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Couple head down a healing path

Halfway along the 2,270 miles of the Appalachian Trail, hikers help others and themselves.

By ANDREW MEACHAM
Published June 28, 2006

RIVERVIEW - Nearly four months ago, Dori Brown and Robert Pic of Riverview started out on a journey to hike the Appalachian Trail.

They began in Springer Mountain, Ga., at the trail's southern point and aimed for the trail's end 2,270 miles away in Maine.

But first they sold their house, quit their jobs and began training to lose weight. She weighed 237 pounds; he weighed 260.

They hoped the adventure would heal their spirits and help the young women who live at Brookwood, a 52-bed residence in St. Petersburg for adolescent girls, most of whom have been abused. They hoped to raise at least $10,000 for the home.

Brown's stepmother battered her so severely that at age 12, social workers removed her from her home. A few years later, she went hiking in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and a new world opened.

Like other hikers of the Appalachian Trail, Pic and Brown now go by their "trail names," Mudflap and Daisy. He chose his name because it reminded him of his trucks. She liked the simplicity of daisies and their connotation of good cheer.

The couple have kept journals along the way detailing the sights, like spotting their first bear. In towns along the trail, they stopped at public libraries and logged the trip on a Web site, www.trailjournals.com.

Here are some snapshots from those journal entries:

March 15: "We awoke to ice chunks under the tent," Brown wrote 63 miles into the trip. She had twisted an ankle on March 9 but recovered.

Almost everyone they meet also uses trail names to keep identities simple and separate from the civilian world. On the way to Deep Gap Shelter, the couple chatted with a female schoolteacher named Caboose and men named Walkabout and U-Haul.

March 28: North Carolina. The couple saw their first trilliums, a burgundy flowering plant that blooms at the start of spring.

Of her downhill hike past Fontana Dam toward Fontana Village, Brown later wrote: "My legs felt as if they were made of lead today. The trail has been merciless of late.

"It reminds me of that saying, 'Whatever doesn't kill you will make you stronger.' In that case, we oughta be superhuman by the time this is all over!"

March 30: The couple had hiked 185 miles and found panoramic views at the summit of Rocky Top Mountain. But Brown was laboring under her pack. At the top of the next peak, Pic suggested moving some of the contents in her pack to his pack.

Brown wrote: "It hurt my pride, even bruised my ego, but I was struggling so I let him take some of the food so we could get through the day in decent time."

April 4: After averaging nearly 15 miles a day for five days, Brown and Pic joined other hikers at Standing Bear Farm Hostel along the trail in North Carolina. Despite its rustic appearance, the hostel offers real beds with quilts, showers and a washer and dryer.

Around the campfire, a hiker named Twista wowed the crowd on his guitar with House of the Rising Sun and a Dylan tune.

April 13: Heading to Flint Mountain Shelter, the couple had hiked more than 300 miles. Descending some chalky white cliffs, Brown wrote that sliding over mossy boulders on her hands reminded her of being a child again: "As we were working our way up to the stony ridge line, I imagined myself climbing the steps to ancient ruins. In a way, I guess these old mountains are America's ancient ruins."

April 15: On an enchanted Easter Sunday, someone has left chocolate candy-filled Easter eggs along the trail for hikers. Butterflies circle the pair as they walk. But fire on a neighboring peak brings helicopters and airplanes dumping water and chemicals to put it out.

May 12: The hikers reached Bland, Va., 578 miles from Springer Mountain with their sights set on the Big Walker Motel. Walking the last several miles was tough because they were sore, Brown wrote.

"That's okay, though. A hot shower and a soft, warm bed can make a hiker forget about sore feet and knees for a little while."

June 9: Brown wrote a postcard to Diane Sunden, a research and development manager at Brookwood. They were in Shenandoah National Park in northern Virginia. Brown wrote that she and Pic were doing well, and that they had seen their first bear of the trip.

"From what I've heard, the trail there gets very rugged," Sunden said. "But she hasn't had a thought of quitting."

June 21: The hikers have reached Waynesboro, Pa., 1,053 miles from their starting point and nearly half the length of the trail.

"It has become increasingly difficult to keep up with the journal out here for a variety of reasons," Brown wrote in an e-mail to the Times.

They have upped their daily hiking distance to 15 to 20 miles, and now spend more of their free time socializing with other hikers, Brown wrote.

Brookwood staffers are planning to devote an evening to reading some of the journal entries aloud and watching a video about the Appalachian Trail, Sunden said.

Andrew Meacham can be reached at 661-2431 or ameacham@sptimes.com.

ON THE WEB 
To read the journal entries, go to weee.trailjournals.com. On the home page, search for Mudflap & Daisy. 

[Last modified June 28, 2006, 08:28:48]