Date: 2006-09-17
From: locust cove gap

To: fontana
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: few clouds

======2003====== friday, march 7, day14reading II kings 6: 16,17¢¦..open OUR eyes, too, Lord, that WE might see the ¢chariots of fire¢ and the ¢burning bushes¢ *¢¦..forgot to write last night of the oak leaf lichen we saw¢¦.lime green!...beautiful!....also yesterday afternoon after our visit with the ristoms on cheoah, walking down the mountain to our campsite was sooooo beautiful/peaceful!....(we can see the smokies now¢¦.killeen says 17 miles to clingman¢s dome as the crow flies)¢¦.how shall i describe our hike down last evening?....how shall i describe the ¢fire¢ our eyes really did behold?.....the mountains a soft gray/ blue¢¦.the sky in ¢ribbons¢ above, all baby blue and cream, like banners flying in celebration!...cottony cumulus clouds were clinging to the mountaintops such as one would see after the firing of cannons on the fourth of july ¢¦.but yet all was peaceful and still¢¦.for a while we were walking the gently sloping ridgetop¢¦.the mountains to our left seemed very close¢¦intimate somehow¢¦.and then the smokies to our right rose in more far- away mystery¢¦ ¢wow¢ was about all i could humbly verbalize! ¢¦¢¦(i¢m actually finishing this writing here at the inn on saturday AM as we were too exhausted last night after we checked in to do anything but hop in the bed)¢¦.any way, the trail over here yesterday was very pleasant¢¦.gorgeous, clear, spring-like weather¢¦.most of the trail itself was fairly easy¢¦.but the last 3 miles¢¦oooh! up and down!...and lots of rocks¢¦BUT there were plenty of views of that blue, blue lake which energized our pace (to think we were almost there!....that we had actually WALKED to fontana!)¢¦we really pushed to make it on in¢¦..sore feet and knees, but we were glad we did it¢¦.earlier today we met some other thru-hikers (we¢d actually been reading in the register: magic, pilgrim, lucky, sparrow and turbo¢¦..don¢t know if they stayed in the shelter or where¢¦.we will stay there sunday night (tomorrow)¢¦..need to rest now to get ready for the smokies¢¦.we will meet and visit later today with killeen¢s family¢¦.thought some today about a book format¢¦¢¦..¢images¢were something i was thinking a lot about a couple of days ago¢¦saw a shreddy piece of log on the trail that reminded me of the fur collar with the little ¢critter¢ heads on it my mom used to own (gross!...guess no one knew any better back then!)¢¦.we loved to get that thing out of the closet to play dress up!...we¢d run our fingers down the velvet-y, rigid nose and polish the dark glass ¢eyes¢.till they shone like real living eyes!.....ahhhh!...images!...they are brought to the surface of our memories by everyday sounds or scents or objects¢¦..i¢ve sometimes seen an ¢etching of an owl¢ in the bark of an old tree¢¦.a huge gall bulging the trunk of an oaktree has ¢become¢ more than once an ancient ¢mother¢ symbol¢¦..stubs of tree limbs turned out to be ¢dragons¢ heads¢ and pink-tinged mica looked as if someone had smeared a message on it with their lipstick!....i¢d like to write more about ¢images¢ someday (if i ever get around to writing a book)¢¦..images¢¦.memories¢¦.changing/morphing memories/images¢¦.the ¢image¢ of Christ in me¢¦¢¦memories of how that image became reality¢¦¢¦¢¦but i suppose right now i should move on to the present¢¦¢¦======2006====== saturday, february 25, day 14 (12.7 miles from brown fork gap to fontana) we have made it to the ¢fontana hilton¢ on foot for the second time in our lives!*¢¦.and i¢m sitting here amazed at what God has just done for me!.....as i have been praying about getting a new umbrella the last few days, i¢ve had a strong thought in the back of my mind that i would certainly get one, but not through the conventional method of purchasing one at a retail center¢¦..i have felt that an umbrella would come through an individual somehow¢¦¢¦.and THAT is exactly what has just happened!* *NOTES/OBSERVATIONS/COMPARISONS--------*¢burning bushes¢¢¦¢¦.elizabeth barrett browning has a wonderful quote from her poem ¢aurora leigh¢ : ¢earth¢s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God¢¦.but only he who sees takes off his shoes¢¦.the rest sit round it and pluck blackberries¢¢¦¢¦.there are some things¢¦.even physical things that are best known and enjoyed only at a deeper level than what is evident¢¦.sometimes we are fortunate enough to have God open our spiritual eyes to see the REALITY of what IS¢¦.even if we never see the ¢chariots of fire¢ that elisha¢s servant saw in the story from II kings, in Christ our lives, our ¢vision¢ becomes richer and fuller as His Spirit indwells ours to see the world as HE sees it!...what an awesome gift of grace!*fontana hilton ¢¦..setting and accomplishing small goals, we found, was more reasonable than thinking of the whole 2100 miles as one lump achievement¢¦..it was less overwhelming that way¢¦¢¦on the AT, EVERY mile becomes a reason to celebrate!*umbrella ¢happening¢¢¦¢¦the story continues in our next entry¢¦..