Date: 2004-10-20
To: The Quest 
Miles today: 0.0

Here is some backstory of my AT life   When my brother Farrell and I were little, I can remember our dad reading to us at night. Books like the Chronicles of Narnia and the Hobbit. Even when he was working several states away he would tape himself reading and mail them to us. Farrell and I would sit up just before bed time and listen to the tapes of people having adventures in mystical lands. During the day we would play like we were those people on those grand adventures, down in the woods behind our house we would be in another world fighting dragons or the white witch.    When mom got a job too, my brother and I would be babysat by a family just off highway 49. They had two kids too, Cid and Toby, and it was there that I met a plucky little plumber that would change my life forever. Now it may sound strange, but most of you have met this fellow, and I credit him and his friends with most of my adventure seeking soul. The plumber of course, is Mario. Cid and Toby had one of the original Nintendo systems and it was while playing those that I finally was able to live the adventures I had always dreamed about. For Christmas I got a Nintendo and have been playing games since.   But video games aren't just games like most people think. They have evolved over the years, just as movies did, into a wonderful tool for storytelling and adventure. If I wasn't off in the woods reading a book or playing around, I was inside playing Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior, or The Legend of Zelda. My friend Dustin Lowder was a big part of this world, I don't think a week went by for three or four years where we weren¢t at one another's house.    The next part of the story is probably a little easier to understand. Another friend of mine, Micah Edquist, had a love of the woods that almost bordered on a fetish. Him and I would go out (As Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone) and do all manner of fun things in the woods. From crawdad hunting and shelter building, to flint and steel fires and squirrel hunting. Micah, Farrell and I probably spent more time playing in the woods than the rest of the kids at our school combined. It was here that I first gained much of the strength I call upon when hiking.    When I was old enough, Farrell and enrolled in the Boy Scouts.   With Willard Moose as our Scoutmaster we learned everything there was to know about camping, and went out every month on another adventure. On top of that, I remember the numerous trips that dad took us on, canoeing and hiking. All this is where I got the skills that I need to survive while out in the woods.    Then the fabled day finally came. I had never heard of the Appalachian Trail before, but the Scout were taking a trip up to the Mount Rogers area, and part of our hike was on the Trail. The trip itself was great, lots of great views and hiking, having fun with the guys.   What changed everything though was the trip down. On the last night we camped at Old Orchard Shelter. In the morning it was raining as we made the 2 mile hike back down to the parking lot at VA603. (it must of been Ka) In the parking lot was a huge dog bounding over trees and through the woods, all with a giant pack on its back. It walked over to the side of the road to a pile of garbage sitting right at the edge. Being the good Boy Scout we were (meaning after we were told to.) We went over to pick up the garbage and throw it away. As we got near, a human hand appeared and started petting the dog!! It turns out that it was jus two thru hikers trying to stay dry in the rain as they waited for a ride from Damascus. They told us all about the Trail; how it stretched from Georgia to Maine and that they were hiking the whole thing in one season.   It was those two hikers that got me. Every day since then I have trained my mind and body for the day when I would embark on the legendary fantasy that most people couldn't even dream of. I bought a map of the Trail that day at a a store down the road, finding out the VA 603 was the 500 mile mark and figuring out that Maine was that state that sticks out of the top of then country, and not the one in the middle (Maryland). Welp, that¢s the first part of my story. Stay tuned next time for how a Prepared and my first few days hiking!! -Grey Fox