Date: 2013-11-18
From: Stewart Hollow Brook Shelter

To: Sharon Mountain Campsite 
Miles today: 12.4

I did not sleep well at the last shelter with 6 guys making noise in the shelter and last night it rained, hard at times, and the wind blew hard up on the hill keeping me awake much of the night. I got up tired. I lazed in the shelter until the sun was up and the few sprinkles that were hanging around left. It was 8:30 before I hit the trail. The first 1.5 miles today were level and got me off to a good start. I had 5 fairly large climbs today but they were not the PUDS kind that I had yesterday. At least you felt like you were getting somewhere. I saw no one at all today and very few small animals were around. There were no deer today. That makes me a little nervous about the incoming weather. I did something today that was not the wise thing to do. I reached Guinea Brook and an official sign warned against trying to cross it on the stepping stones. It said they were not safe. I have not taken any of the easy bypass trails all the way from GA. so I didn¢t want to take this one either. So I tried the stones. I quickly found out why they were not safe. They were covered with some kind of slick, slimy substance that was impossible to walk on. I found myself wading across the shin deep creek in my boots. Oh well, they were still wet from yesterday anyway. I got to the other side, took off my boots and poured the water out of them, took off my socks and wring the water out of them, put them back on and went my merry way. The bad thing was if I had fallen my camera was in my pocket, not in a plastic bag, and it is very difficult to get up out of swiftly moving water with your pack on. Everything I had would have probably gotten wet. The rest of the day went fairly well and I got to my intended destination but felt I should not stop there. So I saw in my guide pages there was a campsite 2 miles farther down the trail and decided I should go there.Now for the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey would say. Just why am I at Falls Village CT when I had not planned on it. I don¢t usually put personal things in my journal but feel compelled to do so today. After all this is a place for hiking stories but I did enjoy Hoosiers Journal this year with all his comments. This is a long story that I don¢t have time to tell all the details so I¢ll try to summarize. The trail has always been a spiritual journey for me as well as an adventure. I have always felt closeness to God more out here than anywhere else. Maybe it¢s solitariness, quietness, I don¢t know. If you recall the man I met at The Church of The Mountain Hostel that seemed, well, different, it started with him I guess. He wanted to talk religion and was well versed in the Bible but seemed to be seeking something he could not find. We had a very interesting conversation about how the little churches seemed to be closing their doors because the older members were dying off and no young people were taking their place. He said we as Christians were not doing our part in winning other souls to Christ. This got me to thinking as I hiked the trail how much the trail was like life, with it¢s up and downs, wrong turns you can make, dangers, obstacles, etc. So I got the idea that I would make a program when I get home comparing the two to present at churches or wherever someone would have me. Ideas just kept popping into my mind. Then I got to thinking if I was really worthy of presenting such a program to others. I decided I was not in my present spiritual condition. So as I hiked up Sharon Mtn. on Nov. 18 with sunset approaching I knew what I had to do when I reached the top. Would you believe that there was a perfect large rock with a bed of leaves to kneel on just waiting for me there? I asked God to forgive my imperfect Christian life and fill me with the Holy Spirit so I could and would be worthy and able to make my program in hope that it might lead someone else to Christ. So that is why I am here at Falls Village CT. instead of out on the trail. I needed to let the world know this story. I will try to get back to regular journaling from now on. Thanks for following my journal.