Labor Day -- unofficially the last day of summer and
officially the last day of our vacation. Tomorrow we set out for Stone
Mountain, Georgia and the Yellow Daisy Festival; from there it's on to The Big
E, in Massachusetts.
But today was Girls' Day Out for
Maggie and me, and we chose to spend it on the Appalachian Trail. We
entered the Skyline Drive via Thornton Gap, drove south to park at Beahms Gap,
and walked a few paces back to the Appalachian Trail (A.T.). (I realize
that few who read this will recognize -- or even care much to know -- the place
names, but I just like the sounds of those names!)
First order of business -- whether
to head north or south. We chose north, because it promised to take us to
a spring that would become the headwaters of Pass Run, which flows near our
campground. After examining this completely unremarkable body of water
for mere seconds, we turned back to the trail and continued north. We
could hear cars as they cruised along Skyline Drive, but after a while, the
sound of cars became more and more faint, until we didn't hear them at all.
This is the point at which I became
a little spooked. Though I enjoy backwoods stuff, I don't frequently get
to do much of it; I'm not used to it at all. The A.T.'s
"through-hikers" would be hundreds of miles ahead of us by this time
of year, and it occurred to me that on a day that was just a little too hot for
hiking, we may be all alone on this stretch of trail.
And then I realized:
"Hey, I have protection: I have a chow-chow!" The chow-chow
(Maggie, of course) didn't seem anxious or afraid. So why should I
be? Actually, now that I reflect back on it, if I'd had a human
companion, we'd probably have been talking for much of the way and I would've
missed some pretty cool sounds -- like the sound of a hawk's wings beating as
it flew overhead. Man! I'd be willing to bet that, pound for pound,
the hawk moves as much -- or more! -- air as a helicopter!
A lot of the next section of trail
was pretty narrow and rocky. Not steep, but not easy, either. I had
to really watch my footing. My almost-11-year-old dog, however, nimbly
skipped along. Thanks to an old knee injury, inclines are much easier for
me than declines, and I was grateful that the first portion of our hike was
mostly uphill -- I was figuring that Maggie would be tired on the return
portion, so there'd be less chance of her yanking the leash and making me
stumble going downhill.
I'm not sure how far we hiked; it
really couldn't have been all that far, but both of us were getting a bit
overheated. So at some point, I stopped and we enjoyed some cool bottled
water and a short rest. I was able, faintly, to hear cars once again, but
the sound was coming from well below us. During our rest, a young couple
also heading north came up and briefly spoke to us, the young man even offering
water for Maggie. Then they took a little spur off the trail toward one
of the shelters, while we headed back south. We passed another
north-bound couple; the young man offered his hand to Maggie, but she was only
briefly interested, as she apparently thought that there was more urgent business
down the trail.
Remember how Maggie was going to be
so tired on the return portion? Nah! At certain times she was going
so fast that she made me look as if I were staggering drunk, trying to keep up
with her. But she was very cooperative; when I'd had enough and said,
sharply, "Slow down!" she did -- thank goodness! Remember when
I was spooked? It happened again, in the same section of trail. I
guess maybe there really was something -- big -- just out of sight. They
say that you should be a little noisy when you're hiking in the backcountry, so
that bears, who are normally very shy, can hear you coming and avoid you.
Well, if that something "big" was a bear, that bear would have had no
trouble hearing us as we approached, me clumping over rocks in my hiking boots,
trying to keep up with the dog. And the loud panting! ... and
Maggie was panting a little bit, too.
We can't wait to do it all again!
Postscript: Just when you
think, gosh what an exhilarating day! It doesn't get any better than
this! ... and then it does. The sky is cloudless tonight, and, far
from bright city lights, we can perfectly see the innumerable stars of the
summer sky -- we can even see the Milky Way! It really doesn't get any
better than this ... God is good ...
