Date: 2007-06-11
To: The World at Two Miles Per Hour
Miles today: 0.0

My hike was different than what I expected. For one thing it was harder than I had expected and that was with prior experience of section hiking over a period of years from the Tye River in Virginia to Erwin, Tenn. Of course I have gotten older over the 16 year period that I did that section hiking and I have noticed that the mountains tend to get taller every year.The trail was beautiful and the varied terrain, plant life and weather were of continual interest. Having never been in the Georgia mountains before I was interested in them and found the up and down nature of the hiking there challenging. Once I hit North Carolina with the increase in elevation the geology and plant life seemed much more like the mountains I am familiar with. I saw very little wildlife until I got into the Smokies but once there and further north I seemed to see more than most of the other hikers. That was probably due in part to my propensity of getting out on the trail early when the wildlife is more activeThe people ¢ that was the surprise and biggest joy of my hike. They all were interesting and fun to be with. The trail provides a shared experience that makes bonding quickly the norm. Also, in contrast to our normal way of life, you sat around in the evenings and talked ¢ no TV, radio, newspapers or books to distract you from interacting with each other. This leads to finding out about the fascinating lives led by your fellow travelers. For an introvert, I found myself delving into more interaction than I have any time in my life.   I was rewarded with learning about truly interesting people and building friendships that I hope I will be able to continue.Since I started hiking in March and then resumed after a month off in May I traveled with two different sets of hikers. The early group was larger, more diverse in age and experiences and had a larger proportion of females. The group I hiked with in May and June were smaller in number, tended to be younger (more folks just out of school) and had fewer females. Dandelion lamented the small number of other females hiking when she was.For almost 350 miles I was able to experience the world a t a two mile per hour pace (about the average speed that we hiked at). I can¢t image a better way to transition from a relatively high stress job into retirement. The hiking so occupied me that I didn¢t find myself still in my former vocation. I didn¢t recognize the stress of the job and the extent I felt responsible until I was only responsible for myself for an extended period of time. The experience changed me by giving me a renewed appreciation of slowing down and getting to know people. I found out I¢m really not a long distance hiker - I really didn¢t have the desire or psychological make-up to hike the entire trail in one hike. I do want to go back and section hike sections that I haven¢t hiked yet but a week to a month at a time is enough for me.I want to thank Melissa Fourrier and Foster Friends of NC for their support of my hike. I want to thank everyone who donated funds to Foster Friends in support of my hike. My good friends Wayne Caldwell, Tom Bibby, Jim Hall and cousin Jim Powers provided some timely transportation. My wife Becky provided base support and encouragement. A special thanks to all my fellow hikers for sharing yourselves with me and being such good friends and hiking buddies!