Appalachian Trail 2019 (Ponies, Bears, & A Moment of Acknowledgement) - 5

Opis:
This week has been a roller coaster if we are to be honest. It began so beautiful as we left Damascus and entered Grayson Highlands and met some gorgeous ponies. In the video you will see them licking us and our trekking pole straps. They do that because they like the salt that we produce from hiking. There is no video but we saw a bear at that next shelter. He circled our camp and even though we yelled and had about 15 hikers trying to scare him off he had no fear of us. Luckily Old Orchard Shelter has bear boxes. We then entered a beautiful area of the trail full of long stretches of farm land and fields. Blue skies and the sun was shining the whole time. The next morning we woke up to a nightmare and the State Police entering our camp ground to look for a “stabbing victim”. As you know this was the result of James Jordan (AKA Sovereign) assaulting a group of thru hikers. Unfortunately one was killed and another was injured. We knew nothing of the attack except for what was in the news. Below I will put a link to a reputable source of information about the event if you are interested. Two days later we got off the trail for a much needed nearo and zero. Our hearts are very heavy for the victims and families. We offer nothing but our support and love in this time for those so badly affected by this tragic event. It hurts knowing one who shared the same dream as us has left this earth not able to finish the AT or even live the rest of his life.