Continuing the Journey - Sun. Apr. 28

I apologize for those who have been awaiting an update on this blog. I have been posting to my trailjournals account whenever I can get cell service. I have had access to a computer for a couple of days at Mother Marian Hostel, Mars Hill, NC and it has been wonderful to use a keyboard rather than the one finger hunt and peck on my small phone.

I am doing well (I think). It is a day to day process. I have determined that I am a much better "fair weather" hiker than a "rainy day" hiker. Mentally I am stronger when the weather is good. However, on the day that I left the Smokys, it was quite a rainy day and I walked in rain from 8 AM to about 2 PM; I found myself thinking of the song "Singing in the rain, I'm just singing in the rain..." Under the protection of my trekking umbrella, I even took pictures and videos. I have not had access to a computer with a card reader so they remain on my camera but I hope whenever I can get them off my camera, they will be interesting. Everything was so newly green and literally glistened in the rain.

 It is 2:20 AM and it seems I awake about that time each morning for just a little while. I suppose it's because I go to bed early. If I'm in my tent, I pray for awhile or turn on my phone and do a little on my journal. I am able to go back to sleep afterwards and wake up when it gets light outside.Warren Doyle said that hiking the Appalachian Trail is "like a job... and it is hard work." I understand what that means now. It is hard work and fairly routine. I wake up, pack up, walk, huff and puff, take a short break on occasion, gather water if I am running short, stop for about a 30 min. lunch, arrive at a location for the night, unpack, set up my tent, inflate my air mattress, lay out my sleeping bag, gather water, cook dinner, crawl in the tent and begin to relax and then fall asleep. The next morning, I repeat the process. The routine can be broken by meeting people on the trail and talking for a little while but most are serious about walking and racking up the miles because there is a destination and it is still a LONG journey. If I allow myself to think about Maine, it is too daunting. So I set small goals for myself and take it day to day. Presently, I am focusing on making it to Erwin, TN. My next goal is Damascus, VA.

 I had an unplanned respite at Mother Marian Hostel. I decided to get off the trail due to the rain and dampness on Saturday afternoon and Sunday and I know it was a good decision for me. Fred and Marian are incredibly generous and friendly hosts. They have literally opened their home to hikers. From Fred's welcome as he met me and Tex former thru-hiker in 2000 from Houston, TX and now hiking  part of it with a friend) under the I-26 bypass, I have felt like I am visiting old friends. Marian greeted us and handed us a fresh fruit cup; such a nice touch.  Hikers don't carry fresh fruit and the strawberries and grapes tasted so good.

Nick called and reserved their private bedroom and bathroom for me and I am as comfortable here as I am in my own home. Marian prepared a wonderful spaghetti dinner the first night with VERY tasty garlic bread; Bobby, their son, cooked a delicious breakfast on Sunday morning and Fred's coffee was wonderful. Fred grilled hamburgers and hot dogs on Sunday night and we had baked beans and potato chips. My burger must have been a 3/4 lb. It was huge and I ate every bite of it. We had a wonderful dessert each night - Marian's Cookie Bar and Fred's homemade dark chocolate ice cream or homemade vanilla.

They have 4 dogs and 1 cat. I would like to take the tiny Yorkie home with me. Buttons is absolutely precious. She only weighs 6 lbs. I might also take the cat, Kitty, who is part Maine Coon. I think she weighs around 15 lbs. and she has beautiful eyes. Oscar is part chow and maybe lab and a gentle dog; he's the biggest dog. Tally is a black lab and Marian's service dog and a gentle dog. Both Tally and Buttons like to lick my legs. I can't remember the oldest dog's name but he seems to be suffering from a little senility. He will start to howl for no reason and then the others join in ... poor baby.

It's time for me to return to the VERY comfortable bed. Breakfast will be at 7:30 AM and then I should be back on the trail at Sams Gap by 9 AM. Depending on the severity of the climb out of the gap, I may try to reach a camp site about 11 miles up the trail for the night. I have to climb Big Bald and Little Bald mountains today. If I make the 11 miles then it would be a 12+ mile day to Erwin and I have a reservation at the Holiday Inn.

Nick has mailed a food box for me so I won't have to go shopping for resupply. I am a little slowed down with vasomotor rhinitis due to allergies or it may be a respiratory virus that is going around the hiking community. A rest day at the Erwin Holiday Inn will be good for me. He is also mailing me the medicine I take for it and the capsules that deal with the bad cough. He's such a loving and devoted husband and we miss each other.

Click on the Trail Journals tab above to catch up on the details and check out the photo section because I have uploaded photos from my cell phone.

Thank you, everyone, for your prayers and notes.

Tex enjoying a relaxing afternoon

Patchouli on the AT @ Indian Gap 4-15-13 - YouTube

What a blessing to meet this young woman today as I hiked from Clingman's Dome to Newfound Gap.

I am told that my voice is too soft on the videos. So if you cannot hear, Patchouli chose her trail name because when she ministers in the Holy Spirit, people smell the aroma of patchouli.  She attended college in Georgia and fell in love with the AT during her college years.  I know God allowed our paths to cross because her story was a blessing to me. The Holy Spirit is such a gift and empowers us in incredible ways. Meeting her was a gift from God on this day.

Thank you Heavenly Father for the gift of this day and for your precious child, Patchouli.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=plcp&v=sCCHIC-aPHs

Disheartened ?

But on he went, without being disheartened, deeper and deeper into the wood, where the most wonderful flowers were growing. Andersen's Fairy Tails by Hans Christian Andersen

There are more miles to walk, more flowers to see, more people to meet and more of whatever God intends for me to experience. 

                                            Look closely and you can see the deer's tongue.

Nick drove me back to Clingmans Dome this morning, 4-15-13. I slack packed to Newfound Gap and entered my 3rd State. I want to complete the Smokys and go on to Hot Springs. At that point I hope to be stronger. If so, I will continue the journey.

Some pics from today.

April 7-11, 2013

                                   A view of part of the trail up to Clingmans Dome.

I came home yesterday, Friday, April 12th, a bit disheartened. 

I have updated PrayerWalker's Trail Journal. Click it and then go to the last entry and back up to April 6.  You can read about those days on the Appalachian Trail.

April 7 - Walking with Bear Ninja and G-4 (my husband)

Great day on the trail; thanks Nick and Bruce for everything. It was great a little company on this beautiful day.

Living In The Moment

Thanks, Winkle, for sending this song my way. I REALLY like it.




I will not waste my days 
Making up all kinds of ways 
To worry about all the things 
That will not happen to me

So I just let go of what I know I don't know 
And I know I only do this by 
Living in the moment 
Living my life 
Easy and breezy 
With peace in my mind 
I got peace in my heart 
 Got peace in my soul 
Wherever I'm going, 
I'm already home 
I'm living in the moment~ JASON MRAZ - LIVING IN THE MOMENT LYRICS



 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?  ....Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself." Matt: 6:25-34

If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again

I began my third try on the Appalachian Trail today. I could not have asked for a more beautiful day.

I started where I left on March 22 - Stecoah Gap, NC about 9:30 after leaving home @ 5:30 am. Nick hiked with me about an hour and we made it up Jacob's Ladder - steep climb of .6 mile. He walked back to the car and moved the car to where I would stop for the day (7.7 miles).

Met thru-hikers Boogie & Zooky on climb up Jacob's Ladder. I slack packed to give my foot and ankle an easier start and that made the climb doable but not effortless. Met Hamster a little farther down the trail. Beautiful day!

Trail magic @ Yellow Creek Mt. Rd. Enjoyed a hamburger and beer along with John Wayne (18 yrs. fr Dawsonville, GA and Napalm (orig. from Calif. ). Made a video @ hope to post later. Hamster was there too. Conversation and Triton thru-hiked a couple of years ago and wanted to give back to hikers this year because they had received so much during their time on the trail; they had served 24 hikers today.


Was happy with 7.7 miles in 3.5 hrs. Wish I could do that with my pack. Maybe in time. Massaging, icing, stretching foot & will apply Voltaren Gel.

Mass at 8:30 tomorrow and back out for about the same miles and I'll arrive Fontana Dam.

I also met Morris the Cat today; he had a bad experience with hypothermia but St. Nick came to his rescue. Jade and puppy, Otis, are here to help him recuperate

We had dinner at a Mexican Restaurant in Robinsville and as luck would have it, Don's Brother and another hiker were there having dinner. I had corresponded with Don's Brother through trailjournals.com; he's from Georgia too. I thought I might meet him one day on the trail when he would pass me. We met at a restaurant instead. I introduced Nick who was wondering why I had hugged this stranger and was talking with him... Looking forward to tomorrow.

Stonger (What Doesn't Kill You) and Physical Therapy

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger 
Stand a little taller 
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone 
What doesn't kill you makes a fighter  

I thought about the above chorus from this song when I was on the trail - especially during some of the seemingly never ending UPs ... I knew that I would grow stronger as I continued to walk the Appalachian Trail. I have quite a ways to go before I consider myself a strong walker on the trail but I think I'm standing "a little taller" after Kelly Knob, Albert Mountain, and Cheoah Bald (up from the NOC).  The slippery descent of Cheoah Bald and fall bruised me, turned my ankle, slightly strained a quadricep muscle and really pulled on my plantar fascia; it frightened me but I'll be heading back soon.  

However, I don't want to think of hiking the Appalachian Trail as 'a fight.'  Steve, owner of the Aquone Hostel (thru-hiker Wiggy 2010) told me to "Embrace the mountain." On March 19th, my best day on the AT, the mountain embraced me and it was an incredible day. The AT felt like home. Warren Doyle says : "Don't fight the Trail. You have to flow with it. Be cooperative with the Trail, neither competitive nor combative."  I hope I can remember these words during the many months I'll be walking towards Katahdin.



Physical therapy is a good thing. It is helping me to grow stronger.

The physical therapy practice is experiencing growth and remodeling is presently being done to make their space larger (so you may hear some of that construction noise in the background). Below you can view some very short videos of my physical therapy. I have a series of exercises and stretches for each foot but I didn't video them. I will need to do the stretches, self-massage and exercises several times a day when I return to the trail. Plantar fasciitis can be managed while hiking. Here's hoping ...


 




Pictured below is the ultrasound treatment - the part I love best because it feels so good. Some gel is used and Tasha (my PT) rubs it around my plantar fascia and ankle using a little wand thing with a round flat end. It's warm and relaxing. Wish I could take a mini ultrasound machine with me on the trail.

The physical therapist also massages my plantar fascia and the ankle around the peroneal tendon; at first it is a little tender but as the massage continues, it begins to feel good. She has recommended that I take a tennis ball with me when I return to the trail and roll my plantar fascia on it.

Tasha worked as an Athletic Trainer before becoming a Physical Therapist. She says: "Wear good foot wear and make sure the foot wear is best for the foot type. Plantar fasciitis doesn't have to be debilitating. People can continue to be active as long as they know how to manage the pain, inflammation and how to support the ankles and feet with exercise and good stretching and foot support."

After Monday's appointment, I scheduled appointments for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  I don't want to return to the trail prematurely so I'm giving my feet a little more time to heal. There was a cancellation on Wednesday and I'll have my final appointment on Friday; that makes PT #7 (completeness) for me.  I will be "good to go."

In the Bible  most symbols are clearly defined in the text and used quite consistently from Genesis to Revelation. The Number Seven, the numerical symbol of Fullness, Completion, and Perfection, is a prime example of this consistency.

In Scripture, seven symbolizes completeness or perfection. On the seventh day God rested from his labors and creation is finished (Gn 2:2). Pharaoh in his dream saw seven cattle coming from the Nile (41:2). Samson’s sacred Nazirite locks were braided in seven plaits (Jgs 16:13). Seven devils left Mary of Magdala, signifying the totality of her previous possession by Satan (Lk 8:2); "seven other devils" will enter the purified but vacant life of a person (Mt 12:45). However, on the positive side, there were the seven spirits of God (Rv 3:1). In the seventh year the Hebrew slave was to be freed (Ex 21:2), having completed his time of captivity and service. Every seventh year was a sabbatical year (Lv 25:4). Seven times seven reiterates the sense of completeness. In the Year of Jubilee (at the completion of 7 x 7 years = the 50th year), all land is freed and returns to the original owners (Lv 25:10). Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks, is seven times seven days after Passover. "Seventy," which is literally "sevens" in Hebrew, strengthens the concept of perfection. There are 70 elders (Ex 24:1) in Israel. Israel was exiled to Babylon for 70 years (Jer 25:12) to complete its punishment. "Seventy times seven" (Mt 18:22) reiterates this still further. The Lord was not giving Peter a mathematical number of times that he should forgive another person, but rather was insisting on limitless forgiveness for a brother’s sin. Bible Wheel

Lois is a physical therapist assistant. She's wearing a prayer bracelet and told me that she'll add a bead and pray for me as I hike the Appalachian Trail. So sweet.









Yesterday I walked a couple of miles in the neighborhood. The ankle is good but the plantar fascia continues to be tender. I'll don the pack in a couple of days and walk around the neighborhood. When I return to the trail, I may slack pack the first day. I've heard the climb up Jacob's Ladder from Stecoah Gap can be a little tough so I'll give my foot a break on that one. After that day, I'll head to Fontana Dam (another short mileage day) and then Smoky Mountains here I come !

“All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.”~Julian of Norwich

(NOTE:  Those who receive these updates via email, may not receive the videos.  You can click on the link at the bottom of your email where it says you are subscribed to email updates and the following is underlined in blue -- PrayerWalker on the Appalachian Trail 2013  - the link will take you to the website so you can see my blog in its entirety.)