I've been on the trail now and again over the summer, meeting many wonderful people. There was the gal from England who was anxious to get to New York and meet up with some friends. I met another gent from the UK who was laboring in the July heat and humidity. He didn't want to admit it, but he looked tired and over packed. A trio of ladies graced the trail in early June, through hiking with three generations!
Last weekend, I ran/hiked a steep portion of The Trail where it intersects with the Darlington and Tuscarora Trails. There was a father with two children, perhaps 8 and 10 years old. They were practicing hiking, as they would be hiking and staying on the floor of the Grand Canyon at Phantom Ranch.
That same day, I talked to a young man from Michigan. He was taking a rest beside an old wrecked car on the trail. The car has degenerated to the point of being only a frame. It came to rest on its roof, with the front bumper bent like a horseshoe around a tree. I can't imagine how it got there or what its story is. It has been there so long, the tree has begun envelope the bumper. We pondered the etiology of such an unusual finding. Then I resumed running and he finished his Clif Bar, heading to Boiling Springs.
