Spent the first hour practicing “Happy Birthday” in Afrikaans for my friend Sleeping Beauty! Today is her Birthday! Happy Birthday Kelly! 

​​​For some reason the short video won’t upload.   Maybe later. 

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I thought all this hiking was going to be about accomplishment. Fitness. Self-esteem building. Stuff like that. Surprise, surprise. 

The best part might be the people. 

I generally don’t like people that much. It could be a holdover from my alcoholism.  I pushed everyone away for many years and slowly, seeing my whole life as a shameful mess, began to fear seeing anyone. Friends or family. I was sure they all hated me. Truth is, I hated myself. 

I’m over 20 years sober now, but some of that fear still lingers. When I’m around people, it doesn’t bother me. When I THINK ABOUT being around people I still get some anxiety. It takes a long time to heal these things, I guess. 

Anyway, this whole Section Hiking experience has brought so many people into my life. Some old friends and some new ones. 

That beautiful watercolor I posted was given to me by my “new” friend Sherpa. (Scott) He saw it at an art show, thought of me, and bought it. His lovely daughter, Kayla I think, did the inscription at the bottom. Out of nowhere, I get a painting and a beautiful card as well. 

What an act of kindness. 

For most of my life, I thought I was a nice guy because I cared about people. I was sensitive to there hurts and needs. Nope. It’s not the caring, it’s the actions. 

I judged myself by my intentions, while others judged me by my actions. I’m not a nice guy until I do something!

Scott is a nice guy. I good dad, husband, and friend. He does things for his family and friends. I love the boots. So does my wife! Thanks Scott!

People, it’s the people. 

Yesterday, Scott and I met these three. 

Left to right: “Nest” “Moondancer” and “Dreamchaser.”

What a lovely ❤️ trio they are! They, all three have Thru Hiked the entire AT. Now, they reunite, every so often, and hike sections of the Trail. These three are the real deal. Just the right amount of pride, for their accomplishment, tempered with the love of the experience they had,  and steeped with the balance of good humor. It was a delightful conversation. 

These three charming women, all three look so… I don’t know how to finish that sentence. What I do know is that inside of each, is a badass AT hiker.  Badass. They did it all. I’ve done about one seventh of the Trail. It was hard. They did it all!

So nice to meet you. 😀

Back to day 3. 

My friend John was meeting me at Whiskey Springs Road, about 3 miles into the day. I had no signal at Pine Grove Furnace, so I drove out for a coffee and got connected to John, to set up our meet, and to Gates, who was hiking in from Boiling Springs to meet the two of us. Off I went. 

I had heard that there were rocks. 

I love rocks. I live in Rocksylvania, remember. We love our rocks. 

Into this AWESOME rock section. The photos will speak for themselves. 

Up over and through. So fun. 

Out of the rocks. Down to Whiskey Springs and this:

A box for “Trash Magic,” and a cooler box with baked potatos in foil, ready to cook! The Trail Angels are coming out of the woodwork, getting ready for the Thru Hikets! Cool!

Then I spotted this:

Another trail to do one day. 

I met s John (left) and we headed NOBO to meet Gates. (right) Me in middle!

My HS buddies! We hadn’t hiked together for some time. Can you tell that I was happy to see them! Ha. 

They came hours, in separate cars, to finish PA and the NY to WV Section with me!!! Shame Scott couldn’t be there as well. 

Gates, a real man, had come from Boiling Springs, almost all uphill, then down from the top to meet us. He turned around and up we went! 

Met some Flip Floppers. They had done from GA to Harper’s Ferry, and were now working on the top half. As you can see, they travel with their pack dogs. 😀

More up. Then Center Point Knob!

It was all down hill the rest of the way to my end point, joining the Trail at the Conservancy Office. 

Past some fisherman working the famous “Yellow Breeches” trout stream. 

Into Boiling Springs. 

Metasequoia. 

Milkshake time.

Finished. New York to West Virginia. 

💥 BOOM! out. 

See you in 4 months when I’m back from Cape Town and the ticks are gone!  👣