PDA

View Full Version : Some Things to Think About before Traildays



Just a Hiker
05-07-2006, 03:59
This is my first post on the internet, so please be patient with me. As my name indicates I am "Just a Hiker"; therefore, by definition I am your friend if you are on this web sight. I am one of those "thru-hikers" you see every year on the AT, but I am one of those thru-hikers who just comes and goes quietly at the lean-to's and the trail towns. I "usually" don't say too much to people nor do I let too many people get too close to me, but some of you have affected me very deeply and some of you haven't.

Before I go any further with what I have to say, I must first give you some background. I first stepped on to the Appalachian Trail in the summer of 1977. I was a young Boy Scout and I must say that my 3 days on the AT that summer had a profound effect on me; and as it turns out, an effect on my entire life. I had hiked quite a bit on the AT until I entered the military, at which time I didn't get to hike except for my regular Friday "Hump" in the Marine Corps. After some time in Beruit and Iraq, I was discharged from the Marine Corps for what they termed "Medical Reasons" and my life was never the same. By 1998 I was broke, homeless and a hopeless alcoholic. I always knew I could do better, and I always knew I still had some pride left in my body; but for some reasons I just couldn't get over being dishcharged from the Marines. After all, I had completed 11 years by the time they were through with me. For the next couple of years I drank....sobered up, and then drank some more.

While I was living in this "Personal Hell" I always tried to answer one question to myself. Of course that question was "When was I truly happy"? As I layed awake on my bed in a VA mental ward it dawned on me when that was. The last time I was truly happy was when I was hiking on the Appalachian Trail!! So when I was released from the VA Hospital that is exactly where I went. That was February 23rd of 2001 and I have been sober ever since.

I got what gear I could find and I hitched to Springer Mountain, GA. I remember seeing that first white blaze, and I knew I was home. I didn't have much in the way of gear and I didn't have any money, but I was hiking the Appalachian Trail, and that is all that mattered. I hiked every day and I lived out of hiker boxes. I made a few dollars here and there, but I stayed focused and managed to make it to Damascus. I remember being embarrassed when I walked into Damascus because I had seen all the cool gear the other hikers had, and I also know how I had been treated along the way. Because I didn't have a "Gregory" Backpack and a "Mountain Hardware" sleeping bag, other hikers thought I was a vagrant or just another homeless "Creep" hiding on the trail. What they didn't realize was that I had just beat them all to Damascus!! That wasn't my goal, but I did beat them just the same.

When I got to Damascus, the first person I met was "Lone Wolf". He took one look at my elementary school bookbag, my K-Mart shoes and the blanket I had "borrowed" from a homeless shelter and he had this to say to me: "You are the first hiker I have seen today who will probably make it to Maine". I can't begin to tell you how proud I was!! Lone Wolf wasn't the first wonderful person I met on the AT, but his kind words helped get me to Maine; plus a little help from "Just an Echo". (I'll never forget that man). There were some pretty famous hikers in Damascus that day, but I felt like the "King of Damascus"!! The guys at MRO treated me with such dignity. They could tell I didn't have a dime to my name, but Dave and Jeff treated me like I had walked into their outfitter with a million dollars. That was the first time I was proud to be a part of the "Hiker Community"!

It took me awhile to get to Maine, but I did. I hiked a bit SOBO with "Just an Echo" until he left for Florida and then I headed NOBO again to Maine. I didn't make it to Maine in time to climb Katahdin, but it didn't really matter because I had done my 2000 miles............. the hard way.

My life has steadily improved since that 2001 hike. I have a room I stay at in Maine when I am not hiking, and I no longer carry a bookbag and a blanket; as I have regular gear like every other hiker on the AT. I also have a little money in my pocket that enables me to hike all year round if I want to; which leads me to why I am writing this.

I normally don't get on the computer to read the AT Sights, but I am staying with hiking friends right now until Baxter State Park opens. I have been reading some of the "Forums" in here and other places, and I have to say that I am a little shocked. We are about to celebrate another year on the AT and all I see is fighting on the web sights. I never see that on the trail. I admit that people complain a little bit in the lean-to registers, but normally it's one big "Love Fest" on the trail.

Having said that, and I know this is going to start yet another fight, but I am going to start by giving my "Two-Cents" on Jack Tarlin. First of all, I have never walked up to Baltimore Jack and introduced myself. I have had many chances to do so, but I haven't done so for two reasons....(1) I am pretty quiet and keep to myself in trail towns....(2) Jack is always too busy either helping a hiker, feeding a hiker or sharing what he has with a hiker. So who really cares if Jack likes to take a drink; I would love to have a drink right now, but I can't. Maybe when I have 8 thru-hikes, I'll be looking for something to kill the pain as well. Bob Peoples once told me that "We" are like Professional Athletes, and as much as some of you don't like it, Jack is a Professional in every way. He doesn't apologize for anything he does or for anything he says. From what I see on this trail sight, he has tried to be helpful to hikers, and I think what Jack does on a daily basis is his way of "giving back" to the trail. He may not be swinging a pick-axe on the trail, but his advice has kept us all from making mistakes at least once in our AT travels. So if any of you want a piece of Baltimore Jack.....all you have to do is jump on the trail and hike through Hanover, NH. I am sure he would be glad to chat with you, or have a beer, or show you the best place to eat in town. (But don't go to Lou's, I am mad at them!)

I guess my point is that we are about to celebrate another year of the AT in Damascus, and that is what we should be doing right now. Who cares what some guy named "Boulder" says!! He ate the food so he should be grateful for what he got. Boulder just doesn't get "it" yet! But he will, and when he does he will understand guys like Jack Tarlin and their value to the AT. For some of us it only takes one step on the AT to get "it", and for some it will take many steps. I am not saying we have to love each other, because that just ain't gonna happen! But we can "Hike our own Hike" every day and try to give back when we can. So everyone go celebrate in Damascus and have a great time! I would love to be there but I am forever a SOBO who will be in Maine trudging along on the AT.

I have written this anonymously not because I am afraid of anything or anyone, but because my recovery requires me to be anonymous. Although some of you know me, you don't know my past and it would be devistating for me if people knew of my humble beginnings. I know some of you will guess who I am and thats okay, but please don't post my real name or my trail name on this or any other sight. Those of you that know me know that I don't bother anyone on the trail and I am not on here looking for a fight either. I am just a hiker. Thank You.

Cuppa Joe
05-07-2006, 04:21
Well written and well said ... nuff said!

MedicineMan
05-07-2006, 06:51
i've always called the trail the teacher, after reading your testimony I can now call it the healer as well. next weekend let it heal my knees and teach my youngest daughter as we go over Big Bald.

Frolicking Dinosaurs
05-07-2006, 10:35
First, Just a Hiker, congrats on your recovery. That in and of itself isn't any easier than hiking from Georgia to Maine or Maine to Georgia.


The recovery adage that anonymity is the spiritual foundation of recovery because it encourages us to place principles before personalities applies to the hiking community as well. Placing personalities before principles is the root cause of much of the in-fighting on the web and in real life.

One of the founders of AA penned these words and they seem to apply here (remember the term God is used universally for whatever Higher Power you have come to know)



We realize we know only a little. God will constantly disclose more to you and to us. Ask Him in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the man who is still sick. The answers will come, if your own house is in order. But obviously you cannot transmit something you haven't got. See to it that your relationship with Him is right, and great events will come to pass for you and countless others. This is the Great Fact for us.

<o></o>Abandon yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your faults to Him and to your fellows. Clear away the wreckage of your past. Give freely of what you find and join us. We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the Spirit, and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road {trail} of Happy Destiny.

Renee - The female half of the Frolicking Dinosaurs

Lilred
05-07-2006, 10:39
What a great post! I think one of the reasons people bicker on here is out of frustration from not being able to hike. Just a guess. Thanks for your words and keep on keepin on....

Tin Man
05-07-2006, 20:50
Nicely done Just a Hiker! Ignore the bickering or let it entertain you as I do. There are more good things happening here than the battle among the wits and witless.

Stay healthy and enjoy your hike. Happy Trails! :sun