Skywalker--Close Encounters on the Appalachian Trail (44 page)

The following day I passed through Erwin, Tennessee, to pick up Miss Janet, the notorious hikers’ hostel owner, on the way to the annual ALDHA (Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association) Gathering in Hanover, New Hampshire. Miss Janet thrived on trail gossip and is part of the rich tapestry of the AT, despite never having hiked more than a couple miles on it.

When I mentioned meeting Justin Maximus on the first day in the parking lot at Springer Mountain, and wondering why he was carrying such a large knife, she stopped me.

“Do you know what happened to Justin?” she asked softly.

“No,” I said with eyebrows raised. “I asked a lot of people and got the impression he dropped out somewhere.”

“No,” she solemnly intoned. “Justin was killed in Duncannon, Pennsylvania. He got hit by a train.”

She then related a witch’s-brew tale of drinking, barroom brawling, and a romantic misadventure. Apparently, along the trail Justin had met a very attractive Ukrainian Girl called
Water Boy
. After striking up a trail romance with her he was scheduled to meet his girlfriend at the hiker feed in Duncannon. There everything came to a head, and he reputedly ended up in a shoving match at the Doyle Hotel. After being thrown out he had walked in front of the hotel to the train tracks and was either accidentally hit by or hurled himself in front of a train. Trail opinion tended decidedly toward the latter.

I had heard about it in Delaware Water Gap, but Justin had picked up the trail name Packstock (due to his heavy load) after we got separated, so I didn’t recognize it. All the stories on the trail related to what a jerk he had made of himself in Duncannon. This brought my mind back to the first days on the trail in Georgia when he had talked so movingly of his distaste for crowds. Besides the obvious fact that his death at age twenty-eight was a tragedy, I found it extra sad that such a nice, authentic guy had died in a situation that had shown him in the absolute worst light.

The most-well-attended function at the Gathering, held at Dartmouth College, was the seminar on the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail). Well over 100 people showed up for it alone.

The speaker began by saying, “The PCT is the next step for AT thru-hikers.”

I left Hanover and drove to Chicago with the Gypsy Sisters, two members of the Class of 2005. We were shocked at the flat expanse of wide-open plains once we finally got out of the Appalachian Mountain Chain. The Appalachians had left their mark not just on me, but on the country as a whole. It seems no accident that the Midwestern character is down-to-earth and wholesome, while the Appalachian parts are flavored with more flinty, cantankerous, hard-boiled types. Thank God for it all.

Acknowledgements

As a first-time writer, I was daunted by all the technical work required to get a book published. I had never considered a book a matter of anything beyond writing it. When I started attending author’s meetings every writer seemed to have a hard-luck tale of being “battered, beaten, and abused” by a publisher. Fortunately, my experience with Indigo Publishing has been a positive one.

Publisher Henry Beers and his talented staff, including editors Joni Woolf and Rick Nolte, and graphic designer Audra George, proved to be quite service-oriented and forward-looking. Aspiring writers should be discriminate, but not deterred, by the publishing process.

Jerry Gramckow of Denver, Colorado, was also very helpful in reviewing and helping cut my bloated second draft.

Finally, my mother, Kathleen Malloy Walker, performed several thankless tasks in that memorable year of 2005, including fattening me up beforehand and afterwards, as well as sending and receiving clothing and hiker gear to and from various post offices along the way.

Suggested reading

Brill, David.
As Far as the Eye Can See
, Rutledge Hill Press, 1990.

Bruce, Dan
“Wingfoot”. The Thru-Hiker’s Handbook
, Appalachian Trail Conference 2005.

Bryson, Bill.
A Walk in the Woods
, Broadway Books, 1998.

Chazin, Daniel D.
Appalachian Trail Data Book
, 2001.

Emblidge, David.
AT Reader
, Oxford Press, 1996.

Hall, Adrienne.
A Journey North,
AMC Books, 2000.

Hare, James.
Hiking the Appalachian Trail
, 1975 Rodale Press.

Howe, Nicholas.
Not Without Peril
, AMC Books, 2000. Luxenberg, Larry.
Walking the AT,
Stackpole Books, 1994.

Mass, Leslie.
In Beauty May She Walk,
Rock Spring Press, 2005.

Mikkalsen, Stacy.
Appalachian Trail Thru-Hiker’s Companion
, Appalachian Long Distance Hiker’s Association, 2001.

Nash, Roderick.
Wilderness and The American Mind
, Yale University Press, 1983.

Rubin, Robert.
Trail Years: A History of the Appalachian Trail Conference
, Appalachian Trail Conference, 2000.

Shaffer, Earl.
Walking With Spring
, Appalachian Trail Conference, 1983.

Shaffer, Earl with Bart Smith.
Calling Me Back to the Hills
, Westcliffe Publishers, 2001

Solnit, Rebecca.
Wanderlust: A History of Walking
, Viking Penguin, 2000.

Sussman, Aaron and Goode, Ruth.
The Magic of Walking
, Simon andSchuster, 1967