Craig and Suzy's 2006 Appalachian Trail Journal

As you can imagine, long-distance hiking takes a lot of time and money. This particular hike is estimated to cost about $17,000. Hikers cannot be reached on the trail without your support. If you like reading the journals or if you would like to see more chaplains on the trail, please prayerfully donate your funds to A.T. Servants by clicking here.

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Day	Date	Start	Finish	Miles	Journal	Photo
50	5/6	Moreland Gap Shelter, TN	Dennis Cove Road, TN/Hale Community Ministries	6.1	Day: 50 Date: 5/6/06 Start: Moreland Gap Shelter, TN Weather: Overcast Finish: Dennis Cove Road, TN/Hale Community Ministries, Elizabethton,TN Miles: 6.1 Cumulative A.T. Miles: 409.3 Branch: While on the trail, each morning we wake up with a tentative plan and give the entire day and that plan to God. Many times God has plans other than our own and makes His own revisions. Today it was our plan to wake up early, walk 6 miles to Dennis Cove, resupplying in Hampton, TN, and then walking another 10 miles to get to the Watauga Lake Shelter. Well, we slept in, took our time putting on cold, wet, dirty clothes and hung out a bit more with Miles, Rael, and Nifty. By 8:30 AM, we were on the trail. Soon Miles and Nifty caught up and we all finished the 6 miles to Dennis Cove and Kincora Hostel by 11:15 or so. Kincora shelter is run by Bob Peoples and is an incredible place. Hikers were lounging on couches inside and sitting around picnic tables inside. Anxious to get into town and resupply, we asked when the next shuttle into town would be--around 4:00. This definitely put a damper on our plan. So, Clay got on the phone and called our friend, Julie, who works at Hale Community Ministries. Clay: If we had decided to hike over Pond Flats to get to Hwy 321, there was a chance we would not be able to get to the grocery store in time before they close. If we waited until 4 PM, we'd be sitting on our hands. So, we were thankful that Julie picked us up. When Julie got to Kincora, she immediately whisked us away to a grocery store in Elizabethton. While we shopped for groceries, she ordered and paid for two large veggie pizzas for us! After we finished shopping, she took us to the Hale Community Ministry center. At Hale, we experienced quietness and a lot of food. Hale has a food bank. So, even we could not out eat Hale. With our bellies full and our bodies and clothes clean, we slept well. Thank you, Julie!
51	5/7	Dennis Cove Road, TN/Hale Community Ministries, Elizabethton, TN	Dennis Cove Road, TN/Hale Community Ministries, Elizabethton, TN		Day: 51 Date: 5/7/06 Start: Dennis Cove Road, TN/Hale Community Ministries, Elizabethton, TN Weather: Cold rain most all day. Some sleet on the mountains. Finish: Dennis Cove Road, TN/Hale Community Ministries, Elizabethton, TN Miles: 0 Cumulative A.T. Miles: 409.3 Branch: When we get into town, we are hungry and we eat until our hunger is quenched. Yesterday was no exception. Similarly, today we woke up anxious to eat spiritual food and have our spiritual hunger filled. Since Julie is such a wonderful servant of Jesus, we were confident that her church, Oak Street Baptist Church, would be just the place to recharge our spiritual batteries and fellowship with other Christians. We were right. In Sunday School, those around us asked many questions about what God is doing on the A.T., they asked how they could help, and they prayed for us. During the service, we were greeted by so many friendly faces. We were blown away by the wonderful, worshipful singing. To cap off such a great service, the pastor preached about how we need to be climbing mountains in our spiritual life rather than just relaxing around the pool. This held great significance to Clay and I as we have been climbing a few mountains as of late. Clay: I Timothy 4.8 says, "For physical training is of some value, but Godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." Today's weather was cold and rainy. like Branch said, we were ready to fellowship with believers. So, going to church was a good choice. (Besides, most hikers in our clan took a zero because of the weather too.) At the evening service, we watched "The Da Vinci Delusion" by Coral Ridge Ministries. The hour-long video exposing the errors of Dan Brown's _The Da Vinci Code_ was well done. Brown's book claims that the New Testament is historically false, that there are 80 gospels, that Jesus was voted to be divine in the 4th century, and that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. Contrary to Brown's claims, (he uses late Gnostic texts) there are only 4, first-century works that say 'gospel', the canon of scripture was derived because it was authoritative, antiquated, apostolic, and already accepted by the early church. The Council of Nicea was about Arius' heresy. He claimed that Christ was created. So, the council asked the question about how Jesus was God. The "vote" was 214-2 on the Nicean Creed. Against Jesus being married to Mary Magdalene, there is no record of this. Even liberal scholar, John Dominick Crosson concurs that Jesus was not married. Both church fellowship and the movie made our day!
52	5/8	Dennis Cove, TN	Vandeventer Shelter, TN	17.5	Day: 52 Date: 5/8/06 Start: Dennis Cove, TN Weather: Partly cloudy Finish: Vandeventer Shelter, TN Miles: 17.5 Cumulative A.T. Miles: 426.8 Clay: It was rough getting a late and lazy start out of Hale Community Ministries today. Boy, is that place relaxing. Julie came to the office at 8:15 and we were on the trail by 9:30. We saw the 40' high, Laurel Fork Falls today (2,120'), we traversed the steep Pond Flats (3780'), and we crossed the Watauga Dam today (1915'). Many people only hiked 10 miles today. This is because they want to get up at 2:30 AM and attempt to hike a whopping 40 miles into Damascus, VA. I wish them well in their aspirations. We are going to attempt to do 19 miles tomorrow. We are hoping to reach Hwy 421 in Shady Valley. We have a friend who will be picking us up at 6:30 PM tomorrow night. We will be staying at her home. Maybe the good fellowship and food will help us to do the 15 miles into Damascus, VA the following day. Well, the coyotes are howling nearby and Branch is fast asleep. I suppose I should rest as well for our near-20 mile day tomorrow. Goodnight. Branch: When we got on the trail this morning, we thought that we might be behind the group that we've been hiking with for the last several days. However, within the first 15 minutes of the hike, we were greeted by Nifty who took a zero day at Kincora because of the rain. She said that most everyone zeroed. For the first 10 miles we leap-frogged with people that we've been hiking around for a while. It was nice for once, to not be passed by and to leave town amongst familiar faces.
53	5/9	Vandeventer Shelter, TN	US-421, Low Gap/Shady Valley, TN	17.9	Day: 53 Date:4/9/06 Start: Vandeventer Shelter, TN Weather: Sunny and breezy Finish: US-421, Low Gap/Shady Valley, TN Miles: 17.9 Cumulative A.T. Miles: 444.7 Branch: Today we were awakened at 6:15 by the sound of hikers congregating around the shelter. It was the crew of people that were aspiring to do 40 miles today. They had started at 4:30 AM this morning and had just arrived at our shelter--6 miles north of theirs. Sitting comfortably in my tent, I could not fathom having 34 miles left to do today. The 18 that we are walking is enough for me. Clay: Before we got to Low Gap/US-421, we called our friend, Brenda. She and her mother, Ruby, live in Shady Valley and they invited us to stay with them overnight. We had visited their church several times as we passed through Shady Valley and we forged a friendship. When we got to their wonderful warm mountain home, they had the biggest meal ready for us. The had a ham that had been cooking all day, home-grown beans, corn, potatos, grandma gravy, pickled pickles and pickled beets, bisquits, jello, slaw, apple pie, two types of ice cream, soft drinks, sweet tea, and coffee. I ate three heaping plates full and some ice cream. Different tasting foods were mixed together on the plate but it did not matter to me at all. I shoveled them all in my mouth. In order to wash down the delightful dinner, I drank glass after glass of tea, cola, and I quaffed the coffee. I must have looked like a circus act--how embarrassing. Even better than the food was the company Ruby, Brenda, and Samantha offered. It was wonderful catching up and hearing about their interesting lives. They have been Trail Angeling hikers one the weekends for the past several weekends and it was wonderful hearing their stories. They are a true blessing to us. Seeing them was a highlight of this trip.
54	5/10	US-421/Shady Valley, TN	Damascus, VA	14.8	Day: 54 Date: 5/10/06 Start: US-421/Shady Valley, TN Weather: Puffy clouds and blue skies Finish: Damascus, VA Miles: Cumulative A.T. Miles: Branch: When we woke up this morning comfortable in a cloud-like bed, I did not realize where I was at first. We ate a wonderful breakfast of coffee, biscuits, ham, and fruit, and enjoyed the company of Ruby and Brenda. It truly felt like we were leaving family. Brenda dropped us off at the gap at 7:30 on her way to work. I wish we could have stayed. The terrain into Damascus today was super easy. In fact, as we hiked the miles, I actually felt very strong. We did 5 miles in the first two hours without even trying to rush. It was a wonderful feeling to feel the ground going by quickly underfoot. We finished the 15 or so miles by 2:15. That is super fast for us. Clay: In Acts 9, a persecutor of the church named Saul was confronted by the risen Jesus while he traveled on the road to Damascus. Saul heard (greek-akouo) Jesus say to him, "Saul, why are you persecuting me?" Later, it says that Paul spent time with the disciples and something like scales fell from his eyes. He was a changed man. The rest is history. He went on to be an apostle of the church. When we got into town, we went to the USPS immediately. Branch is trading the zero-degree bag for a 15-degree bag. There were also some pole tips, protein, books, and a love note from my mother. We went to Mount Rogers Outfitters, attempted to get my pack fixed, exchanged Branch's water bladder, resupplied on fuel, and bought some new spoons. Since this town tends to keep hikers here for days, we were able to fellowship with a number of people we had not seen in weeks. It was wonderful. We are staying at The Place hostel tonight--owned by the local Methodist Church. It is a wonderful, spacious, dry home for the night and it is only $8 for us to stay! What a wonderful ministry for the hikers. Tomorrow we would like to get chores done until 1 PM and hike 10 miles to the first shelter. Everyone in my room is asleep now. So, I had better go to bed too. Goodnight.
55	5/11	Damascus, VA	Damascus, VA		Day: 55 Date:5/11/06 Start: Damascus, VA Weather: cold rain Finish: Damascus, VA Miles: 0 Cumulative A.T. Miles: 459.5 Branch: Last night neither Clay or I nor our two roommates, Link and Jeannie, slept well here at The Place. After much conversation about this, we decided that we are no longer used to the boxy shapes indoors and this affected our ability to sleep. Nonetheless, this morning, as we stared sleepily out the window at the great drizzle coming out of the sky, hiking was the last thing that we wanted to do. We had a few more town chores that we needed to do before we left, so we braved the drizzle to complete those. The highlight of the morning was sewing the ripped seam of the shoulder strap on Clay's pack. Under the teaching of one of the men at the outfitter, I was able to use a sewing tool that I'd never used before. It was both fun and nerve racking as a slip of the hand could ruin the already ailing pack. I pray that this primitive field repair will hold. Clay: When I was a child, we used to play a game called tag. The game was composed of a person chasing and attempting to 'tag' another person. We have been involved in the ultimate game of tag. More on that later. I was a grouch much of the day due to lack of sleep, walking miles in town doing chores in fowl weather, feeling rushed to get back to the trail, and hearing some more bad news about an evil group that wronged us. As we were rushing to get out of The Place hostel and into the drizzle onto the trail, my mood went from sour to sweet within a matter of minutes. What happened, you ask? After a two week head start, we were tagged after 460 miles by Brett (aka. Social) an Bronwyn (aka. Dandelion)! As they walked into The Place and we saw each other all four of our faces lit up, we embraced, and we began catching up on each others lives. The grey clouds of the day were now sunny. We were scheduled to leave the hostel at 1 PM but we were running behind because of my grouchiness and dread of hiking in the slop. Thank the Lord that we were running late. We saw Social and Dandelion at 1:45 PM. It was as if God put us in circumstances in which He knew would slow us down in order that we could see our friends. What was a gloomy day at first turned out to be a cheery one in the end. We had been tagged after 460 miles by our friends.
56	5/12	Damascus, VA	Lost Mountain Shelter, VA	15.8	Day: 56 Date: 5/12/06 Start: Damascus, VA Weather: Cloudy and chilly Finish: Lost Mountain Shelter, VA Miles: 15.8 Cumulative A.T. Miles: 475.3 Branch: This morning I woke up early again after another sleepless night. I couldn't wait to get back on the trail so that I could sleep again! We got ready slowly and took Social and Dandelion out for all-you-can eat (i.e. AYCE) pancakes. It was the best time hearing their stories and praying with them. I am so glad that God ordained for us to hang out yesterday! We were on the trail by 9:30 and, for the first time on the trip, I felt strong going out of town. The climbs were not arduous and we made good time for us. Soon, Sidestep, a super fast Christian hiker caught up to us. We met him a few days ago and hung out with him a bit in Damascus. He and Clay hiked together for a good bit of the afternoon and seemed to have a great time. I hung back, enjoying the solitude and listened to a talk by N.T. Wright on my MP3 player. N.T. Wright is an incredible speaker and his knowledge about Jewish culture and how it fit in Jesus' ministry has truly changed my view of the Bible. Today he quoted St. Francis (I believe) who said something to the effect of "Go and preach the Gospel by any means available and if necessary use words." That quote has stayed with me throughout the day. While I know it to be necessary to use words to speak the Gospel, I think that every action we take should be a witness of who we are in Jesus and what He has done for us. So, if you look at the percentage of actions to words, our actions will far outweigh our words. Clay: I had a great time hiking with Sidestep today. He is a deep thinker and an excellent hiker (He is trying to hike about 25 miles per day for the next week). Today he slowed down for me and we had some heavy conversation. It was both deep and edifying. The miles went by easily today.

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