Section Hike AT – Fox and Burrow Journey to End MS

With only a single state left in their arduous adventure, Rabbit and Greyhound find themselves in the home stretch!

Well, if you can call 110 miles a “home stretch”?

And yet, when you consider the previous miles, it truly does seem minor. A walk in the park, if you will.

A long, demanding, back breaking (or in Rabbit’s case, wrist breaking, and in Greyhound’s case, hip jarring) walk in the park.

Passing over the Wayah Bald in North Carolina, Rabbit and Greyhound have vanquished the 2000 mile marker of their journey! Another huge mile stone in their hike of the Appalachian Trail. And on October 28th they celebrated 6 months since they first set foot on their adventure. A journey consisting of constant formidable trail blazing days of hiking in the name of MS. From here they have a meager 110 more miles before they cross their finish line.

I mean 2-0-0-0 miles! Seriously (not to diminish anyone else’s efforts), but what did you accomplish this year? Or even the last 6 months? Because I sure can’t compare to the dedication and tenacity these two have shown, including celebrating many holidays and both their birthdays out in the wilderness. NOT to mention the years of work they have already put forward in their efforts to further this cause. They are point blank, awesome. And CRUSHING MS.

53′ three-story stone lookout over the Wayah Bald, a vantage point at 5,342 ft. in elevation.

A wildfire spread throughout the Wayah Bald in 2016 leaving the remains of burnt trees amongst the once again beautiful terrain.

Greyhound, Fearless, and Rabbit atop Wayah Bald

To recap a bit on their last few weeks:

Rabbit and Greyhound have hopped around from strategic point to point to get through their southern portion of the Appalachian trail. Completing the miles, but not always in the direct path a traditional thru hiker would travel. This has turned their last half of the hike into a compilation of section hikes (without all the conveniences of heading home between hikes or only hiking on the weekends). As you know, they segwayed from the tail end of their Virginia portion of the trail to avoid exhausting heat and troublesome smoke from fires. This was not only hard on Rabbit with her MS, but also a struggle for Greyhound (as I think would be for any hiker on their route). Virginia is home to 544 miles of the Appalachian Trial, more miles than any other state, and they spent almost an entire month within it’s borders. So breaking up the path and heading down to the Smokies was not a difficult choice. Not only did it give them the respite they needed from heat and smoke, but it ensured they were not traveling through the highest elevations of the trail during the coldest time of their journey. When they returned to VA, they had the opportunity to travel through 101 miles of the beautiful Shenandoah National Park. There they enjoyed some beautiful Fall colors and met even more amazing AT hikers. They are now back on their original course. And while they were previously avoiding the heat in VA, and while this is indeed the most southern portion of the trail, they are still having to endure below freezing temperatures by night and brisk weather by day. After all, it is November, and nobody said this was going to be easy (I can see David scoffing at that while reading it).

Beautiful Fall colors from the scenic Shuckstack Tower

Greyhound submitting his required overnight-stay permit at the END of the Smokey Mountain trail.

The highest point in the entire Appalachian Trail is found in the midst of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. The Smokies are a mountain range running along the Tennessee–North Carolina border. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, and form part of the Blue Ridge Physiographic Province. Rabbit and Greyhound summited the tallest point of the Appalachian Trail at Clingmans Dome over a week ago, backpacking up a whopping 6643 feet. The Smokies make up 71 miles of this part of their journey starting south of the Fontana Dam and exiting in the Davenport Gap. There are many notorious landmarks along this path including the Rocky Top of Thunderhead Mountain, Mt. Cammerer, and Charles Bunion.

There have been many bumps and bruises along the way. Including run-ins with snakes, and bears, enduring both smoldering and freezing temperatures, and trudging through some pretty challenging terrain. Through it all, our powerful MS fighting duo have persevered with only days of trail time left before they complete their ambitious journey.

On Tuesday they entered into Georgia, their 14th and final state. From here they will travel the last 110 miles in gratitude. Grateful to be finding an end. Grateful to have made it so far. And most importantly GRATEFUL for all of the love and support you have given them along the way.

Through most of that journey they have had the pleasure of traveling with and being supported by another power duo, Fearless and Giddyup. You’ve seen them appear in many of their travel photos, but I’m sure if you get the chance to catch up with Koreen or David after the hike is over, you will get to hear just how influential they have been to our friends. These two have truly been a God send and are proof that Rabbit and Greyhound had saved up their good karma, as they have done all along their MS journey, in finding and connecting with the most amazing and giving souls.

The fundraising portion of their journey is completed, and I’m sure I can speak for them in Thanking each and every one of you for your generosity. As always, if you are interested in donating your time or money to this important cause, you can find the resources here at the MS home site. There are always great ways to give.