AT section hike 2023-Dicks Creek Gap to Lemon Gap! Part 1

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭28‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/114/mat.11.28.NKJV

This was a fabulous year! I’m so excited to share with you my journey. Here it goes!

Kenneth, my hubby and best trail angel, drove me from Spencer, IN where we lived to Blood Mt. Cabins at Neels Gap, GA. We spent the night there in the Bear cabin. Each cabin has its own animal theme. I hiked the next day the section from Jarrard Gap, where we got off trail last year to Neel’s Gap. There was a 5 mile section over Blood Mountain, that we missed, I wanted to see.

That section was beautiful! Blood Mountain is worth a day hike, if nothing else. It was a good warm up for the trail ahead. I hiked on into the cabin where we were staying, just a 1/4 mile from Neel’s Gap and Mountain Crossings.

Kenneth and I spent our last night together before I ventured off solo this time. Diane had planned to come, but couldn’t make it. I looked forward to others joining me later. I knew God was with me and I’d be just fine.

Kenneth dropped me off at Dicks Creek Gap. I took off up the mountain excited to be back on the AT. It was a pretty tough climb up those 9 miles with these Hoosiers legs, but I made it late afternoon to the GA/ VA border! Just a little farther was the cool gnarly tree and the camping area. A nice spring ran through the valley there. The camping area was up on the hill, of course.

God is sooo good! There were two ladies setting up their tents for the night. They were part of a Minnesota hiking group. One of them was the leader. We shared our evening together and enjoyed a gorgeous sunset. Thank you Lord, for giving me someone in the camp the first night.

The three of us had breakfast together, then parted ways. They were heading south and I north. The climb was pretty steep and rugged. I hiked through a beautiful field of touch-me-nots as I made my way to the shelter for lunch. The privy was memorable in not a good way- it was so small you could barely shut the door. The shelter was very old.

I hiked on to my place for the night, enjoying the views. The reward of hiking up mountains is there is often a break along the way that shows a spectacular window of those majestic Appalachian mountains. It is inspiring, to say the least.

Usually, I met someone on the trail each day, but almost all were heading south. I do have the exception of a guy from Costa Rica. He was doing a section hike for a few days. He knew very little English and I knew very little Spanish! He was very nice though, and we got along well. He hiked much faster than me, but I would catch up to him at lunch or the shelter for the evening. We would eat at the shelter for our evening meals and tent camped close by. This happened for a couple of days.

Shelters- I didn’t have a liking for staying in shelters yet. They were hard for my mind to wrap around- They were 3 sided. Everyone around sees you lying there. Bugs. Potential bears and possible weird people. Don’t forget the Mice!🐁.

My tent was my private, hiding place.

When he no longer was on trail with me, I hiked on. It always seemed like I was going uphill. On one of those treks I was starting my day as usual, with what was my theme song for the year.

The song, Abide” by Aaron Williams, helped me hike with a knowing purpose, and relax, in His Presence. As I trudged up another mountain, I saw myself doing a video presentation to a group of interested people about this AT trip. I thought that was cool, but had no idea how to do it. Once I was home, I told my daughter. She told me to try the I- movie App on my phone. About that same time, I received a call from an old friend. She asked me to do a presentation of my hike for her women’s Bible Study group’s retreat. Wow God! I knew to say yes! This was a God set up. But, that’s another story.

No one else was there at the next shelter. Oh, but what beauty was around me! The stars were brilliant. I had no rain! The barred owls sing and the whipporwills on the distance were whipporwilling! No bears. Cool nights and warm days. It was calm and peaceful each night, as I allowed myself to be still.