Date: 2006-09-25
From: state line branch

To: I-40 and gatlinburg
Miles today: 0.6

*a NOTE before i begin this october 12th entry¢¦..earlier this year when we arrived in boiling springs, pa, we(along with our gracious new friend, mrs gorp), were welcomed and entertained by ishmael, who also has been known to ¢wow¢ hikers with his incredible hiker hospitality¢¦.during our relaxed and ¢delicious¢ time around the dinner table, i decided it was a good time to ask these 2 veteran experts of the AT a question that had been on my mind since the quarry gap shelters¢¦.. it was at the quarry that we had a great meeting with ¢mr. jim¢, the unbelievably cordial ¢innkeeper¢ there¢¦..(more on the quarry and jim later)¢¦.we discussed thru-hiking and what it really means¢¦.jim says the ATC calls it a ¢wilderness¢ experience¢¦.but he personally had this bit of wisdom to share on the subject: ¢it¢s not about merely hiking FROM 'A' to 'B' to 'C' , but rather what happens AT 'A' and 'B' and 'C'!¢ (which explains why his shelters at quarry gap are so fantastic!)¢¦.anyway, i began to think about this and what hiking the AT meant to me personally¢¦.what, for ME, was happening AT points A and B and C?¢¦..... and so, that¢s why i posed the question to ishmael and mrs gorp that night , ¢what kind of experience IS the AT experience?¢¢¦.mrs gorp¢s answer didn¢t surprise me¢¦(those of you who know this lady with her beautiful, friendly-freckled smile know that she never meets a stranger)...¢¦she said without hesitation, ¢well i think it¢s a social experience!¢¢¦(and that it is! our time with the people of the trail is a treasure paw-ee and i wouldn¢t trade for the world!)¢¦..ishmael added his take¢¦ ¢i think it¢s anything you want it to be!¢¢¦(a bit more of a broad philosophy than perhaps i thought i¢d hear, but generally true among so many hikers who value the ethic of ¢hike your own hike¢)¢¦.mrs gorp¢s answer made me realize that i could never underestimate the value of relationships no matter how brief or whether they occur on the AT or in ¢real¢life¢¦¢¦and ishmael¢s answer made me realize that it was nice to know i wasn't required out on the trail to fit any sort of ¢mold¢ (though, in the rains of '03, ALL of us were often QUITE "mold-y")¢¦these two opinions together caused me to remember why i get out there to hike the long hike, what i experience out there, and two important values for me in my existance on the trail and otherwise: number 1]¢¦life IS relationship!.. and 2]¢¦we possess in our tangible, physical bodies the incredible God-given, intangible gift of freedom of CHOICE! (of course, whenever you realize your specific life values, be assured that you will always, most certainly be "tested" in these!....but that's beside the point.....anyway)......in all of our ¢hikes¢ we have the liberty to choose which ¢trail¢ we¢ll pursue and how....and with whom (Whom) we'll pursue it!¢¦¢¦¢¦here's how jeremiah 29:13 puts it, ¢you will search for Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart!¢¢¦.and THAT¢s what hiking the AT has become for me¢¦.choosing a place¢¦a time¢¦.to seek¢¦.to know¢¦. to have the freedom to ENJOY my relationships with God and people in a way that may not be "traditional", but is very much MEANINGFUL!.......what does all this have to do with the entries i am posting below?...well, i have learned that it¢s okay to walk in the discovery that for me, hiking is primarily (among other things) a ¢spiritual experience¢ (as the entries below seem to indicate)¢¦.and what does that mean specifically?.....it means that i enjoy an actual relationship with a Living Savior who is gently helping and teaching me to experience His Life and my own through MORE than JUST my senses, my emotions, and my mind!....i¢m often a very slow ¢learner¢, however, and i daily find myself having to lean on his incredible grace to make it a little further up the ¢trail¢¢¦.. what a joy, though, when i am able to set aside that time and/or place (such as a long-distance hike) to experience the DEPTHS of Jesus!.....i am thankful for our hikes in ¢03 and ¢06 that made this possible and for the pages that follow that remind me as i type, that hiking, for me, was MORE than just hiking¢¦..it was like BEING the ¢words¢ of a very long prayer!perhaps now, these and others of my entries will make a little more ¢sense¢¢¦¢¦thanks for listening¢¦..now on to more journaling¢¦..======2003====== saturday, march 15, day 22been reading from isaiah 32:15- 18 :                  ¢¢¦..when the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is valued as a forest¢¦¢¦.then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness (moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation) will abide in the fruitful field¢¦..and the effect of righteousness will be peace[ internal and external], and the result of righteousness will be quietness and confident trust forever¢¦.my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, in safe dwellings, and in quiet resting places¢¦¢ *¢¦.(amplified bible0an ¢environmental¢ passage!¢¢¦..i¢ve been thinkin¢ a lot lately about ¢first earth¢¢¦..and then, of course, about the New Earth, (the ¢recycled, renovated¢ earth) that¢s coming¢¦..according to this passage, all the things we wish for (and even fight for) here in this life are coming to those who are the ¢Lord¢s People¢¢¦¢¦right-ness, justice, fruitful fields and forests (no more dying fir trees¢¦no more clear-cutting!)¢¦trust, quietness, safety, rest, PEACE!.....all this will eventually be the eternal result of the righteousness that Christ gives!as i walked the other mornin¢ in this beautiful Creation, i thought of Eden¢¦¢¦it occurred to me that the best part of that ancient Garden, it seems, was God¢s Presence!......(who needs a beautiful creation if you don¢t have the beautiful Creator with whom to enjoy it?.....nice, i would imagine, but ¢flat¢!)¢¦.anyway¢¦my mind drifted to thoughts of one day seeing Jesus face to face, and, (here¢s a rather selfish thought... to which i seem to be prone) having Him all to myself for just a little while¢¦..to ¢hike¢ with Him over the mountains of the New Earth!....to enjoy HIM and get to know Him better!.......could it possibly be?...and then i was reminded how i walk with Him NOW¢¦enjoying Him¢¦..listening to Him¢¦.knowing Him better¢¦..could it be any LESS in the world to come?....i think it can only be MORE!...i know it all sounds crazy (but dreams and "longings" often are!...and perhaps more REAL than the gray matter that dreams them?...what is REALITY, after all...)      anyway...i look forward to that day!....therein lies my hope!....======2006====== Lord¢s Day, march 5, day 22 ( brown gap to deer park mountain shelter 20.1 miles)a long day! but nearly perfect!....beautiful sunshine¢¦.calm winds¢¦we started out from brown gap (i think you could camp at a little bit better spot up the hill a ways)¢¦and then we had breakfast up on max patch!....wow!.....we enjoyed leisurely walking to lemon gap and then climbed the first of about 4 mountains today (i think)¢¦¢¦bluff mtn. was the most difficult¢¦.huge!.....made me feel very small¢¦.especially when i looked back* at its big ol¢ purple silhouette late this afternoon¢¦.(i remembered the logo at bluff mtn outfitters in hot springs!....there it was ¢advertised¢ across the evening sky!)¢¦..our hike had beauty of every sort today¢¦.cove forests¢¦.dry ridges¢¦.streams, trees, rocks, everything!......the birds even sang a little today, too!*¢¦¢¦saw a pileated woodpecker this a. m¢¦¢¦he was so beautiful with the morning sun shining down through his wings as he ¢skipped¢ through the trees!.....we scared a grouse¢¦(or did she scare us?!)¢¦.killeen saw some turkeys¢¦.heard an owl calling¢¦..we had communion at 11:30¢¦paw-ee did a wonderful job ¢officiating¢ in this rite of worship¢¦.we were beside a little stream between some huge boulders¢¦ ¢the cleft of the rock¢!....we are here now with rubin again at the deer park shelter (where in ¢03 we observed some dads and their grown sons joined in a circle around the fire to pray before their meal)¢¦¢¦it was just sleeting a little a few minutes ago¢¦..(cooked supper under my ¢brollie¢)¢¦.now it¢s just a quiet rain¢¦..we will go into hot springs tomorrow to pick up a mail drop¢¦¢¦¢¦the ONLY appropriate way to close this day is with a prayer: ¢thank you, Lord, for your presence with us today!...i love you!*NOTES/OBSERVATIONS/COMPARISONS ------*isaiah 32:15-18¢¦..it was just last evening (oct. 11th,¢06) that paw-ee and i watched an important environmental PBS special on tv called ¢is God green?¢¢¦.it related some of the horrors of the human mismanagement of the Creation and the resulting destruction of the earth and its people (mountaintop removal, global warming, etc¢¦)¢¦.being the nature-lovers we are, paw and i were happy to learn through this program that many evangelical Christians are now being awakened to these increasing problems which devastate our Father¢s world and His children¢¦.it was an intriguing documentary about the role God¢s people have in caring for the environment¢¦.to learn more visit ¢go tell it on the mountain¢ at ilovemountains.org¢¦.. or ¢pbs- is God green?¢(moyers on america)¢¦¢¦.. or ¢grist¢ magazine¢¦..or appalachian voices¢¦¢¦.or ohio valley environmental coalition¢¦*looking back¢¦.NOBOS should always remember to take little opportunities to view the trail as it appears southward (and vice-versa for SOBOS)¢¦.i found that there were often very interesting views or other things i would have missed had i merely kept my nose always pointed northward!....it¢s always good to remember ¢from whence you came¢!...(ALWAYS!)¢¦.*birdsong¢¦.going out so early this year(¢06) gave us the opportunity to experience the extreme quiet of the woods before the spring finally arrived with all its ¢chatter¢