|
Hikers and Franklin residents gathered at the Big Bear shelter of the Greenway to mix and mingle on Saturday, April 4 as part of the inaugural April Fool’s Trail Days celebration. By Tony Wheeler
Staff WriterFranklin turned out at the Big Bear shelter of the Greenway on Saturday, April 4, to welcome hikers of the Appalachian Trail who visit the area every year. Franklin is located 100 miles north of the traditional Spring starting point of the 2,175-mile trail at Springer Mtn., Ga. The trail’s northern terminus is Mt. Katahdin in Maine. The trail runs through Macon County about 10 miles from downtown Franklin, at Winding Stair Gap. Franklin is a perfect spot where many hikers leave the trail to visit town and resupply. In recognition of their positive impact on our economy, the Franklin Main Street Program and local businessman Ronnie Haven got together to throw an appreciation bash called April Fool’s Trail Days. Haven has provided free shuttle service to hikers over the years and is well-known along the trail. This is the fifth year he has thrown a bash for the hikers, and this year he worked with Linda Schlott of the Main Street program to incorporate the town's inaugural hiker appreciation day on Saturday into the usual events at his Sapphire Inn, making for a long weekend of fun for the hikers. In recognition of the positive impact hikers have on our economy, the Franklin Main Street Program with local businessman Ronnie Haven put together a celebration at Big Bear Shelter on the Greenway. Residents and hikers mingled and got to know each other while listening to music from the local favorite Frogtown IV, ate hot dogs and hamburgers, and browsed the booths. Vendors were there selling everything from trail gear like lightweight tents, stoves, and walking sticks, to hacky sacks. Informational booths were also set up, providing trail guides and explaining conservation efforts.Franklin scored a major coup by inviting Gene Espy from Cordele, Ga. Espy is a legendary pioneer of the trail, the second person to have ever through-hiked, and the only one living of the first three people to accomplish the achievement. To through-hike the AT, a hiker must complete the entire trail in one season or year, which takes an average of six months. Most hike from Georgia to Maine, leaving around this time of year in order to make it to Katahdin before winter weather causes the park there to close. Espy did it in 1951, just to do it, he said, hiking only for personal pleasure. He didn’t know or care that it had already been accomplished, a farmer in Virginia told him about it. The trail wasn't designed for through-hiking, and at the time people thought the idea to be impossible. Earl Shaffer through-hiked in 1948, the first person to complete the task. Many people still didn’t believe the AT could be through-hiked, but when Espy became the second person to complete the trail in one hike, it confirmed the possibility.Espy said there were few shelters on the trail back then, and even fewer hikers. So few, in fact, that he could recognize footprints. In 1970, only 10 people hiked the entire trail. Espy completed the hike in four months, from the last day of May to the last of September. He hitched a ride from his home in Cordele to Mt. Oglethorpe, where the Southern terminus was located at the time, 18 miles South of Springer Mtn. The adventure cost Espy $400 to $300 for equipment and $100 for the bus fare and new clothes for the trip home. It was the only time he ever hiked the trail, and has recently written about the experience in his book “The Trail of My Life.” The book is just now hitting bookstores and can also be purchased at www.geneespyhiker.com. Rosalyn Seagroves (left) receives information from Dorothea Megow-Dowling of the Bartram Trail Society. Chris White of Indiana, trail name Joe Kickass, visited the festivities. He’s just started his attempt at through-hiking the AT, and came off the trail 163 miles up at Fontana Dam for the hiker bash. A limo service brought him and other hikers to the event.By becoming a throughhiker, White has joined an almost separate society. The hikers give each other colorful trail names and never go by their real ones. They sometimes hike in groups, sometimes alone and keep up with each other by even more colorful log entries at sites along the trail. White took leave from his job as an environmental consultant to make the trek. He got the idea after reading “The Alchemist,” a book he says is about finding your personal journey. He said he’s been planning and reading to gear up for the trip for a year, so much so that he got sick of the planning and just wanted to start hiking. He saved up $3,000 to make the hike, mostly by “not drinking as much.” Sandy La Jeunesse of the White Buffalo General Store peddles her wares to hikers Saturday. The most challenging thing so far for White has been the rain getting all of his gear wet. “The trail is busy. There are always people at the shelters. So far when I’m hiking, it’s been one constant classic rock song in my head. I hope that changes and I start some deep thinking,” he said.Judy Gross of Asheville, trail name Heartfire, was at the festivities selling homemade, lightweight tents. Gross is a dressmaker by trade and designed the tents after attempting to through-hike in 2006. She got as far as Massachusetts before a broken shoulder took her off the trail. She will try again next year. “I was hiking once with my twin boys and a niece. When I put my foot on the ground, the trail spoke to me and I wanted to keep on walking. I love being outdoors and it’s phenomenal to do so 24/7 for days on end. It’s a calling; it’s different being alone,” she said. Her tents are available by emailing
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
. Ernest Engman of Maryville, Tenn., trail name Sgt. Rock, is a longtime hiker who used to hike Standing Indian here in the ‘70s. After retiring from the Army, he attempted to through-hike last year and made it 815 miles to Virginia before breaking a foot in a stress fracture. He said stress fractures are common injuries on the trail.Engman has a lot of experience living outdoors, having served in Iraq, and hiking is old hat to him, he said. “You get in a rhythm. A lot of people think we’re on a six-month vacation, but the reality of it is you have to treat through-hiking like a job. You get up in the morning, eat, clean up, then go to work. You sleep at night and then start over the next day,” he said. Engman’s biggest concern was the risk of hypothermia. At Sam’s Gap in Tennessee, it was 33 degrees and raining. Ice formed on the inside of his rain jacket, and he suffered frostbite on his ears. He will attempt to throughhike again. “Being alone doesn’t bother me. I once went five days without seeing another hiker. I know there’s a reason why I want to through-hike. I just don't know yet what it is,” he said. Engman is in charge of a Website devoted to the trail, which is marked by white blazes of paint. His site http://www.whiteblaze.net/, features forums, advice and information about the AT. Organizers were pleased with the weekend. Ronnie Haven said 350 people were at the Big Bear Shelter at one time and around 1,000 hikers had booked local hotels and a church hostel for the event. Linda Schlott said she was pleased with the turnout for the first annual hiker’s day, and that it would continue. “The hikers provide a wonderful economic impact to our town and county, and we need to cater to them. We’re working on becoming officially designated as an AT town,” she said. |
