Two women and a tiny tent.

This was it! My bus was to leave the next afternoon.

  The tent I had ordered still was not here, even though the company told me three days earlier that it was on the way. I was really worried and decided to call them again to find out more information. Their reply was that they had received no order for the tent previously, and they would return the money. Why didn't they say something 3 days before? If they had the money to return, why didn't they have the order that went with it? Too late to do anything about it, I decided that I would try to hike from shelter to shelter, and pray that I could make it a while without a tent.

  Along the Appalachian Trail there is a system of shelters. Many of them were built in the 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Although the mileage may vary you can expect to run into a shelter about every 10 – 15 miles along the A.T. Today several volunteer groups, along with The Appalachian Trail Conservancy maintain the shelters, and the trail itself. Early in the hike from Springer, you will see at least one shelter in an average day's hike. With a little luck and good weather, you could theoretically make the entire trip without carrying a tent or other shelter, of your own. I personally don't advise this. I have seen a few people who tried, and were stuck trying to hike on in the rain because the shelter was overcrowded when they came in. All I needed was about a week before I would see an outfitter. I really had high hopes of making it.

  I was in my last minute ramblings. My sister and I were discussing the different things on the trail, and arranging some of the mail drops, emergency connections and the like. When she found out I was planning on leaving without a tent, she absolutely refused to take me to the bus station without one. She threatened me with the fact that she knew my ex-lover/best friend in Ga. and that she would tell her not to take me to the trail without a tent. If you have ever seen a couple of worried mothers get together, you would know that my chances of making it, to the trail, without a tent were about one in a bajillion.

  The renter to the rescue! She had, “A little 2 man tent “, I could borrow. During the move she had come across it and was willing to let me borrow it for the hike, bad thing was that it was a Wal-Mart special. I picked it up and it must have weighed about 8 pounds. Twice as much as the usual 2 man tent you might think of long distance hiking with. In the back of my mind I thought it would get me on the bus here in Ohio, and I could ditch it when I got to Ga. Something that heavy, I would send back home, and hike on for a week without it. Talk about a pipe dream!  The women were ahead of me on this one. I hiked out with the tent… never even setting it up to see what it was like.

 A few days later, when I unrolled the heavy beast for the first time, I found that it was actually a “little” 2 man tent. My renter had let me borrow her children’s tent.

There are several different types of breast cancer. To determine the best approach to treating the disease, your doctor will first evaluate the specifics of the breast tumor, including: (1) if the disease has spread beyond the breast, and (2) the type of tissue where the disease began.  For more information:  Click HERE