Hoosier climbing Mt. Katahdin, Maine September 20. My brother in Christ. I feel so much love for this man and his friendship and ministry shared with so many along the Appalchian Trail in 2013
I had shared in an earlier post that Pumpkin Pie was going to join me for the final 115 miles of the AT. He was able to hike with me for three days, but then needed to return home. It was great reuniting and hiking with him! After his departure I hiked alone through the 100-mile wilderness for the final four days. I can truly say though that I was not alone. God has never been more real to me than during those last few days. I had a lot of time to reflect. One thing I thought about was the pose I wanted to depict at the Katahdin sign. Most I have seen are a depiction of victory with arms stretched out in triumph. I am not in any way saying that is wrong, but for me it would not be expressing my true thoughts of the moment. I wanted my pose to be give God the glory. Therefore, in my summit photos you see a stretched out hand to the heavens and a finger pointing to God. I wanted to express gratitude to Him for his presence, protection, and provision throughout every mile of the journey. It truly is only by his grace that I arrived at that sign. You also see my other arm is reaching out and a finger is pointing to you and others whom God used as His instruments to make the completion of the journey possible. I am pointing to those of you who have supported me financially, through prayers, words of encouragement, help with technology (how to post a journal entry) and following me on the journal. I am pointing to all you Trail Angels who gave trail magic; food, a bed for the night, and a hitch for a tired hungry, dirty, stinky hiker who needed to get to a trail town to resupply. I am pointing to fellow hikers who shared in the same daily struggle to put in our miles going north. I have never been a part of such an eclectic group of people. You were my favorite part of the journey! While reflecting upon you I got all choked up and cried, which is uncommon for me. I will never forget you (although I don't know most of your real names). I would give a list of your trail names but then I would begin crying again. The journey was hard and long but you made it fun. I would like to end this journal entry by naming and giving special thanks to my wife, Jan. For over 20 years she has known of my dream to one day hike the entire AT in one calendar year, and thus earn the title thru-hiker. Over the years she has supported me in my one- or two-week hikes and even a two-month hike in 2007. This hike took me half a year. It could not have happened without her total support and extra work on the home front. Thank you, Jan. You most know what the title thru-hiker means to me. I offer a deep bow of gratitude to all you who helped this weary traveler along the way. Please keep checking the journal for future reflections of the trail from "off trail." - See more at: www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=14243#sthash.O6...
Hoosier climbing Mt. Katahdin, Maine September 20. My brother in Christ. I feel so much love for this man and his friendship and ministry shared with so many along the Appalchian Trail in 2013
I had shared in an earlier post that Pumpkin Pie was going to join me for the final 115 miles of the AT. He was able to hike with me for three days, but then needed to return home. It was great reuniting and hiking with him! After his departure I hiked alone through the 100-mile wilderness for the final four days. I can truly say though that I was not alone. God has never been more real to me than during those last few days. I had a lot of time to reflect. One thing I thought about was the pose I wanted to depict at the Katahdin sign. Most I have seen are a depiction of victory with arms stretched out in triumph. I am not in any way saying that is wrong, but for me it would not be expressing my true thoughts of the moment. I wanted my pose to be give God the glory. Therefore, in my summit photos you see a stretched out hand to the heavens and a finger pointing to God. I wanted to express gratitude to Him for his presence, protection, and provision throughout every mile of the journey. It truly is only by his grace that I arrived at that sign. You also see my other arm is reaching out and a finger is pointing to you and others whom God used as His instruments to make the completion of the journey possible. I am pointing to those of you who have supported me financially, through prayers, words of encouragement, help with technology (how to post a journal entry) and following me on the journal. I am pointing to all you Trail Angels who gave trail magic; food, a bed for the night, and a hitch for a tired hungry, dirty, stinky hiker who needed to get to a trail town to resupply. I am pointing to fellow hikers who shared in the same daily struggle to put in our miles going north. I have never been a part of such an eclectic group of people. You were my favorite part of the journey! While reflecting upon you I got all choked up and cried, which is uncommon for me. I will never forget you (although I don't know most of your real names). I would give a list of your trail names but then I would begin crying again. The journey was hard and long but you made it fun. I would like to end this journal entry by naming and giving special thanks to my wife, Jan. For over 20 years she has known of my dream to one day hike the entire AT in one calendar year, and thus earn the title thru-hiker. Over the years she has supported me in my one- or two-week hikes and even a two-month hike in 2007. This hike took me half a year. It could not have happened without her total support and extra work on the home front. Thank you, Jan. You most know what the title thru-hiker means to me. I offer a deep bow of gratitude to all you who helped this weary traveler along the way. Please keep checking the journal for future reflections of the trail from "off trail." - See more at: www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=14243#sthash.O6...