ON A HIKE

This post is to thank all the angels that have graced my trail.

Trail angels are people who perform random acts of kindness for Appalachian Trail hikers.  Today, for example, some guys said they found a bunch of Cokes and Mountain Dews floating in a stream along with a box of cheese crackers.  These kinds of things, usually really simple and cheap, really boost the morale of us long-distance hikers.  Someone even just made a documentary about a few well-known angels.

First is my friend Gail, who got her cabin ready for me and my parents to stay in a few miles from Tray Mountain.  It was my first warm bed and shower since I started at Springer.

I came across a group of people at Winding Stair Gap from Trail Servants who had setup a table of goodies, cooler of drinks, Bibles, and even cookies for Kooper.  They come out every week during hiking season.

On Max Patch summit there were students from a massage school practicing on hikers.  They also let us warm up by their fire and eat veggies, bread, candy, wine, and steak!

My brother Andy met me at Trail Days to bring me back to Erwin where I left off, and then he hiked with me and took me into town to get some supplies.

But the ultimate trail angels so far have been my parents.  I'm not sure I could of done this hike without them.  Half of my gear I'm using was theirs.  They brought me food and supplies on multiple occasions.  My dad came up to Fontana Dam to pick up my dog Kooper, then they returned him a week later in Hot Springs.  They stayed a few days in Hot Springs, shuttling me back to town after a full day of hiking.  Then they drove me way up to Damascus for Trail Days.  They truly deserve their trail angel wings.