Date: 2006-05-04
From: Campsite 4 miles past Vandeventer

To: Abingdon Gap Shelter
Miles today: 18.6
Weather: clear sky

Encounter with a Trail Angel in Shady Valley, Tennessee.Shortly after the Nick Grindstaff Monument, as the Trail dips down to cross TN rte. 91, I was approached by a friendly older local lady, who informed me that she helped hikers, she had already helped several that day, and that she had 'all kinds of supplies', and did I need anything? Well, I didn't really need anything, it was a fine day for walking, and I was happy to continue doing just that, but she seemed pretty determined to help me in some way or other, and I thought it foolish to refuse such generosity from someone, so I racked my brains and, when she reminded me again that she had 'everything', I said, "Do you have Spenco 2nd Skin Blister Bandaids?", because I was on my last one, and it would save me the trouble of finding them in Damascus. She looked at me blankly for a minute, then regained her composure. "Everything", she said again, "Come, I'll fix you up". And she did. She took me home, all the while telling me hard-to-follow stories about some guy she knew named Bob or Bill or something of whom she appeared to be very fond, some hiker guy that went to church and was Saved (Praise the Lord!, she said), and another hiker guy who stayed with her in a snowstorm and left her 20 bucks afterwards, without even being asked. (She told that one a couple times). She made me look at her supplies, even though I said I wasn't interested. Her supply box looked like what you'd be left with if you had a bunch of camping equipment and you had already let several hundred hikers take anything they thought might be remotely useful. There was a plastic egg-carrier for a dozen eggs, I remember, and an enormous heavy bottle of soap. She said she was running a hostel from her home. But it wasn't the obvious kind that says 'Hostel' on a sign out front. Rather, it had several important-looking 'No Trespassing' signs on the lawn, and several large dogs. But she took my feet, and washed them herself with soap and warm water, and I know one thing, it's not every Trail Angel who would do that, in fact, the number of people in the world who would willingly wash a strange thru-hiker's feet has got to be pretty small. That guy from Standing Bear Farm wouldn't do it, that's for sure. I don't think I'd do it, not usually, anyway. But she did. She wrapped my blister under a whole sheet of moleskin, exactly the way you're not supposed to, taped it on with adhesive tape, and wrapped the whole thing in about four feet of cloth. I didn't trust it, I half expected to have to tear it off the minute she was out of sight, but she surprised me again - my blister was not rubbing against anything, and was even slightly more comfortable than I had gotten it before. I also bought from her a bag of oranges and a bag of carrots, on account of being desperate for both fruit and vegetables. At Double Springs Shelter, someone doing the 50-mile Kincora to Damascus challenge caught up to me and talked for awhile. His name was Mystic. I gave him an orange, and expected never to see him again. At Abingdon Gap Shelter, Michelle and Giggles were there, Heartfire was there, and two older guys, Paul and Wes, who were very fun. It was a good group for a pleasant evening. I entertained everyone by imitating bird calls.