Hiking Friends

April 24, 2011

Despite comments that "March Madness" seems to be an affliction that strikes me each spring when I want to hit the trail, the name actually refers to the NCAA men's basketball tournament that is held over 3 weekends around the end of March.  As a long time basketball player and fan it can be a real "hardship" to be out on the trail during this time as there are so many exciting games to watch in a short span of time.  During my 2003 hike (760 miles from Roan Mountain, TN to Lehigh Gap, PA) I carefully planned my town days to coincide with games on the weekends of the tournament.  Needless to say, I wanted to convey the results to other thru-hikers in case they wished to join me for further viewing opportunities.  The most common communication method between hikers along the trail is the Trail Register that can be found in almost every shelter.  These registers are filled with everything from philosophical musings to drawings to the simple "I wuz here" statements that let us keep track of who's ahead and who's behind us along the trail.  After each game-watching town day I would write the latest results in the register, including a drawing of a basketball, and say where/when I planned to watch the next games. 
A young couple with the trail names "Vic" and "Irish" started their thru-hike at Springer Mt. in Georgia in the cold of February 2003.  "Vic" was short for vicarious as his support team of friends and family were hiking the trail vicariously through him.  "Irish" got her name as someone told her she must have "The luck of the Irish" to be able to go out and hike for 6 months.  Prior to our actually meeting along the trail Vic had noticed that I was making these basketball-related entries in the registers.  As a fellow fan of the NCAA tournament he decided it would be good to catch up with me and co-ordinate our game viewing.  We first met in Damascus, VA and hiked together from there to Pearisburg, VA.
The year 2003 was a particularly soggy one along the east coast so after weeks of being cold and wet the prospect of a warm, dry bed with a shower had grown particularly appealing to Irish.

Here's what I recall of one conversation:
Shuk - "The Final Four is on this weekend.  Should we plan for town days?"
Vic - "Sounds good.  What's the plan?"
Shuk - "We can see Saturday's games at the motel in Atkins, then if we hike fast we can make it to the Big Walker Motel in Bland for Monday's final game."
Vic - "Does that sound like a good idea Irish?  It would mean blowing our budget for this section of the trail."
Irish - "Are you kidding?  I never realized it before but I just love basketball."

When I think of the many great people I have met along the trail I always remember Vic and Irish for the joy and optimism they displayed regardless of what challenges the trail had for them.  I think that their engineering backgrounds helped with planning trail logistics while their history of running marathons provided the leg strength and endurance necessary to walk the trail without injury.

As the Easter weekend of my 2011 AT hike approached I decided I needed to take a little time off to recover from a recurring health concern.  Fortunately I was close to where Vic and Irish now live so I contacted them and arranged for Irish to pick me up at Daleville, VA to go spend a night at their place.  They have been blessed with two of the happiest young children I have had the pleasure to meet.  The two year old girl seemed to delight in saying "Shuk, Shuk" when asked "Who's here visiting?".  We spent the evening reminiscing about the 2003 hike, looking through the photo albums they had compiled of their journey.  I was honoured to see that I managed to squeeze into one of the group photos from the southern Virginia section.  They even mentioned how they had invoked "Shuk's Rule" : "Never walk out of town in the rain." - when they had spent an extra night in Duncannon, PA. 
Rather than send me out to a hotel for the rest of my convalescence they kindly offered to let me stay at their house for the weekend while they were away visiting relatives.  Wow, is this possible?  Indeed it was.  I had a great time enjoying the city including trips downtown to the market and some great local restaurants as they even let me use their car while I was there.
The kindness and generosity demonstrated by Vic and Irish to their hiking (and basketball watching)partner of 2003 was an example of the kind of enduring friendships I have had the honour of experiencing along the trail.  I can't thank them enough and trust we'll meet again in the near future.