| My Grandma (Margaret Saffell) and my Aunt (Cathy Jay)
| These two supported me every step of the way. They never once questioned
why I wanted to do the trail they just supported my decision and helped
me as much as they could. They handled my bills and my mail drops and
they sent the
occasional batch of chocolate chip
cookies! I can only hope/wish all future thru-hikers have a support
team as helpful and supportive as mine!
|
| Dan 'Wingfoot' Bruce
| Author of the Thru-Hiker's Handbook. This book was an extremely valuable
resource, the trip would have been MUCH more difficult without it.
|
| Dan Trovato
| Special thanks to Dan for scanning all the photos for this site. For
those wondering - he used a HP4c Scanner.
|
| Jodi 'Vixen' Bickel
| For pre-trip advice and support.
|
| Roy Poff
| Best friend who drove me from the Charlotte Amtrak station to
Springer Mountain.
|
| Walasi-Yi Center
| These folks provide a hostel for thru-hikers. I arrived here in the
pouring rain and was very grateful indeed for this service. The folks
down at their store also helped me adjust my pack (My hip belt was not
attached correctly!).
|
| The Blueberry Patch
| Another wonderful hostel with a great breakfast!
|
| The Town of Erwin
| When trying to get into town the second vehicle that passed picked us
up. Once in town people would drive up and offer us rides! This had
to be one of the most friendly towns on the trail ... despite what
they did to Murderous Mary.
|
| Frank Hamilton
| When I arrived at Fontana Dam the gift shop was closed and the parking
lot was empty except for one car. The one car belonged to Frank and
his wife and they went out of there way to drive me to Fontana Village.
|
| Elmer Hall - Inn at Hot Springs
| Great place to stay in Hot Springs was very reasonably prices. I was
stuck in Hot Springs with an injury for 8 days, 5 of which I stayed
here. I have only nice things to say about Elmer's place.
|
| Dr Louis Schroeder
| The doctor who looked at my injury in Hot Springs. Great doctor
and as it turned out a former thru-hiker himself. His took more
time than he really needed to with me, understood my situation,
and gave me great advice.
|
| Deb Caughron & Mike Follo
| Thanks to Waldo's Net exposer these kind folks picked Waldo, Hi
Tech, and me up, fed us, let us do laundry and take showers, and
gave us a place to sleep. They also took us to the store to resupply.
All this was in the infamous DMZ between Elk Park and Roan!
|
| More to come...
|
|
| Schuyler Stultz
| Friend who meet me in Perisburg both nights I was there bringing beer
and soda for all the hikers in town and providing ride to those who
needed them.
|
| Brent Good
| Good friend who picked me and Noodle up in Troutville, fed us, let
us take showers, do laundry, and gave us a place to sleep. The next
day he loaned me his truck so I could resupply, visit the post office,
and drop Noodle off at the trail.
|
| Rusty
| Five days here! Say no more...
|
| K. T. "RumRunner" King
| I lost my glasses in New York and I was really bummed. This south
bounder found my glasses for me and mailed them to my next mail drop.
I owe him for this one ... he did, by the way, complete the trail.
I got his Springer Photo!
|
| Dizzy B
| Friend of hikers who hosted a birthday party for Annapurna and gave us
all beer and soda at the Atwell Hilton.
|
| AT Maintainers
| A big 'Thank You!' to all the volunteers who build and maintain the
trail. Without these folks there would be no trail!
|
| Ride Givers
| Thanks to all those who were willing to take a chance on a smelly,
dirty, long haired, bushy bearded, hitchhiker. I often wondered if
I would have picked myself up if I was the driver.
|
| US Postal Service
| Thank you for putting up with all my mail drops and ship ahead boxes.
|
