That of a friend – Day 16

Today was such an exciting and encouraging day! When I emerged from the woods at Davenport Gap, Garret, my friend from work, was there to greet me with a Coke Zero.

Route report

I started early and my first stop was the Cammerer fire tower. It’s a 1.2 mile round trip, but we’ll be worth it. The views were stunning!

From there I walked to Davenport Gap. I had contacted Garret before to try to meet and walk together. I told him when I would be in the gap, but because cell service is spotty, I didn’t get any response from him. To my great surprise, he was there to greet me! It just made my day and was very encouraging.

He hiked with me for about 6 miles and left even more magic on the trail. Awesome!

From there I went to Snowbird Peak and Mac Patch. Max Patch is probably my favorite view so far. You could really see the majesty of God from there!

I finished the day camping at the Roaring Fork Shelter. It was a long day and an exhausting effort. This is day 4 of my 5 days to get from Fontana to Hot Springs.

Thought of the day

What Garrett did for me to support my hike was amazing! Doing something unexpected for another person can be a great encouragement to that person.

You don’t always know the struggles someone is going through. Garrett didn’t know that he was really tired and exhausted trying to get to Hot Springs. Seeing it at Davenport Gap and the trail magic it gave me was VERY ENCOURAGING!

Find someone this week to do something nice and unexpected.

people i met

I met Whooly today. He is from California. I really enjoyed our conversation. I was able to share with him my testimony: how God saved a former atheist. Hopefully, I was encouraging him.

Plant of the day

Today’s plant is the fringed Phacelia. One of the top places to find this wildflower is the Smokies. They grow in large clusters.

The bird of the day

The bird of the day is the tufted tit. I have heard many of these birds. His song is easily recognizable.

“Tufted Titmouse” by timsackton is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

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