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[at-l] salute to the thru hikers

Just got back from a day jaunt on the AT from Rte 2 along the Rattle River
and up to Mt. Moriah  in N.H.
Perfect day with wondrous views in all directions.......saw very few
hikers.....only 3  thru hikers - so. bounders (a father and his 2 sons,
whose names I missed)
which was my first encounter with thru hikers since finishing my hike last
October and it was incredible to feel such an immediate connection with
them, however brief....for those concerned I offered no Trail Magic, did
no formal interviews,  did not nail any candy bars to trees (this for
Waldo's benefit)and didn't say a word about how dang heavy their packs
looked!!!

As I trod my way thru the woods today, the flood of memories from last year
washed over me in a raging torrent..........started thinking about what it
takes to actually finish the whole trail in one season and decided 2 things
for certain: 1) "Bama" from last year said it best with one word:
stubbornness....which can mean a lot of things....grit, determination,
desire to reach a goal etc., but stubbornness defines it best to me.  2) a
certain amount of luck to avoid injury or other ailments of the body,
spirit or mind which end a thru hike.
So, as I hiked today: I remembered the gnats in my face driving me crazy
hiking up Virginia hills, the swollen, aching feet with a few missing
toenails just after Roan Mt., the incessant on fire rot in my crotch after
multiple mid VA 90 degree days, the return of my aching feet after multiple
long days on the PA rocks, the skeeters in NY/NJ so thick you could taste
them...............and in the background of these thoughts was the soft,
undulating babble of Rattle River; the rhythmic waves of the wind thru the
hardwoods..........reminding me again and again why we endure and what a
gift of simplicity it is to be able to thru hike............to spend 5-6
months with your body, mind and spirit bathed in nothing but the moving
air, light and sounds of nature.
and before I go on babbling too long (because we have had salutes to our
country, veterans etc. lately) I salute the thru hikers of now and the past
for their stubbornness and to their good luck if that's what it even
is.........

later 
Maine Rune    S to K   '96
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