Go the Distance

During the hike in October, we stopped for the night at Gooch Gap shelter. I searched the log (it's in the white tube on the back wall) for signatures from hikers I had followed on trailjournals.com. I noticed an entry from March of 2012 because of the beautiful penmanship. It was signed by Warren Doyle, a 34,000 miler, as of 2011. I should have taken a picture of the entry to record his words but I didn't think about it. The gist of the entry was that he had seen approximately 50 NOBO's on the trail that day who were tired, not prepared and probably would not make it out of Georgia. That was sobering. I keep thinking about his comments.

Mr. Doyle runs a program called The Appalachian Trail Institute to prepare people to go the distance. The link below takes you to Walking The Entire Appalachian Trail: Fulfilling a Dream by Completing the Task.  Fulfilling A Dream

I can't be sure, but I don't think it was accidental for me to find Warren Doyle's entry in the Gooch Gap log. I expect his thirteen statements of wisdom will be helpful to me as I head north and hopefully go the distance. 

Last January on my 63rd birthday my husband and I completed our first  half marathon. It was really cold and windy that morning at Callaway Gardens. We didn't set any records, we didn't place in our age groups, but we went the distance. That's my hope for the Appalachian Trail.

The finish line for the half marathon is in the background. If I can go the distance in 2013, I'll have a picture of myself at the Katahdin sign instead of a medal.

I am keeping the picture below in my mind as I walk the Appalachian Trail. This man and his family have gone the distance and they continue to go the distance every day. Homes For Our Troops Fund Raising with PrayerWalker

At the moment on the trail when I first see the Katahdin sign, which from pictures I have seen is a little ways before I actually get there, I expect to kneel down right there, give thanks to God for walking with me and allowing me to go the distance, and then walk just a little further to the sign and complete the pilgrimage. I'll have a little Homes For Our Troops flag with me which has been on my backpack from the beginning. I hope someone will take a picture of me holding that flag at the sign. I hope that people will have been generous in their support to Homes For Our Troops and will have helped me meet my fund raising goal to build homes for our brave men and women.