My Grip is Packed to Travel

and I'm scratchin' gravel...

Today's story will be about trees. One of me favorite tree-comments was when dear Kelley was out hiking with us back in NJ/NY. We were throwing up our tents in a make-shift campsite in the middle of the woods and she had to stash her bug spray somewhere outside the tent since she forgot to put it in the, ahem...bear bag. I'm inside my tent listening to her say from some indiscriminate location within a 50ft radius, "okay guys, remind me tomorrow that I put it by the tree."

"THE tree"? I laugh.

But sometimes the trees are indeed distinct and take on stories of their own. I was immediately reminded of this little column/story I read in an old ATC (Appalachian Trail Conservancy) magazine from 2005 back in Greasy Creek Hostel back near Roan Mountain, TN. A man had walked into an ATC office somewhere in PA - I can't remember exactly where - and told the volunteer that he was looking for a tree. The ATC guy was a little bemused at the needle-in-a-haystack proposition, much like I was at Kel's little tree reference, but inquired as to which tree and why. The man explained how there was this beautiful, large oak tree that he was pretty sure was nearby on the trail next to a large creek and that he remembered it from a week-long hike he had done back in Boy Scouts - his father was the troop leader - when he was growing up. His father had in recent years suffered from Alzheimers and he struggled to identify family members and memories in general - but for some reason he had a few times brought this particular tree up to his son and remembered it clearly from the hike they had done so many years ago. This man wanted to find the tree, take a picture, and send it to his father in hopes of sparking memories and making a connection with him once again.

By some stroke of luck the ATC volunteer actually did have a pretty good idea of the prominent tree the man was referring to and set out to find it with him. They were able to find that spot on the trail and the tree in question and the man reflected something along the lines of "you know? That weeklong hike may have been one of the best times of my life."

Yeah I was pretty much tearing up reading this little trail tale (I am Mama Kath's daughter, after all), and it was better told in the magazine, but it gives a little glimpse into the connection to the trail some people feel. I'm going to make a concerted effort to get a little more reflective in this last 500 miles. Look out.

And in other news, congrats to Kevman on winning his latest golf tourney! Big sis is proud.