Joined Adam “on the AT,” or perhaps I should say “near the
AT” for a few days over the 4th of July holiday. I felt like I was part of the journey.
Adam and Phillip hiked together from June 30 – July 4,
giving Phillip a taste of Adam’s trek.
Phillip brought bad weather with him though, and it rained most of the
time the two of them were on the trail together.
They made it 50 miles, though, and we picked them up on the
4th on VA highway 664, a narrow dirt road running along a river
. There was a definite hiker aroma to
the two of them when we greeted them, but we still loved them and drove them to
the Wintergreen condo we rented.
Dinner: pizza delivered!
On July 5, Adam agreed to “slack pack,” meaning he carried
his necessities with him, but left his tent and backpack with us. With this light load, he was able to hike 27
miles for the day, and Phil and Phillip dropped him off where we had picked up
on July 4th, and picked him up at the end of the day at Reed’s Gap
at the Blue Ridge Parkway near our condo.
Adam slack packed 18 miles again the next day, most of the
time running along the northern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway. We even met him for lunch at Humpback Rocks,
and then Phil and I picked him up at the terminus to the Parkway, Rockfish Gap,
near Waynesboro. There, we took him to
resupply – he bought socks, duct tape, and food including dehydrated favorites,
Mountain House meals. With this food,
all you add is hot water – high calories, high energy and apparently delish!
We dropped Adam off at Reid’s gap again, where Phillip and
Amanda and Reed met him for the night, and Phil and I headed back to
Charlotte.
My most difficult part of this AT weekend was saying goodbye
at Reed’s Gap. At that point, Adam was at
852.5 miles of his 2,184 mile trek, with more than 1300 miles left to journey,
and he was now to be leaving the mountains that I felt that I knew. I knew that at that point, he was truly on
his own – not an easy drive for us, not mountains we knew, and not close to
friends or family. He was fully
independent, just doing what he’s doing – thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail
through the remaining 150 miles of Virginia, the four miles of West Virginia
and on to Maryland, Pennsylvania, NJ, NY, CT, MA, VT, NH and finally in late September
to Mt. Katahdin, Maine. 1300 miles to go!
It’s lonely for us, but we’ll hear from Adam when he can
call. I’m proud of him. He is self-sufficient, he has a plan, he’s
adaptable, he’s decisive – and he is doing what he has dreamed of for several
years.
Do all AT moms feel this way? Scared, but proud – and maybe a little
jealous? I think we should all be
willing to take a risk and to enjoy our journeys in the world God has given
us! I’m glad Adam is doing just that.
Posted by Abby Bostian, at the Charlotte Home Shelter, July, 2013
No comments:
Post a Comment