Date: 2009-05-23
From: Davis Farm Campsite

To: Bland
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: broken clouds

Today was the day of trail magic! And magic it was. Just to explain to you guys: trail magic is getting a surprise on the trail that is out of the ordinary like a snickers left in a shelter, a coke left in a stream or a family picking you up in town and taking you out to dinner. Trail magic is preformed by trail angles who are usually friends of the trail, family, past hikers or just genuinely nice people. This morning we are hiking along at our normal pace and come to a road crossing and we see three older retired looking gentlemen sitting in chairs in the dirt road next to a van. At first I see if I smell anything like bacon cooking, and then I look around and see if I see a grill. Nope nothing, so I try not to get my hopes up. We get down to these guys and they ask us if we are hungry? A question you never ask a thru-hiker. We proceed to load up all of our stuff in their van and head to the local Methodist church in a small little farming community. Later we find out that this community had been closed off to outsiders until the late 70's when they cut a tunnel through the mountain so that a road could enter, so it truly is a small pristine gorgeous little valley. The pastor preaches at the church that we were taken to and two other churches in neighboring communities. About 10 years ago, he realized a need to witness to all of the hikers that were passing through and so he established ATOM (Appalachian Trail Outreach Ministry). So that is exactly who picked us up ¢ a group of ATOMS that drove all the way from Louisiana to help us and that they did! It was the best meal that I have eaten on the trail and was truly a blessing. To all of you out there that have a Sunday school class that would like to be a part and help ATOM, I will be glad to send you their information. I think they had just as good of a time as we did! It was funny. I was talking with this lady and she said that they use to go down to Mexico on missions and now they have been coming up here to Virginia to work with hikers for the past four years and just love it. The whole time I was thinking that is so nice and in the back of my head wondering if everybody thinks that all of us hikers need more help than people in third world countries. I guess we do live on less than 20 dollars a day, but I don¢t feel like I deserved all of the attention and help that I have been getting. Regardless, I pulled out the Methodist Teddy Bear that I have been carrying with me and showed all of the ladies who just ate it up and continued piling blue berry pancakes, sausage, bacon, breakfast casserole, grits, orange juice, coffee, banana nut bread, you name it they had it already cooked. The preacher had researched the lightest weight bible available, so I traded out the one I was carrying for the one that he was giving away. I think I was able to save a couple of ounces, but what is truly important is the fact that some of the guys that I have been hiking with didn¢t trade out there bibles. They did not have bibles with them to trade out; they picked up a bible for the first time. Some of the guys that I would have least expected picked up one and were excited about reading the bible for the first time. This is truly the work of God, and I am so thankful to be a part of it and thankful for all those out there helping to spread his word. "Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water." - Francis of Assisi