Date: 2013-04-20
From: Spring Mountain Shelter

To: Hemlock Hollow
Miles today: 4.8
Weather: broken clouds

I met my trail angels this morning. After hiking a couple miles I had a coughing attack as I came upon a dirt road. I sat down and pulled out my WAP and GPS and started to look up a way out of the woods using the dirt road. Not a minute later, a car pulls up with Michigan plates and inside is an 89 year old fella and his wife that is 88. They are lost. Henry and Margaret pull up next to me and asked ¢where the heck are we?¢ I asked ¢where ya heading?¢ They were on their way to Greenville SC when they stopped somewhere. Upon taking off again they pushed the button on the GPS and it rerouted them into the mountains (back roads-FS roads) as a way of getting them to their destination. As he is telling his story I could see his frustration with using the GPS. I listened with a smile but really wanted to giggle. He asked me for help to get them out of the mountains and on their way to Greenville, SC. (as opposed to Greenville TN which is nearby also ¢ I think there¢s a story with that too). In the mean time I begin another coughing fit and pull out my water and sipped on it. Margaret is very concerned stating ¢what on earth are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere sitting on a dirt road with a cough like that? Where you going?¢ I explain that I am a thru hiker walking to ME from GA. Her eyes bugged right out of her head and her mouth dropped open. ¢Why on earth are you doin that, honey?¢ The first thought in my head was ¢for shits and giggles¢ ¢ because of the norovirus outbreak. But I went on to explain that I wanted to raise as much money as I could to help the Wounded Warrior Project programs for the returning warriors. She agreed they had wonderful programs that help our service members readjust. I told her I was trying to figure out where this road went so I could get a rental car and go home for a few days to get rid of my cough. We agreed that I would find the way out of there and they would drop me off at a rental car place. As it happens, we were able to map out a plan that would take us to I26. That leads to Greenville SC passing directly past Ashville NC airport that has car rentals. Off we went after I loaded my backpack in the trunk and jumped in the backseat with my pooch. Henry and Margaret have been married 69 years¢¦very cool. Margaret often referred to Henry as her sweetheart while we talked and would look over at him and wink when he looked back. It was sooo cute!!!I got to the airport and only one rental car place had a car available to go one way to Maine. I was heading up to the cabin. I took I26 back the same way I just came until I got to Erwin TN. I stopped at the P.O. and picked up my mail drop I had kicked forward from Hot Springs. Then I drove to I81 and straight up to I84 for simplicity without turnpike fees, bridge fees and NYC etc. It was a really, really nice drive. It took 14 hours to get to Portsmouth NH where I pulled off at Walmart and tried to snooze but my coughing wouldn¢t allow it. I popped into Berla¢s (Mom¢s) in North Hampton around 6am and she set me up with a couple bottles of cough syrup. I didn¢t use cough syrup out in the field because it zonks me out for long periods of time. Not a good thing out there in a tent. She made me a cup of coffee¢¦ mmmm.. . my last cup was a long time ago. We chatted for a couple hours and I headed to the cabin about 2.5 hours away.