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Hiking
the Appalachian Trail
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Second
Report |
Everything is going well. I am about 290 miles into the hike at this time. I want to share this story with you that has let me know that everything is worthwhile.
The other night I was hiking in NC and came upon Hog Back Ridge Shelter, just miles from the TN border. When I got there, everyone was talking about these two cute little Beagle puppies, which had followed two hikers into the shelter earlier that day. It was snowing very hard, and everyone there was cold and hungry so you can imagine the puppies were also. I was thinking “yeah they are real cute today, but what are we going to do with them tomorrow.” The next morning nobody wanted to take responsibility for these little bundles of fur. One hiker ended up taking the female puppy, which was more aggressive, into Irwin, TN. We had named her Caroline and the male Irwin. Irwin was kinda the runt so I stuck him in my jacket in these blizzard like conditions and hiked two miles out to the road. Thinking to myself, who could refuse a cute guy with a puppy or at least a cute puppy with a guy! I hiked another three miles into town where a girl who is a river guide at the local USA Rafting Company here in Irwin, TN picked me up. She took me to her office. There was a woman who worked there whose boyfriend had always wanted a Beagle puppy. She called him and he said, “sure, that sounds great!” I was very happy that we had found a home for Irwin. This turned into an all day process so I hung out rafting company with these nice folks. I did not get a ride back until about 4:45 in the afternoon. When I was getting ready to walk back into the woods at Sams Gap, where I had gotten off the trail, a man pulled up beside me in a brown truck, and he had the female Beagle, Caroline, in the back of his truck. He asked if I was the hiker with the male Beagle and I said yes but I had found him a home at the rafting company As it turned out this man was the owner of both puppies. They had wandered off from their home 40 miles away. We arranged to have the family reunited and everyone was happy all the way around. It truly is amazing how everything has a way of working itself out.
Since I had lost time and wanted to keep to my 20 miles a day schedule, I continued to hike until 1:00AM During that time, I had to cross Big Bald, a mountain (altitude 5,516) with no trees and lots of snow. It was windy and I was cold and tired. As things always do have a way of working themselves out, I ended up seeing the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen in my life and that gave me a big boost my enthusiasm to continue. I have never lost my perspective, or thought about giving up, although I have had my good days as well as bad, just like the mountains here. We all have our ups and downs.
I had my shoes stretched while I was in town so that should help a lot with the blisters that have plagued me along the way.
Everything along the trail is trial and error and I learn more with each passing day.
I will call in again in the next week or so….
If you would like to sponsor Perry's quest to hike the Appalachian Trail, please click here