Date: 2006-09-06
From: gooch mtn shelter

To: slaughter creek campsight (?)
Miles today: 12.4

======2003======   monday, february 24, day 3warmed up¢¦..rain is moving in¢¦..already sprinkling¢¦¢¦I¢ve made my trek out to the privy here at gooch¢¦..nice, but MICE!....worried that a mouse might get confused about what¢s for breakfast!.....most of my soreness is gone¢¦..my favorite piece of gear so far is my head lamp¢¦..thank you, Lord, for walkin¢ with us¢¦.please make us alive with more than views today¢¦¢¦make us alive with YOU!.....verse today : jeremiah 29 : 11-14 (part of which is : ¢ for I know the thoughts and plans I have for you ,says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome¢¦.¢)¢¦.readin¢ from my ol¢ amplified ¢¦.couldn¢t bear to leave it at home!....my prayer was that God¢s word would open up to me in a special way this AM ¢¦and it did!....now we got ¢sprinkles¢ from skies AND eyes!...(mushy ol¢ maw¢¦ that kinda stuff gets to me sometimes¢¦)met ¢echo¢ as we went out this morning¢¦.he was in the shelter propped up in his bag in the corner¢¦.he¢s 70 years old and has hiked the AT¢¦..has major heart disease¢¦.his doctor says he shouldn¢t hike, but he says,¢we¢re all gonna go sometime, so I don¢t wanna just be sittin¢ around when my time comes!¢¢¦¢¦..we told him we were thinkin¢ of ¢maw and paw¢ as trail names and he said he thought it sounded good and encouraged us¢¦¢¦later on in the day we thought, ¢ hey! how ¢bout maw and paw with a cherok-ee twist¢¦¢¦maw-ee and paw-ee!¢¢¦..so that¢s what we¢ll be signing in as at neel¢s gap¢¦..found trash cans on the trail this AM ¢¦..you¢d have thought it was a pot of gold!....never thought I¢d have ever considered a trash can such a blessing!heard a familiar sound in the skies today¢¦¢¦sandhill cranes flying over! good omen!...cranes are an ancient symbol of all things happy and good¢¦..charlie says they sound like a creaky gate¢¦.i think they sound like doves on steroids!turned out to be a gorgeous springlike day¢¦..can see just little hints of wildflowers pushing up through the earth¢¦..we couldn¢t have asked for a nicer beginning as far as weather goes¢¦alas¢¦..tonight is our last night with the ristoms¢¦..tomorrow, the ¢fledglings¢ fly the nest¢¦..i¢ll miss them¢¦..i¢m aching¢¦¢¦long day¢¦¢¦======2006====== tuesday, february 14, day 3 (began at stover¢¦ended at gooch )glory!...it¢s everywhere today!....made me think of the scripture allen and sharon gave us from psalm 3¢¦. ¢our creator gives us glory¢¦he¢s the lifter of our heads¢¢¦¢¦.but this morning i thought, ¢ i don¢t want it !¢¦. don¢t even deserve it!¢¦..GOD is the one who gets all the glory today!¢¢¦¢¦.the woods were indeed glorious this mornin¢!....paw-ee pointed out the prisms in the snow¢¦¢¦.wow!.....sometimes the snow would spray down out of the treetops all alight with sun and it WAS ¢glory¢ bein¢ poured from God¢s hand! (like magic!)it got warm today¢¦..so we had a shower tonite when we got in ¢¦¢¦brrrr!...spring water makes for cold bathing!met peacemaker and big gary ( here at the shelter)¢¦..if gary needs it , he¢s got it!...but he seems very happy with the load he¢s carryin¢¢¦.he says, ¢if you eat well, you live well!¢¢¦.(true!...in more ways than one!)¢¦¢¦.peacemaker gave me a story from his childhood to pass on to mckenna*¢¦¢¦got his arm stuck in a cement mixer !.....another time he nearly drowned falling through some ice¢¦..the same friend saved him both times (i¢d surely keep a friend like that!)reading matthew 5 ¢¦¢¦.. ¢you are the salt of the earth¢¦..the light of the world¢¢¦(am i?)sassafrass mtn is the name of the mtn past horse gap (peacemaker says)¢¦.i¢ve wondered for 3 years¢¦.thanks peacemaker¢¦¢¦¢¦we had 3 big mtns today¢¦.i think¢¦..but, basically our work was done after justice creek¢¦..I¢m tired¢¦.lights out!*NOTES/OBSERVATIONS/COMPARISONS--------*mckenna is my 9 year old granddaughter who wants to write a book some day ¢¦.she asked if I would collect stories from people¢s childhood memories¢¦..unfortunately, in ¢06 we were so often by ourselves that i failed to gather much info for her¢¦..so if any of you ¢06 hikers wanna share some memories give us a shout¢¦..*showers------we carried a bag that¢s basically a bladder from a box of wine ( in a nylon bag with handles) and a trimmed showerhead attachment from campmor¢¦it can be cold in february, but washin¢ off the salt and sweat is refreshing and you actually feel toastier afterward (increased circulation?)¢¦..thanks bill and diana for teachin¢ us this!