7 days, 160 miles left to the summit of Springer Mountain. I just completed three days in the cold, icy Smokey Mountains, and now mere hills (ok, some of them are 5,000 feet) stand between me and my goal.
For those of you left wanting more from the last post, here's the rest of the story...
Before even reaching the center of Damascus, VA, a hiker named Broomstick picked me up and took me to the farm at which he worked. I was cold, wet, and had just hiked 16 miles that morning in a freezing rain. The farm belongs to a hiker named Mountain Man. I took a hot shower, cleaned my clothes, we went out to eat, and when we came back - a pig was dropping babies fast. After helping transfer the piglets to a new pen that had just been constructed, it was time to get momma pig in there with them. The two pens were on opposite ends of the yard, and unfortunately for us - this was the meanest pig in the history of the world. You might think that after giving birth to several piglets she would be tired, or at least a little maternally inclined. Not so with this gal.
We tried food. We tried dragging her with a rope. We tried cornering her towards the new pen. We tried herding her with a trained dog. This lady would not budge. My job was to not let her get past the house. Not only did I fail horribly at this task, I learned something new about pigs that day. They are extremely agile - even for a hiker in the best shape of his life, I was no match. For about twenty seconds she put on a series of complex moves that I kept up with until she put on a move so quick, so clever - that I fell in a heap on the ground. This is what it looked like (Allen Iverson as the pig, and the defender as me). It's actually spot on. 2 hours later we finally had her in the new pen - and she eventually calmed down enough to feed her piglets. It was a blast though and I was glad to get some "farm experience".
I'll post another entry once I finish and get home, but this will be my last "on-trail" post. A big "THANK YOU!" to all who have been reading, praying, encouraging - I couldn't have done all this without you. It's not over yet! 7 days. SEVEN DAYS! I'm pretty excited if you haven't noticed. I don't think I can eat too many more freeze-dried meals...
God Bless!
9 Lives
