Get in the car now!

   After finding the letters I wrote back in 1980 I was reminded of something that happened in Elk Park, North Carolina. I was supposed to pick up my resupply box there but I arrived in town on a Sunday evening. I went into a convenience store (the best place for a hiker to get snacks, and ice cold Cokes). I struck up a casual conversation with a guy in the store and asked if he knew when local church services where held. He had just come from his church and the evening service had just ended. I was bummed that I missed it. After being in the woods for a week, it is nice to be inside.....especially in a worship service.
   The guy left and I started putting my stuff back together in my backpack so I could find a place to camp for the night. Suddenly the guy I had talked to earlier came flying into the parking lot, rolled down the window of his car, and yelled, "Get in the car now! They are holding communion for you at the church!"
   Five minutes later I was entering a church with my new friend and found the Pastor and a few church members waiting for me in the sanctuary. Most of the church members had already left, but we still had a very brief time of prayer and I received communion. What an awesome experience! Afterwards I was thanking them for being so kind. They asked me what my plans were. I said that I would find a place to camp for the night and go to the post office the next morning for my supplies. That wasn't good enough for them. They escorted me to their Fellowship Hall and told me I could spend the night there. I had access to real bathrooms, a kitchen, and a refrigerator!
   As I settled down to sleep in my sleeping bag, I was thankful. Thankful for the simple things in life. Thankful for being inside for a night (with air conditioning!) Thankful for the man who took interest in me and went above and beyond the call of duty so that I could make a connection with God and His church. Thankful for the heartfelt generosity of so many people I had met along the way.
   Here in 2011 I am still thankful for many, many things. I also am making progress on my current project. Yesterday I weighed in at 181.4 pounds. I spent the entire day with my lovely wife and completely forgot to blog! Today I weighed in at 181.0 pounds. I went jogging/running yesterday and today. Hopefully the exercise and a reasonable diet will help me continue to make progress.

Letters to Home

   Today I found a collection of postcards and letters that I wrote when I hiked the Trail in 1980. My sister put them together for me one year for Christmas (thanks Sarah!) Here is a quote from a postcard I sent my sister dated May 19, 1980:  "Hi, thanks for the card. I'm doing o.k. I experienced gale force winds on top of White Top Mt (over 5500 ft.) and almost froze to death. I got a ride back to Damascus and stayed at the hostel there. I've seen lots of groundhogs and deer. The mountains are really beautiful....I'm going to start speeding up. Katahdin, Maine here I come."
   I also found a list of the post offices where I picked up my food packages (they were sent to me General Delivery and marked "hold for through hiker"). Here are the names of the post offices and the dates when I expected to pickup mail so far:
     Young Harris, Georgia (4-18)
     Fontana Dam, North Carolina (4-25)
     Hot Springs, North Carolina (5-3)
     Elk Park, North Carolina (5-12)
     Trout Dale, Virginia (5-19)
   I stayed pretty close to my schedule throughout the entire hike, sometimes varying by a few days. On May 19, 1980 I had hiked a total of 475 miles in a little over five weeks. All of that came from putting one foot in front of the other and not giving up. That's the same way I am approaching my current project of losing weight.
   Today I weighed in at 181.6 pounds (another "zero" day). I did go jogging this morning and added some distance to my route. I also signed up for two 5K races in June. That should give me the motivation to run even more and get into better shape! Last night was the last Wed night dinner at church. I cheated and ate a cookie! Today I am eating some more brunswick stew that Jim Sipe gave me. I have no idea how many calories it has, but it sure tastes good!

The Damascus Road Experience: Not Giving Up

   In 1980 when I returned to the hiker hostel in Damascus I was wiped out. I had to explain to some of the other hikers why I was back, because some of them had seen me leave early that morning. I took some time just to rest and recuperate from the near disaster on the top of Mt Rogers. I think I stayed in the hostel about a day (but I don't remember the details). What I do remember is that I got a ride from a church member back to the trail. He dropped me off on the other side of Mt. Rogers. This day was clear and warm, a stark contrast to the storm I faced on the summit. I went a short distance into the woods and stashed my pack. Then I hiked up the other side of Mt Rogers, determined to reach the gravel road again.
   After a long climb, the trail went above tree line. then I saw a small wooden post with two white blazes on it (that means the trail is getting ready to turn). There was a turn, onto the gravel road! I had made it back to the summit again. I looked around for a while and tried to recognize landmarks or other things that would be familiar, but after a short walk down the gravel road I realized that it was pointless. So I turned around to retrace my steps. I found out why I missed the turn off the road the first time. The marker was small and hard to see in the daylight, let alone at night in the middle of a storm! I hiked back down the other side of the mountain, retrieved my backpack, and continued North on the Appalachian Trail. I was almost defeated by Mt. Rogers, but I had faced my fears and (with God's help) survived. I had many more miles to go, and I wasn't going to give up.
   Here in 2011 I weighed in today at 181.6 pounds. This morning my daughter asked me how much weight I had lost and how long it had been. I realized that it was 5.2 pounds in about 5 weeks. The entire Appalachian Trail hike was 21 weeks. I'm trying to lose 21.8 pounds in that same time period. An average of one pound per week lost is just what I need to meet my goal. Thanks for reading & encouraging me. Perhaps you have a goal in your life. How are you going to accomplish your goal?

The Damascus Road Experience: SAVED!

   Let me finish the story I started yesterday. Back in 1980 I found myself alone, on the top of Mt. Rogers (the highest mountain in Virginia), in the middle of a storm with high winds and rain. I was so high on the mountain that I was in a cloud (like being in heavy fog). I was on a gravel road and had missed the place where the trail turned. It was almost completely dark. I was in terrible trouble and knew it could be life-threatening. All I could do was walk and pray and try to find shelter somewhere. I had no idea where the road was leading, and I knew that it could go on for many miles.
   Then I heard it, very faint at first.....but it was certainly a sound. What was it? It seemed to get gradually louder. After a while I realized that it was the sound of a car engine. Did I dare to hope that some crazy person was actually driving on the gravel road at night in the middle of a storm? As the sound of the engine grew closer, and closer I stood in the middle of the gravel road furiously waving my arms. It WAS a car! I wish I could describe the look the faces of the two guys in the car. I was wearing my bright red rain parka and I remember one of the guys saying "your face is the same color as your jacket!"
   Without hesitation they invited me into the back seat. I was SAVED! "Amazing grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!" Believe me, I was a wretch...freezing cold, shivering, soaked to the skin, ravenously hungry, and utterly exhausted. I had to explain how I wound up on the top of the mountain. Then I had to find out why two twenty-something guys were driving on top of the mountain! They were on a road trip. One of them used to live near Mt. Rogers and remembered the road at the top. They thought it would be great fun to drive to the top, so they did.
   When Paul was on the road to Damascus in the Bible, God revealed Himself in a powerful way. When I was lost, alone, and in trouble on the top of Mt Rogers, God sent a couple of joyriders to rescue me. It's not anything I could have done myself. I might have been able to survive the night on the mountain with my equipment and training, but I would probably have ended up in a hospital (and I could have died). The two guys drove me back to the hiker hostel in Damascus and dropped me off. Sometimes I imagine that the two guys and the car morphed into two angels after they passed out of view, then sat down to talk about the experience while waiting for their next assignment!
   Here in 2011 I still have a lot of memories. I have learned over the years to trust God in my life and that has had a major impact. I have learned not to intentionally do stupid things, but I have also learned that God can rescue me when I need it the most.
   For those of you keeping track, I weighed in at 182.0 pounds today, virtually unchanged from yesterday. Jim Sipe gave me a bunch of homemade Brunswick stew yesterday, it sure was good!

The Damascus Road Experience: Lost on a Mountaintop

   Back in 1980 I left Damascus, Virginia early in the morning, trying to reach the next little town so I could pick up my next box of food and supplies from the Post Office. All I had was a "data book" for the trail which showed the mileage between road crossings, shelters, and other key features. As I left Damascus, I was going to try and make 20 miles. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. Unfortunately, I did not know what I was about to face.
   I was in the Mount Rogers recreation area and towards the late afternoon I began to climb. It was a very long climb and I was anxious to reach the summit so I could find a flat place where I could camp. But the trail kept going up, and up, and up, and up. I didn't know that I was climbing Mt. Rogers, the highest peak in Virginia! As evening approached I searched for a flat place anywhere so I could camp, but everything was either covered in rocks or was on a slant. So I continued to climb.
   When I went above the tree line (the elevation where trees do not grow), the sun had set but I still had a little bit of twilight. The wind also picked up. At first it was hard, then it became ferocious! I was climbing uphill, passing by huge boulders the size of houses. The wind was so intense that I would literally run from one boulder to the next. If the distance was too great to make it in a quick sprint I would lie down on the ground and the wind would tear at my backpack. I was in trouble and I knew it!
   Rain began to fall, whipped by the wind. The light was fading fast. The white blazes that marked the trail were hard to see. The trail began to follow a gravel road on the summit. Now I was not looking for a flat place to camp, I knew that I had to get below tree line or I could catch hyperthermia (where your body loses too much heat and you can die of shock). The wind howled, the rain felt like bee stings on my skin, the light was almost gone. I was still on the gravel road when I realized that it had been a while since I had seen a white blaze. Then I realized that I was lost on the mountaintop. I couldn't backtrack and find the trail. I probably had missed a turn somewhere. I was in serious, serious trouble and I knew it. The only thing that could save me was divine intervention.....
   Here in 2011 I remember that feeling of being lost. Tomorrow I will tell the rest of the story. This morning I weighed in at 181.8 pounds. I went jogging in the morning and right now (6:30pm) I am eating a subway sandwich for supper. It is starting to feel good to have less weight on my body. And even though my weight has gone up and down, overall it is going down. I am determined not to lose my way in this journey to reach 165 pounds!

The Damascus Road Experience: Beginnings

   By this time in 1980 I was in Virginia. I had already completed all of Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. I have a very clear memory of crossing into Virginia and entering the first town called Damascus. In the Bible, Damascus is known for the place where God spoke clearly to the apostle Paul. That didn't happen to me, but there were several events that did happen in Damascus that changed me forever. It will take a few blog posts to get the entire story out, but here is the start.
   As I entered Damascus, the trail followed along a road with several old houses. I saw a man with a broken leg wearing a large cast. He was pushing a lawnmower around his yard! I immediately stopped and offered to cut the grass for this man, but he refused...claiming that he needed the exercise. He did appreciate my offering though.
   I passed by another house and struck up a conversation with a woman who was on her front porch. There was a sign hanging in the front that said "Suits Us". In the midst of the conversation, I asked about the sign. She said, "well, this house may not seem very nice to a lot of people but it suits us!" She was a very nice lady and we had a good talk. She was impressed that I was clean shaven and that my hair wasn't too long. I did try to shave every day and I had tried to trim my hair a little with my backpacking scissors!
   Damascus had a very large hiker hostel--an old house where hikers could spend the night. I stayed in the hostel and enjoyed indoor plumbing! That evening I went for a short stroll. A young boy had made friends with one of the other hikers. That boy was playing in a little league baseball game, so we went to watch him play. He was so excited that he had fans!
   Damascus was a restful place. Most hikers got mail at Damascus, but I did not. My mail drop was about 20 miles away at a tiny little town (I think it was called Troutville?) I only planned on staying one night in Damascus. That first night was so peaceful, so restful, so rejuvenating. I had no idea of the storms and difficulties that lay ahead.......
   In 2011 I continue my project of losing weight. This morning I weighed in at 182.6 pounds. Not bad after a short vacation where I ate whatever I wanted and hardly exercised. Tomorrow I will re-start my exercise program (jogging) and try to watch what I eat. Today is Sunday, time for some rest! Big things are ahead!