[at-l] What Has Hiking Given You?

[The Lehmkuhl Family" <lehmkuhl@gte.net (The Lehmkuhl Family)]

thank you this was very interesting and haunting.
vera
----- Original Message -----
From: <Msthiker@aol.com>
To: <at-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Sunday, July 15, 2001 3:01 PM
Subject: [at-l] What Has Hiking Given You?


> Went for a hike in Doughton Park yesterday in Allegheny Co. NC up near
> Wilkesboro. Did the Grassy Gap Trail a mile and a half to pay our respects
to
> Alice Caudill. Alice lies in a small, but apparently cared for grave. We
then
> headed up the Basin Cove Trail close to 3.5mi to see the Caudill cabin
that
> still stands up near Bobcat Ridge.  It is the only cabin still standing.
>
> Today marks the 85th anniversary of a flood here in Western NC that was
the
> result of 2 former hurricanes, one that made landfall at the Gulf, the
other
> at the Atlantic and they met up over the NC Mountains and delivered 6 days
of
> torrential rainfall. The ensuing floods killed many. So many that the
death
> of one young girl in a hollow in the mountains probably was not of
particular
> note.
>
> We did this hike the first time in 1996 and that was when we found a small
> grave with a small, very weather-worn, soapstone headstone. There is a
small
> foot marker, and the grave is outlined in small rocks. On the headstone,
near
> the top, is carved a dove in flight with an olive branch. The inscription
> reads, Alice Caudill, Wife Of Famon
> Born May 18, 1901   Died July 15, 1916.  I was intrigued. Alice was a
little
> thing judging by the outline of the grave. Only 15 years old, married, and
> deceased. To the left, and behind her grave, at the foot of the mountain,
are
> the scattered remains of an old rock fireplace and chimney, and the rock
> piers on which the cabin was constructed. In the dark, fern filled, humid
> still of the cove, the scene is haunting.
>
> That is what led me into finding out all that I could about the people
that
> lived in this cove and how they existed and how they died. And I guess
that
> is what compelled me to do this particular hike yesterday.
>
> It also made me think how my reasons for hiking have changed over the
years
> and what I am looking to take with me from my hike. When I was younger, I
> used to go for distance, and occasionally distance and time. At some
point, I
> developed an interest in the wildflowers, in their identification, then
> seeking out the rarer ones, and then finally cultivating them.  Finding
> Alices grave sparked an interest in the relics and the "ghosts" of the
past.
> Largely forgotten people, that inhabited the coves and hollows and somehow
> eked out enough from the rocky, steep, slopes to survive. The toughness
and
> ingenuity it took amazes me.  Hiking has taken me many places that I
> otherwise would never have gone, and been much poorer for not having done
so.
>
> I have found out what happened to Alice and the circumstances. She married
> Famon Caudill when she was 14, on January 16, 1916. Famon built the cabin,
> the remains of which I described. Quickly, Alice Adams, now Alice Caudill
> became pregnant. Times were changing, even in the deeply hidden coves of
> North Carolina and Famon took a job with the railroad laying track in
> Virginia to support his new family. That is where he was when the 6 days
of
> heavy rain caused the mud slide to take the cabin, and with it Alice,
their
> unborn child, Alices mother, and Cornelius (Famons brother). Mrs. Adams
and
> Cornelius were staying with Alice until Famon returned. This occurred 85
> years ago today, July 15, 1916.
>
> The point of this? None. I usually lurk and will go back to doing so. I
> thought this might spark a discussion as to what others derive from their
> hiking experiences and that would be much more interesting than the WF
topic
> that most are growing Weary of...pun intended. I also wanted others to
know
> about Alice so she might live on a bit longer.
>
> Happy Trails
> msthiker
> Bob Schley
>
>
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