Date: 2006-09-30
To: little laurel shelter
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: scattered clouds

======2003======wednesday, march 19, day 26*(a.m.)the wind* is HOWLING this a.m.!....blew our umbrellas down the hill!....had to chase after them¢¦.it hasn¢t been dark all night¢¦..i guess there was a full moon behind the clouds¢¦..i¢m a little nervous about the day¢¦(i¢m a bit homesick, too, for my family)¢¦.but i was comforted by charlie¢s arm thrown over me here under the tarp and remembered that he IS my family!.....i feel so small out here in God¢s world¢¦.but i read psalm 89 and then 91 (especially comforting)¢¦.we have made God our ¢habitation¢¢¦.we walk with Him over these mountains¢¦.He is with us¢¦¢¦the heavens and earth are His¢¦..He is our Shield (in these cold ¢winds¢¢¦..our Hero¢¦..our very Good Shepherd¢¦.we are his little sheep¢¦..help us, Lord, to remember this as we walk today¢¦¢¦glorify Yourself in us, your little helpless lambs¢¦..(p.m.)hard day¢¦.fought the wind (and the rain early)¢¦..have never experienced such a wind!....gale force at ¢hurricane gap¢! (imagine that! ha ha!)saw clethra (acuminata ?) today¢¦.also gaultheria¢¦.the whole day!.......made it to the laurel shelter early (4:00)¢¦..turbo is sharing it with us¢¦.nice guy¢¦.he offered us pancakes he cooked!....i thought he was behind us, so it was a nice surprise to see him again¢¦..i¢m tired¢¦..going to bed now¢¦¢¦hope the tarp holds*¢¦¢¦======2006======thursday, march 9, day 26, (16 miles from hogback ridge to camp at spivey gap)have gotten into camp a little early for a change¢¦..about 4:00¢¦..thought about doin¢ showers, but we¢ll get those tomorrow at ms. janet¢s anyway¢¦.. i¢d rather be able to spend the extra time this evenin¢ readin¢ paw-ee¢s new testament while i still have the presence of mind to do so¢¦.it looks like it could rain tonight¢¦.it¢s been another gorgeous day¢¦but FEROCIOUS winds!.....a guy actually stopped us at sam,s gap and warned us of the winds¢¦..i had the feeling we would talk to some one at the gap¢¦..didn¢t know why or what about¢¦¢¦but when we did happen upon this fellow in his work truck, i just told him as we headed on out, ¢God bless you!¢*..(that was a very important phrase that someone passed along to us once)¢¦.anyway, though the winds were strong, we had sunshine and pretty good views at big bald¢¦..not quite the ¢epiphany¢ we experienced last time*, but the Lord did seem to speak in a ¢still, small voice¢ as He directed my attention to the sky¢¦.very soft, wispy clouds¢¦.baby blue¢¦bright¢¦.happy!......though the light was a bit hazy, it did seem to draw me heavenward! i am thankful for His presence always!..... we had lot¢s of little ups and downs today, so we¢re tired¢¦..i look forward to miss janet¢s for many reasons¢¦.i am prayin¢ our Creator will especially bless our time there with this dear lady¢¦.we are camped in a beautiful hemlock forest near 19w (road)¢¦..it was so good this afternoon to see healthy hemlocks for a change¢¦.it is still lush and green and shady here and some of the trees are quite large¢¦¢¦.there are lot¢s of white pine and rhododendron, too¢¦..we saw lot¢s of large buckeye trees today¢¦and beech¢¦i picked up a couple of beechnuts to munch, but they were ¢duds¢¢¦.not good eating¢¦..i had a strange thought as i was changing into my sleeping clothes here under the tarp this evening¢¦.i just remembered how much i absolutely ADORE sitting on the ground with leaves and soil all around and the fresh air blowing thrugh either end of our tarp¢¦.sure we get dirty¢¦.sure it¢s hard sometimes, but bein¢ this CLOSE to what my Father has created is a good, good feeling to me!...to touch what His hand has made gives me goosebumps!our last hard climb today was up to a very pretty, rocky pinnacle*¢¦..brief, but dramatically beautiful!...*NOTES/OBSERVATIONS/COMPARISONS¢¦.*day 26¢¦..i think that it is at about this point into a thru-hike that your mind ¢changes gears¢¢¦..the ¢real world¢ is beginning to be only a distant memory (with all its schedules and technology and expected routine) and a ¢new world¢ with new horizons to the heart opens somewhat unexpectedly¢¦.certain things start to dawn on you in this now extended life in the woods¢¦.you begin to ¢see¢ differently¢¦.to ¢hear¢ a different ¢voice¢¢¦.all the clutter disappears and things become more clear¢¦..folks often ask us what we learned on our hikes and it is because of this particular phenomenon of the ¢re-opening of your self¢ that we did learn many things¢¦..in ¢03 one of the important things we learned was ¢smallness¢ (that it¢s okay to be small)¢¦.and in ¢06, as i just mentioned above, the little ¢revelation¢ to me in realizing my love of earth helped me understand ¢me¢ and my connection to God better¢¦.*winds¢¦.i found it interesting that on this same day in ¢03 and ¢06 that the wind was a factor we had to contend with (in pretty much the same location)*¢hope the tarp holds¢¢¦¢¦on extremely cold and windy nights, someone would inevitably hang their tarp (if they weren¢t too tired)¢¦.some of the shelters had ¢resident¢ tarps to use to help block out the elements¢¦.(often VERY appreciated!)*¢God bless you¢¢¦¢¦.over the years as we¢ve ¢hiked¢ through life together, Charlie and i have often received the ¢gift¢ of a ¢God bless you¢ from someone we encountered¢¦..one occasion i particularly remember was when an amish lady with a couple of her 9 children met us and refreshed our lives with conversation and ¢God¢s blessing¢ as we parted ways¢¦it was very meaningful for us at that time and we felt over the years that we have, indeed, often felt the results of that blessing that day¢¦..never underestimate the power of a ¢God bless you¢!....(God bless YOU!)*epiphany last time¢¦¢¦see day 28, 2003*rocky pinnacle¢¦¢¦. ¢high rocks¢, pictured above