Date: 2004-02-20
To: A Dedication
Miles today: 0.0

In 2000, my daughter, Laura, and I planned a thru-hike of the 122 mile Northville-Placid Trail in the Adirondacks. It was on this trip we encountered Trail Angels. For those who may not be familiar with the term "Trail Angel", here is a brief description. A Trail Angel is a person (or persons) who by their act of kindness helps a hiker with their journey. It could be as simple as giving a hiker a sandwich, or could be as extensive as putting them up in their home for a night. These acts of kindness are referred to as "Trail Magic".We had finished a little more than half of the trail and were hiking in a section, just prior to a 6.6 mile road walk. My daughter had gotten some pretty bad blisters by this point due to wet conditions our first couple days, and hiking boots that may not have been broken-in completely. We were not looking forward to this road walk, as it was not required for the thru hike, but there didn't appear to be any way around it.About three miles from where the road walk would have started, we met two other hikers coming towards us. We stopped to say hello and to trade trail conditions that were immediately behind us. In the course of our conversation, I mentioned that my daughter's feet were badly blistered and that we weren't looking forward to the road walk that lay just ahead. Our fellow hikers looked at each other said something that we couldn't hear, then turned to us and handed us their car keys. Their car, they explained, was parked at the end of this section of trail. They told us to go ahead and take their car up the road and leave it at the other end of what would have been the dreaded "road walk".They didn't know us from Adam, but they trusted us with their car. We were very grateful for their kindness, more than you can know. We left the car as requested with the keys where they could find them, and left a thank you note, that in no way could possibly express our gratitude for their kindness. We also left our e-mail address and I have stayed in periodic contact with Deb, one our two trail angels that day.The story does not end there. As I was setting up my journal I wanted to share it with a number of friends and family. One of those people I sent the web address to, was Deb, our Trail Angel. It had probably been more than a year since we had last communicated but it wasn't long until I had received a reply. When I first saw that I had a note from Deb in my e-mail I was happy that she had replied, but I was soon saddened by it's contents.In Feb. 2002 Deb had gone in the hospital for some minor surgery. To make a long story short, she went into septic shock 10 days later and during this period, nearly died several times. She was in the hospital for eight months and battled a bad strain of staph. When I didn't think the news could get any worse the note went on to say that they had removed her right hip to save her life. She cannot walk without crutches. Sometimes in life when we get bad news we feel that we have been hit by a truck and this was one of those times. I wondered what I could do for Deb. I felt so bad that this person who loved to hike the Adirondacks was now limited because of this tragedy that had come her way. Some people would have headed to the easy chair, remote control in hand. Not Deb. The weekend I will be starting the trail she will be at an adaptive ski program on Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondacks.I've decided to dedicate Georgia, this first state, to Deb and to her "never give up" attitude. I know that there will be times that I will be cold, wet, hungry, and exhausted. When I start to feel sorry for myself, I going pause and think of Deb, then I'm going get up and get going.