Date: 2004-07-01
From: Quarry Gap Shelters

To: Birch Run Shelter
Miles today: 7.4
Weather: scattered clouds

The drum roll of rain echoes through the shelter, amplified by the metal roof; and as God plays His music I¢m nestled in a small makeshift bunk listening in awe to the cadence. In my hike I have learned two things: 1) You have to relax and trust God when the unexpected occurs, forgetting what your ¢plan¢ is. 2) Friends and people you meet are more important than miles hiked. Tonight as I listen to nature¢s music outside, I know that I adhered to these two rules today. That is why I did only 7 miles, and I¢m glad that is what I did.         This morning Rally, Baby Blue, and I woke around 8. Baby Blue gave me coffee :-) and I shared a Hershey¢s Symphony bar with everyone. Then we all sauntered back to the shelter to fill water and say goodbye to the teen group. By 9 a.m. we broke camp in a jovial mood. Rally and I lagged behind and talked. We were talking about her home in Georgia, trail names, and other things when she turned to me and said in a nonchalant voice: ¢I¢m about to throw up, you can hike on.¢ I was stunned, so I did hike on - 30 feet; that is where I waited. Rally was sick and I was not about to leave her both sick and alone in the woods.         After a few minutes she walked up and said she was OK. I noticed however, that she was out of breath in flat areas¢¦not a sign of a healthy thru-hiker. Rally was clearly ill, but said she appreciated conversation. I talked to her about names, my trail experience so far, and I sang some worship songs. I was surprised that she knew most of them already. She speaks in a soft Georgia accent and every once in a while she would interrupt with an ¢I¢m going to throw up again¢. I just hung by and waited. I tried to cheer her up as we walked, and by around noon we had made it 7.4 miles to the shelter. I knew Rally was done for the day.         Despite the brevity of my walk, I saw much beauty today. We walked by small all white flowers that look like little paintbrushes. I believe they are called Indian Pipe. I saw little frogs hopping across the trail. I walked beneath lovely skies and then witnessed clouds roll in slowly. When we reached the shelter I saw the clearest crystal stream I have yet seen on the trail. God blessed me with the beauty of his creation and a chance to encourage a new friend. When my lovely walk was over I greeted 2 hikers at the shelter, having already decided to accompany Rally and hike no further.        One of the 2 hikers was reading a Christian book and we began to talk. I expressed to him how much I know that God has me out here and I also told him of stresses such as people who do not know me judging me. The more we talked the more I was reminded of how much God has blessed me out here. They left after an hour, but before they did they prayed for my and my remaining hike. It was awesome to have 2 strangers pray for me and know we share a common love for God.         For the remainder of the day I pretended to be a nurse and refused to let Rally do stuff. As a note, she is a sweet girl who has a boy(friend?), I was just helping a friend. It felt nice to help and be appreciated. I made us tea in the evening and read journals to her to keep her entertained. There is no reward better than seeing a sick person smile. By 6 p.m. I met new hikers passing through and saw PocoyPoco for the first time in weeks. Jalan Jalan, Joker, and another hiker joined us for the night in the shelter. Tonight as we drift away the rain is moving in and I am lost in thought and appreciation of the blessings I feel.        Tomorrow I will hike 10 miles with Rally to the halfway point. After that I will try to eat a 12 gallon of ice cream, the traditional thru-hiker response to reaching halfway. After that I will most likely vomit. HAHA! Goodnight ¢ BEATBOX   ttt