Date: 2010-09-23
From: Hot Springs NC

To: Fairbanks Alaska
Miles today: 0.0

If you have been a regular follower of my journey then you already are aware of the magic that happens out there on the trail. There have been countless acts of kindness by totally perfect strangers (trail angels) who appear on, near and along the trail and provide thru hikers with cold drinks, food, rides and encouragement (trail magic). These folks seek out nothing in return and get satisfaction from the smiles that is the result of their kindness. The magic continues. Emory drove the 60 miles to come pick me up in Hot Springs NC and then back to her house in Sylva NC. I was expecting to stay the night in Hot Springs and then try to work my way towards Sylva the next morning but she insisted on coming to get me. She also made it sound like I was doing her a favor."Oh, its such a beautiful day and its a lovely drive and I don't get a chance to visit that area very often." When she arrived she asked me if I saw the latest guest book entries. I said no as service has been spotty at best. She then asked me if I remembered a Carol Ann and Donald Cope who picked me up at Newfound Gap back in March and gave me a ride into Gatlinburg TN. On March 27th I had just came out of the woods after spending the coldest night on the trail(in the teens) and the day after hiking through snow up to my waist. The elevations in Smokies are between 5000 and 6600ft above sea level and the worst winter on record had dumped an unusual amount of snow throughout this region. My brother Chris(Gator)was coming to hike with me for a week and I concluded that this was not what he had in mind. I decided to skip the next 68 miles of the Smokies and get down to elevations below 4000ft. Chris had a friend that wasn't too far away and he (Terry) agreed to do some shuttling for us so we could make this happen. He came and got me then drove to Erwin TN to get Gator and then drove us up to his and Emory"s house for the night. We had a great meal and a fun evening before he shuttled us to Hot Springs the next morning.That is the reason I had to return back to the Smokies to make my thru hike complete. The second day of my return I was heading downhill on the trail when a hiker approached on the uphill. To my trained eye he was a thru hiker and we stopped briefly for a little trail talk. Just enough time and information was passed to conclude that he was only 215 miles from completeing his SOBO thru and my 43 miles to conclude my NOBO. See the Sept 16th entry. We congatulated each other and he headed south and I went off to the north. He Toofpick and his brother Thrillbilly had to pass through Newfound Gap and that busy road access point where I met Carol Ann & Donald 6 months earlier. Once again later that day those very same trail angels were at it again and luck, fate or better yet the magic of the trail led to Toofpick and my conversation. The trail angels remembered me and could not believe how close we were to running into each other again. When Carol Ann arrived back home she did something she never has done before in the 17 years that she has been treating the hikers with trail magic. She signed my guest book and gave a brief explanation of that days encounter. See guest book entry Sept 16. If the circumstances of this is already unbelievable it is only the beginning. It also happens that Carol Ann and Donald live in the same small town of Sylva NC that Emory does and exactly where we were headed. Emory got the phone book out when we arrived and sure enough the contact number was in the book. Carol Ann and Donald accepted an invitation to dinner at the house the next night. We had a wonderful dinner and we shared our stories. They as trail angels and me as a thru hiker. Emory was delighted to be a witness and deeply influenced by this magic. A future angel perhaps. I was and still am amazed at the incredible series of events that made this reunion possible. I get a fuzzy and tingly feeling just thinking about it. The trail has been a wonderful and magical place. I've seen the wonder of nature with my eyes and felt the beauty of the trail with my heart. We are at the dawn of a new conciousness where the best of humanity is about ready to explode and reclaim the land. I've been exposed by this wonderment surrounded by nothing but old souls throughout this journey. Before I left a friend sent me an email: This is what he said."The anxiety is a wonderful and may be the best part of each day. Its what makes the event worth doing and seperates it from all regular activities. Its such a wonderful feeling to know the "where" of your journey and then let the daily details be filled in by what is presented. Its easy to get up every day because there is always a new friend, a new challenge and a new event to paint the day." How true that has been. Thanks John.