Re: [at-l] Blind Thru-hiker

[Owen <jrowen@ibm.net>]

Cheryl & Ron wrote:

> "The day we met Bill Irwin"
> A long post:
> 
> I kicked myself for having missed the oppurtunity to say hello and thank
> him for his book and telling him how much I admired what he had done. As
> we walked on, that thought kept bothering me, and the more I thought
> about it the more upset I got. Here I was on the AT, realizing a dream
> of mine, in no small part due to him and I let him go by without saying
> a word.
> 
> We reached Roaring Fork Shelter tired and glad to be out of the
> impending rain storm and dissapointed in not having actually met Bill
> Irwin as he passed by. Some time later we heard voices coming from
> woods. I suddenly realized that Bill's group might be going right by
> here to return to their cars. I grabbed our camera and ran with Cheryl
> up the side trail to intercept the group. We were just in time to catch
> them as they crossed the trail turnoff. As the group stopped at the
> sight of us panting from having run up the trail, I was again struck
> speechless. It was Cheryl who spoke for me. "You're Bill Irwin aren't
> you". "Yes, and you're thru-hikers aren't, you I can tell by the smell".
> We laughed at that and he explained how he was here from his home in
> Maine to give a talk at a local church. He also introduced us to his new
> dog "Brawny". While others who were staying at the shelter that night
> came up to meet Bill, a member of his hiking group explained the scrapes
> on Bill's legs. He had just taken a fall crossing a small creek, but had
> just gotten up and continued on. He said Bill had taken several falls
> that day and never said a word.
> 
> That night, as the rain began to fall, and the shelter mice scurried
> around, I thought about how difficult (I would have thought impossible)
> it must have been to hike the trail blind.
> 
> The next day, after the morning fog burned off and the sun broke through
> the clouds, I couldn't help but be thankful for my 20-15 vision, and the
> wonderous views we had. Our spirits had been lifted, and our energies
> renewed. We hiked with a new outlook on everything. We breezed over
> Walnut Mountain and then Bluff Mountain and passed our original
> destination of Deer Park Mountain Shelter and into Hot Springs for a
> 14.6 mile day, our longest yet for our trip, and having the excitement
> returned to our adventure.
> 
> Thank you Bill, I will never forget our serendipitous meeting, in the
> North Carolina woods. It was truly a "Trail Magic" moment for us.
> 
> Ron
> The Solemates AT98


Ron - 
Welcome to the campfire - and thanks for the great story.  I can
appreciate it because I also met the man who strted me thinking about
thruhiking. The "Singing Horseman" didn't get the publicity 
that Bill Irwin did, but he was just as important in my ife.  It's 
really good to hear those stories.  

Walk softly,
Jim


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