Date: 2006-09-14
From: home

To: home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Post Entry #2 (Guest entry by Swamp Fox)EPILOGUEOn March 12, 2005, Rocky left Springer Mountain Shelter, in Georgia, to begin her thru hike of the Appalachian Trail. Then, 544 days later, she summitted Mount Katahdin in Maine to end her 2175 mile journey. Along the way she encountered freezing cold and snow in the Smokies and in Tennessee, hot, sweltering days in the Cumberland Valley, mosquito bites, bee stings, poison ivy, aches, pains, hunger, loneliness, heartbreaks, an occasional jerk, but many more wonderful, friendly people, and many exhilarating, unforgettable moments.   But she persevered and ultimately reached her goal. I was privileged to walk 1227 of those miles with her. Generally, I walked six feet behind. As a result Rocky got to break all the spider webs, stir up the bees, touch the poison ivy first, and make the missteps in the mud that I was able to avoid. She had to listen to my bad jokes and my off-key singing. She had to endure my pontificating about things near and dear to me; like the evils of night hiking, the wonder of all things Italian, the glories of the Marine Corps, and the great works of civil engineers.Rocky did all the cooking, food buying, and kept the finances in order. I tried to do everything else that had to be done, with mixed success. We occasionally disagreed, but not very often. We shared fantastic views, memorable moments, and met many wonderful people. We will remember the night in the Sugarloaf Ski Lodge, the Blue Grass concert at the General Store in Monson, and the last campfire before Katahdin. We have memories for a lifetime. We are grateful for the Trail Angels and the Trail Magic we encountered: Kathy Sherrard (Franklin NC), Barry at Albert Mountain, Fal and Hercules (Marshall NC), Scott and Mandy (Catawba VA), Kim and Mike (Caratunk ME), Wright and Alice (MOC, NJ), Girl Scout Troop 112 (Palmerton PA), Judy and Libby (C&O Canal), the total strangers who gave us rides into towns, and many other Best Friends for Life That We Just Met Yesterday. As an example of great people we met, there was the unnamed couple in New Jersey who went back to the Vernon Hostel to bring the cheese we forgot to us on the Trail. We have fond memories of the fine people who ran some of the places we stayed at: Miss Janet, Bob and Pat Peoples (Kincora), Mike Evans (Terrapin), Rob Bird (The Birdcage), the Shaw¢s, and the owners of the Dutchaus B&B and Bethel B&B, and many others.We were privileged to hike with some great people of all ages, some of who were: Double Healer, Baby Steps, Gazer, Wizard, Hareball (Rocky¢s hiking partner in the beginning of the Trail), Sowega, TomCat, B-Money, JukeBox, Librarian, Pacer, Mouth, Quinn, Captain Patagonia, Chuckles & GottaGo, Doc Narly, Vapor, Greybeard, Vision Quest, Smiling Joe, Dorothy & Toto, the family from NH, Radio & Krazy Katie, Grits, Professor, Slow Walker, Ole Man & NaviGator, and so many more. We hope our paths will cross again on some future trail, or at Trail Days, or at an ALDHA Gathering.   We can now look forward to our next adventure, whatever that may be. Our next trail might be the Long Trail, the Colorado Trail, the International Appalachian Trail, the Via Alpina, the John Muir Trail, or perhaps a pub crawl on the West Highland Way in Scotland.   Stay tuned for Rocky¢s Restaurant Review of the Top Twenty Eating Places on the Appalachian Trail. .