charity (and I was about out of cash).  Lyle was quite the conversationist, telling story after story with expletives sprinkled throughout.  I was not looking forward to the damn 45 minute drive to the damn airport in two @#!*&! days.

I had been dreaming about eating at Ruby Tuesdays for two days, knowing there was one in Waynesborough.  Fresh fruits and vegetables are scarce on the trail, so I was craving the great salad bar there, along with their sweet fruit drinks.  After checking into the Comfort Inn and cleaning up, I mozied over to the restaurant for a great dinner of real food.  I was feeling a little better now.   I called Becky and told her I was just going to do a short 10.5 mile slackpack Friday, as it would Saturday before my flight left to go home to Tulsa.  I wasn’t that excited about hitting the trail again, but I did not want to just sit around all day.  The weather forcast was for cooler temperatures and lower humidity’s, so I figured I could do 10.5, with most of it downhill, and be OK. 

The heat had kicked my butt.  Up until this point, I was always confident I could do this, beating the odds and completing the AT.  I was feeling defeated though for the first time.  I began to question as to whether I could pull this AT adventure off.  I was not having fun.  I was missing my family.  I wasn’t going to quit, but I needed a serious break, and some cooler weather to hike in.  And I just couldn’t ignore that pull that I felt to just go home.

After eating breakfast, I staggered outside with a cup of coffee in my hands to head across the street to buy my two bottles of Poweraid for the day’s hike.  The first thing that hit me was that the weather was much cooler, with the cold front that had sparked some late afternoon storms the previous day passing through.  Then I looked and saw three of our managers–James, Dusty, and Rodney, standing next to a car in the parking lot, all with silly grins on their faces.  I thought I was seeing things, and staggered up to them asking them, “Why are you guys here?”  After reading my last blog, which apparently was kinda depressing, they decided to take a road trip and drive the 19 hours to where I was, find me on the trail, and hike with me on the AT.  They thought I needed some rejuvenation, and they were right.  I just couldn’t believe that they had driven all that way just to hike some of the AT and cheer me up.  Becky had not bought a plane ticket for me either, as they were going to drive me back home after our hike that day, and be home by Saturday evening.  Immediately, my mental and physical state turned around.  I was overwhelmed, and ready to hike even further that day, and get home by the next day.   Trail magic usually comes in unexpected ways from total strangers while on the AT.  I had experienced my share of trail magic, but I had not expected to have this type of trail magic from people that I knew–three of my employees.  It was really needed, and came at just the right time.  The Compassionater was in need of a little compassion himself.  It was one of the nicest things that someone had ever done for me. 

We enjoyed a brief 10 minute ride with Lyle up to a spot on the Blue Ridge Parkway which intersects with the AT, as he left us off there to hike the 14.5 miles down to Rockfish Gap.  I didn’t even need a daypack, as the other guys carried any water and snacks we needed for the hike.  It was an easy hike, with just over 700′  in elevation gain that day, and the rest being downhill or even somewhat level.  The trail was in good shape, and the weather was great.  I barely broke a sweat that day, and felt like I could hike all day for the the first time in weeks.   And the most important factor was that my mind and attitude were back in good shape.  It was so great to enjoy the company of friends, who had cared so much so as to drive 19 hours to hike the AT with a tired and discouraged hiker.

After finishing our easy hike of 14.5 miles that day, we were at Outback at 4:00 ready to eat.  We were going to drive about 5 hours into Kentucky, so that we could be back in Tulsa by dinner on Saturday.  On the way home, I received a call from Becky, with her excitedly telling me that our new granddaughters were going to be born that afternoon in Tulsa.  Our daugher-in-law, Brittany, was not due for a month, but the doctors determined that the babies needed to be delivered that day.  A little over an hour later, I received word that Emma and Riley Johnson were brought into this world, were healthy, and were the most beautiful little girls in the world!  What a day!  What a difference in my mental and emotional state had occured in just one day.  I was again reminded as to what a great God we have, and how he  uses the people in our world to give this tired, dejected, old hiker a renewed joy and reason for doing what he’s doing.

So as I write now, I’m back in Tulsa for over two weeks.  It’s good to be home now with my family, friends, and even at work.  I’ll be able to spend some time with my grandkids, with my Dad, my wife, and with Katie and Luke before they head off to college.   I will re-plan my trip, for my southbound journey now, as I head down to Rockfish Gap from Maine, ending up sometime in early November now.   I’ll be evaluating my gear, adding some cold-weather clothes to my mix, and trying to add some spice and variety to my trail diet.  I’ll be eating allot, and working out, to try to add about ten pounds and get my weight back up to 185, my starting weight from two months ago.  I’ll get my new ultra-light fishing rod, as I’ll be catching and eating trout as I head south through Maine and New England.

I’ve learned allot over the first two months of my AT journey.  I’ve learned  even more about the trail, which will help me on the second half of my journey.  I’ve learned more about myself.  I’ve been somewhat surprised that I became lonely at times, especially over the past few weeks upon my return to the trail.  The heat has driven most people off the trail in Virginia, and most days I saw few, if any people.  I’ve always kinda liked some solitude, and was always OK with being by myself at times.  That in fact is one of the good traits of an entrepreneur, as you are on your own in most cases the first year, and even beyond.  One has to be able to thrive working by himself and having it all fall on their shoulders.  I’m not a real social guy, and don’t need to surround myself with allot of social interaction to be happy either.

But I’ve realized that we all need people.  We especially need the relationships we care about the most–our family and friends.  Meeting new people is great and stimulating.  We can learn alot about things we know little about.  And it’s great to help strangers and to be helped by total strangers.  But what really matters most is not necessarily the breadth of relationships, but the depth of close relationships.  In fact, one of the podcasts I listened to while hiking the trail spoke of research on what makes people happy.  It’s not money, health, vocation, where we live, stuff we own, etc.   It’s relationships.  It’s who we spend time with, how we influence and help those people, and how we allow them to influence us.  In a word, it’s love.

The scenery on the AT has been magnificent at times.  It’s been fun to see and experience a part of America that is often unseen.  It’s been rewarding to take on this challenge and succeed.  But it’s the people we meet and experience while on the AT, and the people we long for and miss while on the trail, that really matter.

So I have over two weeks to get back into the reality of life away from the Appalachian Trail.  I’ll be working to get some of my strength and weight back at the dinner table and by working out at Sky Health & Fitness in Tulsa.  I have some difficult climbs coming up in the mountains of Maine and New England, so I cannot get lazy and get out of shape.  I have work to do at the office.  And I’ll be spending time with the people I care about the most, including my new twin granddaughters.  On August 18th I’ll be ready to hit the trail again, with new scenery and adventures coming my way.  I’ll be running into many northbound thru-hikers heading to Mt. Katahdin, who started their journey heading north way back in March, April, or May.  It’ll be fun and interesting to share our adventures, and trade stories and advice about the trail up ahead.   I will not finish this thru-hike on October 1st as planned, but I will finish. 

As in life, I’d had some unexpected stuff happen, some changes, and some really hot weather!  I’ve had to modify, adjust, re-plan, and make some changes.  I’ll still get there, but by taking a slightly different path and timetable.  That’s OK.  The journey will still be complete, and in the end, it will be all about compassion–about helping others.  There’s no way I could hike the entire Appalachian Trail if it was just about me doing something adventurous.  It’s too long, and too difficult.  I will thru-hike the AT in 2010.  I’ll be climbing Mt. Katahdin soon, and heading south through the 100-mile wilderness in Maine, on my way to completing this journey in early November.

The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.    Psalm 126:3

This entry was posted on Monday, August 9th, 2010 at 8:14 am and is filed under AT2010, Appalachian Trail, Tulsa Charity, Virginia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.