#120 2022 Section Hike Intro
I’m entering the wilderness with a different mindset and a different plan than ever before.
You will recall my miscommunications with my friends on our 2021 section-hike and how my mental standing cost me dearly; nearly ruining my long friendship with Princess.
My physical situation could have cost me my life; as we’ve recently learned I have significant blockage in some of my heart’s arteries and should not have subjected myself to that much strain in the heat.
The 2022 section will be much different than past hikes.
I’m entering the wilderness with a different mindset and a different plan than ever before.
To avoid the heat I will begin about six weeks earlier in the spring than usual.
To avoid being a burden on my friends with what might become a limiting factor in my daily progress I’ll enter the wilderness alone.
Skeptical of my ability to complete the planned three hundred sixty-five-mile section needed to do to reach the Maryland boarder, this year’s hike is broken up into four sections for the purpose of having dependable towns from where I can head home if I don’t physically feel right.
The first leg will get me into Daleville VA, about sixty-five miles into the hike, where I will evaluate, then move on to the next leg if I feel I can, go home if I can’t. I have no idea what to expect from my body and the new medications.
You will also recall where and how my 2021 hike ended, with Salamander, who I found sitting on a boulder at a trailhead, injured, unable to walk due to his busted knee. He and I hitch off the mountain together, passing the location where Dirty Dancing was filmed.
Since I am hiking alone I have no partners to stage vehicles or help with the logistics. My wife and I decide it would be fun for her to drive me back to Lake Mountain Road and spend a night at the Dirty Dancing lodge (Lake Mountain Lodge/The Kellerman Mountain House), just five miles from the Appalachian Trail (A.T.). Then she’ll drop me off at the trail head where Salamander and I hitched from last year.
While in my office about a week prior to leaving for the hike I could hear her singing and dancing around the kitchen and living room as her Dirty Dancing DVD played, mentally preparing to explore the sight where one of her favorite movie was created. And yes, she made me watch the movie with her a few days before leaving. I’ve never seen it from beginning to end so she wanted me to have a full appreciation of the area as well.
I am a Patrick Swayze fan, but more of a Outsiders, Point Break, & Roadhouse kind of fan. She’s more of a Ghosts & Dirty Dancing kind of Swayze fan.
On our way to the Mountain Lake Lodge we stop for an early supper at The Bad Apple, a farm-to-table, prohibition-era-themed restaurant way off the beaten path - like take the mountain road, turn right onto the gravel road, first nondescript barn on the right surrounded by cows type of off the beaten path.
We aren’t sure we are at the right place when we pull into the gravel parking lot. It looks like any old barn at first, but we drive around it and find the sign. We have to search a little for the entrance. Now, how do we get in? Secret knock? Password?
The inside is classy. It is as though we’ve slipped a hundred years back in time. The whole experience from the food to the décor to the overall vibe of the joint is authentic. Our waitress, a young woman wearing a 1920’s pin striped suit, introduces herself as Mad Dog.
Being a backpacker and hearing a nickname I ask if Mad Dog is a trail name.
“What’s a trail name?” she asks, looking at me, a bit puzzled.
I assumed a person in their early twenties living this close to the A.T. would either have a trail name or at least know what one is.
“It’s my work name,” says Mad Dog, “all staff members are named by the manager”.
We arrive at the lodge a few hours before sunset and walk around the resort. Everywhere are little signs informing us which part of the movie was filmed in that area. We don’t really need the signs, as I have brought my own expert guide.
We walk around for a while standing where various scenes were filmed. Then we sit on a patio next to a fireless fire pit.
The evening air turns cool when the sun drops behind the mountains.
We go into the bar area to relax. Ball games play on the TVs. A few couples sit in their own little worlds at the bar and at tables as the last of the day’s light disappears outside the windows.
After walking through the halls of the resort one more time we head to our room for the night.
You’ll notice many positive changes throughout the story of the 2022 section hike.
Many of the stories from the first to now have featured a broken and defeated Sprawl. Now the darkness begins to lift. I begin to wake, my eyes are clearing. This story marks the beginning of a new Sprawl - a determined Sprawl.
Why? Mostly because my son has been gaining ground in life - he’s come a long way from where he’s been; from being defeated by horrible life altering decisions to his new determination so succeed in a much better lifestyle.
Wait. There is the issue of the new heart diagnosis.
We’ll find out together how my body responds to new meds and if my plan to hike solo in cooler temperatures leads to a successful 365 mile attempt.
Join me next Saturday as I begin the hiking where I left off in 2021, hike through Virginia’s beauty, along the Blue Ridge Parkway, through Shenandoah National Park, along Sky Line Drive, up to Dragon’s Tooth, McAfee Knob, & Tinker Cliffs, as I meet many hikers, and build one unexpected friendship.