Date: 2007-07-06
From: Trail Angel Mary's House; Duncannon, Pa

To: The Park in Duncannon, Pa
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Well, "Trail Angel Mary" pulled it off. Everything went off without a hitch. She said she slept 2 hours! "Baltimore Jack" showed up with apologies and stories about "The Dude" misplacing some keys and I was very happy; so, I could go back to being a thru hiker. Mary told me that I was a Billville member now! I guess it was all worth it. I did not do it for this reason, I did it for Mary. I just hung around this day as I was kind of tired. FLASHBACK: Circa 1990. After "failing" on my thru hike ):   I felt down; but, I could tell that I had changed. The trail will change a person, sometimes for good and sometimes for bad. I noticed on my bus ride from Marion, Va to Nashville, Tn that my personality had changed. I was always a little bit of a brooder and sort of an introvert; not anymore. I noticed that on the bus, I was talking with everyone and not necessarily just about my hike. I was not this open before. I was kind of closed. I called my dad and told him that I had been set free from all the negative things that had happened in high school and I was very happy and in a good place. I then saw an add in the newspaper that said, "Do you like the wilderness and do you like adolescents; then give us a call." I did and this is what I did for the next ten years. I loved working outdoors and helping troubled youth. I got married and then divorced. The trail was always calling me in these 10 years, though. I was always buying new gear and dreaming of the trail. I became unhappy more and more at the boys camp as I moved from working with kids to hiring and firing adults. I was divorced living in Bucksnort, Tn near Spot and Only. Not many prospects for female companionship in these hamlets; so, the trail called more and more. I know this does not make much sense; but, I felt the trail could help me get back into shape mentally and physically as it did in 1990. This was around 1999 and I decided to take a solo canoe trip down the Buffalo River. One of the last non-damed rivers in Tn. It is about 160 miles long. I thought the trip would help me sort out some things and maybe I could get some insight into my life situation. I know Everyone is going, "Zero, what in the world are you doing telling us all this and how does it relate to hiking?" Trust me, I am going to try to tie it all in. Ok, I get dropped off way up the river near Summerville, Tn. I love going up here because no one else really goes up this high on the river because it is very difficult with all the fallen trees to be traversed and some small areas where you have to get out and pull the canoe across low water level areas; not even to mention the snakes and local rednecks. The local canoe rental companies will not take clients up here because of the dangers. Anyway, I was having a great trip and catching alot of "Red Eyed Bass". I then broke my fishing pole on a branch that went out into the river. Great, I have another 140 miles to go and no pole. So, I decided that I was going to just paddle hard to get to the end of the river. While doing this; I saw two guys who held up their stringer full of fish. I started paddling harder, until I was completely wore out. I then made the Cardinal rule of canoeing: never camp on a sandbar in the middle of the river. I was asleep before dusk, under a tarp that I set up against my canoe. Well, I woke up once to use the restroom and noticed that there was some flashing of light way out to the west. Did not think much about it; it was "heat lightning". I then started hearing the thunder and began to worry. It was not long until it was raining; this is where I began to pray: lord, please let the rain stop before the river rises. Then the wind picked up to a level that blew my tarp away and left me clinging to the canoe and we both nearly blew away. During this, I said a prayer: lord please do not let me blow away. Meanwhile, I could here trees falling all around me! I kept clinging to the canoe. Then the lightening started to intensify. It got so intense that it was like, someone had turned on the lights for about 5 minutes. During this I said a prayer, "Lord, please do not let me get struck by lightning." Well, the lightening and wind settled down; but, it continued to rain, very hard. I knew what I had to do. I loaded up my canoe in the dark and rain; and put my North Face rain gear on and waited. While waiting, I prayed, "Lord, please do not let me get swept away when the water rises". Around 3am the sand bar was gone and the canoe rose and here I was, floating on a raging river in complete darkness. I paddled as hard as I could and found a relatively calm spot and held on to a tree, until daylight. I was very thankful for gore tex and my Coleman propane stove that would burn in the rain. I was very wet and cold and began to shiver uncontrollably. While waiting for daylight, I prayed, "Lord, please do not let me get hypothermia before daylight". All night I heard sirens of emergency vehicles. Daylight did come and I was alive. I then had to paddle in this raging torrent of a river. Now, I was known at the boys camp as "tip over Stewart". I usually flipped my canoe at least once a day in Class one rivers. While mustering my strength, I prayed, "Lord, please allow me to stay upright today" I knew that tipping over in this type of flood would be life threatening. I then began paddling. As I paddled, I could not believe all of the blow downs. there were trees split and blown down every ten feet on both sides of the river and this was a fairly small river in width, maybe 20-50 yards. It took total concentration to avoid the blow downs. As I neared the village of Lobelville, Tn.; I saw a man. He said, "What are you doing on the river. Do you know that a tornado went down the river last night and killed several people?" I told him that I did not and I slept in the middle of the river, until the water rose. Head just shook his head and mumbled something to himself. As I was paddling and making good time; I noticed the animals were completely out of sorts. Deer, Snakes, turtles, and even the beavers were swimming around looking for high ground. One baby beaver and it's mother came right up to my canoe, chirping, and tried to get in. I have not ever seen that. Eventually, I had to pee. As I stood up in the canoe, to do so(because there was no way to get to the bank safely); I dropped my paddle into the river and instantly, jumped into the river, while grabbing my flotation device. Then there I was: the canoe going one way; the paddle going the other way; and me in the middle. I then prayed, "Lord, please let me get out of this torrent with my paddle and get back into the canoe." Which, I did. Never before or after; and I have tried; I did some sort of gymnast move and pulled myself up and landed right back into the canoe. After this, I was completely pumped full of adrenaline and feeling very blessed. I finally got to where the Buffalo flows into the larger Duck River and the flood was evident; but, no longer a torrent. I saw a ramp for boats to put in and take out of the river and paddled in. I got there and basically collapsed when an "Old Timer" came up and asked if I needed any help. I told him my story and he said that he would take me and my canoe to a pay phone where I called my buddy, Lucas Obringer, who came and picked me up near Cuba Landing, Tn. Oh, by the way, Lucas is the ex work associate that I saw at Trail Days this year, after 7 years. He is hiking the trail as "Laugh Tracks" this year. You can follow his journey, if you search Lucas. I then called my dad and told him how many times the lord answered my prayers. I learned from this event, "to not tempt god" and to avoid troubles by not taking unneeded chances; such as, camping in the middle of a river. This adventure is what I think of each time I get caught in a lightning storm and have thought about several times on my present thru hike. When I got back to the Boys Camp, I submitted my resignation as I was ready to attempt another thru hike.