Date: 2007-04-29
From: Spring Mountain Shelter, NC

To: Little Laurel Shelter, NC
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: broken clouds

Last nite, I woke up sweating like a pig. It stayed in the 50's all nite, and Iwas using my bag as a quilt. I love that it is warming up. The moon illuminatedeverything last nite too.I had a hard time sleeping because I couldn't turn my head off. I woke up at7:00 a.m. when the millions of people @ the shelter got up, but I tried to goback to sleep. I layed around till 8:00, and once I did get up, Persistent hadall her stuff packed up already! LOLIt was a beautiful sunny morning with a bit of a breeze. I got all my stuffpacked, ate some of the granola that Rachael made and brought down for me(yummy!), and we were off by 9:30 a.m.We talked about going further than 8.6 today and fully planned to, but today wasan example of how unexpected things can change your plans.We stopped for a quick break and I stood there for a moment and just felt thebreeze on my skin. Everything around me was green, the birds were chirping, thesun was shining, and all was perfect in this moment. Also ladies, it is aninteresting feeling when the breeze blows across your unshaven legs too ! LOL We headed on, and got to talking about how hungry we already were and howexciting it is picking up packages @ the P.O. I told Persistent that RockStarsaid she wanted to send brownies, and how excited I was about that. So ofcourse, I had brownies on my mind now.Just before Allen Gap, NC, there is a typed sign on a post stating there is ahouse 300 yards down and to the right offering trail magic! We walked over and it was a BEAUTIFUL log home owned by 1999 thru hikers,Hercules and F.A.L. (free at last). They have been doing this for 3 years, havemet 1400 hikers, and just this year, Persistent and I were #'s 396 and 397, andjust today #'s 21 and 22 and it was only 11:30 a.m.!There were also 2 SOBO thru's from 2005 who were there helping, Sommersault andSarge. They welcomed us to the house, sat us down and the 1st course was pecanbelgian waffles with REAL maple syrup. 2nd course a big bowl of stew, and 3rdcourse was our choice of many desserts, but I had the brownie sundae!! mmmmmmThey had a great dog named Heidi who would jump up in the air when you threw aball at her, and bounce the ball off her nose right back at you! It washilarious playing with her.Per the angels' advice, I also called REI from their home to explain that mytrail runners were already coming apart and that I wanted to get a new pair andreceive a credit, since these started tearing around 100 miles. I've gotanother pair (same shoe but no gortex @ the toe or heel) being sent to Damascus. I basically have to write a letter explaining my situation and mail my currentshoes back. The guy told me once they receive my shoes, they'll credit my cardfor the new ones. REI rocks!This was pretty awesome trail magic, nice people, good food, beautiful home. Only one thing happened that I was not comfortable with, but I knew this happensa lot in the south.After we got comfortable, was finishing up dessert, shared a little aboutourselves, they slipped small pieces of paper in front of us and started talkingabout Christianity. It was actually a little odd because they brought up a booktitled Jesus Talks with Buddha-The Lotus and the Cross, and offered us thesebooks that they said addressed other religions in comparison to Christianity.They were encouraging us to seek out the truth. My question was who's truth,theirs or my own, because I looked at one of these books, and it didn't seem tobe exactly objective.A person's power to exercise choice is one of the things I hold closest to myheart, and if you think about it, is at the heart of the majority of ourcountry's debates. None of us wants something forced on us. I am genuinelyhappy that these people have found something that obviously brings so muchmeaning to their lives. However, I felt like they turned the promise of trailmagic into a tool to serve their own purpose, which was promoting theirChristian ideology. I wasn't given a choice as to whether or not I wanted tohear about it today. That is the problem I had with it. Not that they areoffering this information, but that they did not offer me the respect of askingif I wanted to receive it. How to remedy it? Simple. Add to the sign telling hikers about the trail magicthat there will be an opportunity to discuss Christianity. Then everyone has achoice.I would feel no differently about this if these people were promoting somethingthat I hold close to my heart, like promoting equal rights to same-sex couples. We all need to respect one another enough to give choice. When we don't, itonly serves to create more boundaries and obstacles. Arlayne, our angel from Hot Springs, she never told us what "we need to do." Her mentions of God and church were all in the context of her personalexperiences, and I enjoyed her company a great deal. Our angels, Jim and Harold@ Tellico Gap, they had the big container of supplies, and there were bibles init as well as snacks, batteries, TP, etc. Again, the individual had the choiceof whether or not to grab it. There was no preaching or pressuring to take abible.We all have to let each other be whatever we are, and learn to respect oneanother and embrace our diversity. Trying to force each other to be alike onlyserves to divide.So, yes, my experience today gave me a lot to think about. It wasn't aday-ruining experience, I enjoyed meeting them, I thanked them for theirgenerosity, and before I went on my way, I was asked if I was taking the bookwith me, and when given the choice, I politely declined.After we left, we headed back to Allen Gap. A pickup flew by us on the road,and who was in back, none other than Gadget and Scribe who had found a ride hereto do a 14 mile slackpack back to Hot Springs! How weird that we'd be out thereat the same moment that they were dropped off. They even brought Persistent andI a tomato biscuit from the diner in Hot Springs!! We talked for a bit, showedthem where to go, and all went our separate ways. Man, it was hot @ 74 degrees today. The last 4.8 miles from Allen Gap to theshelter were steep. To top it off, we never found the water sources our bookstold us were there, so I hiked the last 1 1\2 hrs with no water.We finally dragged in @ 5:30 p.m. Only 2 men are here, 2 section hikers namdDucksoup and Pyro. REALLY nice men. We sat around the campfire with an almostfull moon and talked and laughed till 10:20 p.m. A really good time for sure.So it was an interesting day. Many surprises, and now I am absolutelyexhausted. Gotta get some zzzz's. ~Certain