Date: 2007-04-19
From: Stan Murray Shelter

To: US 19E Moutain Harbor B & B
Miles today: 10.4

Flint & Hobo are here for this evening along with Dorothy, Toto, Stretch, Mr. Easy, No Problem and Stealth Blue. Thunderstorms are in the area too, as we were talking on the phone I could hear the rumbling in the background. They were going to go another 9 miles to Mountaineer Shelter when the skys blackened and they opted to head for the B & B. I need to make a clarification about a journal entry a few days ago, usually our conservations are very short and brief and there are so many things you try to remember to say to each other and we always say "I love you" a dozen times and ask how each other are doing "really?" - by the time you mix that in with a few trail names, mileage, shelters, places it gets jumbled a bit in my mind, if I don't have the opportunity to write it down - when given a few minutes of extra phone time I'll read back the journal entries to make sure everthing is acurate and has it should be - well the thigh high drifts from the other day are not correct, they did hike in 18 - 24 inches of snow and in places the snow had drifted well above knee high but not thigh high, unless you are really short - so in that case I guess I could qualify but I wasn't there so I guess you guys will just have to forgive me. Well now that we have that out of the way and all is right with Flint's TJ's let's move on to something else. I've been thinking pretty hard for the past several days about the life of a thru-hiker, you know I met quite a few when I went to visit Flint last week. They come from all walks of life, all shapes and sizes, and for all reason and rhyme. Some are quiet, some are loud, some are soft spoken, some are shy, some are not, some are of many words and some are of few but one thing I did notice they are all appreciative of the smallest of a kind gesture. Their life is not an easy one even though they may have chose it. It's a struggle to get cranking in the morning to get their first mile or two under their feet but then they get their trail wind, then it becomes a natural thing, they hike & hike until they hike no more; they rest, it begins again; it's what they have accomplished at the end of the day that pushes them to do the next day and the next, then the next until the miles begin to add up and a dream becomes closer to reality with every step and every mile. To the hardy souls of the Class of 2007 best of luck! You truly are out there doing something incredible. It is a job of sorts, the pay is different instead of getting a check sent direct deposit to a bank you receive your direct deposit to your senses in breathtaking views, fellowship & friendship, starlit incredible nights, fresh mountain air, a beautiful bald, fiddleheads as they begin to sprout, honeysuckle blooms, blackberries, soaring hawks and eagles, trickling streams, cascading waterfalls, mossy covered rock ledges, rhododendron tunnles, campfires & laughter, the sounds of barred owl "Who cooks for you, who cooks for us all", the melodies of song birds and the list could go on and on. Sometimes the trail may not always be pretty but it is always "Beautiful!" Peace and Love To All. Paws