Day Thirty-Five Pitches a Tent; 31 Still Hiking

Today I actually saw the Fall Creek Falls of Fall Creek Falls. Since this was going to be my last full day, I felt compelled to hike somewhere. I studied the various hiking maps strewn about the Inn. I located the bike trail, and set off. Along the way, I saw my new friend, Bambi.

Two miles later, I arrived at the Falls Overlook:

I then noticed a sign to the left, indicating the path for the .4 mile hike to the bottom of the falls. If I had any leftover illusions about hiking the AT with MB, this pretty much squelched those insane thoughts. My knees and ankles have promised to abandon me should I ever consider such a stunt.

Finally, I arrived at the bottom of the falls. It was beautiful, which I enjoyed as long as I could, with the ever-present thought that I would have to hike back up the .4 mile path to the overlook, which was still two miles from the inn.

I had barely started back up the .4 mile trek, when it started to rain. Rain and climbing on rocks are not always compatible, but I managed to make it back up to the overlook, and then started on the two miles to the inn. The tree canopy kept me from getting soaked from the rain, just wet. I eventually made it back to the room, took a hot shower, and watched the rain from my balcony.

The rain brought humidity with it, which gave me a horrendous sinus headache, so I spent the afternoon sleeping. I got up, ate at the buffet (too much Southern cooking for me to be sensible) and returned to the room to polish off two more stories, which now amounts to 17 for Toast. While I was not as productive as yesterday, I am happy that I did accomplish something.

Today God gave me a physical activity to parallel this project. My walk started off fine, full of enthusiasm, beauty, and surprises. At the mid-point, everything looked pretty nice. The last part got a little more challenging with obstacles and rain, but I persevered and made it through. He's telling me that this last half if going to be hard, but if I keep going, I will make it. I want to believe it, so I have to believe it.

Tomorrow I go back to my everyday life. These three days were a nice break. I didn't get everything accomplished that I wanted to do, but I did get some insight and a little rest. Now it's time to persevere and keep going to the end.