rain did fall that night. everything is soaked, said Beorn. I'm glad I brought my stuff into the shelter. with muscles "cranky" and feet a bit tender, the day's hike began. He followed a stream though a thickly wooded forest."It's breathtaking. There's not a care in the world; you just put one step in front of the other and you just float over the trail" Rain did fall that night. "Everything is soaked," said Beorn. I am glad I brought my stuff into the shelter. With muscles cranky and feet a bit tender, the day's hike begin. He followed a stream through a thickly wooded forest. It is breathtaking. There is not a care in the world; you just put one step in front of the other and you just float over the trail. With the sounds of a rushing stream as background, he added, you can get lost in your dreams so quickly here.
Some seven miles later, Beorn arrived at a shelther. "It's dismal. There's a full house here. We're expecting a big storm tonight. I'm sore, and drained, but I'm happy. I'm floating along the trail. I cannot comprehend the difference between last year and this year. it was so hard last year. This year I'm flying."
Sunday dawned dark and drizzly with thunder in the air. The wind gusted, carrying with it anything not tethered. Undaunted, Beorn simply said, "This is the trail." But later, as the rain continued and his tent began to leak, the ups and downs common amongs though-hikers began a downward turn for Beorn. Though the physical effot of hiking was easier this year, his finances are less favorable with equipment breakdowns occurring alarmingly early. "I hope I don't have to go back home...ohhh, this tent is leaking. I hope I can sleep without a sleeping bag, but it is cold right now... The sound of rain pelting his tent flies from the tape. This isn't a very good night to be unprepared... It makes me almost wish I had a jacket." His sunny nature quickly returned and he laughed.
"My tent broke last night," said Beorn, four days into the trail. Under the weight of the watheter one of the poles collapsed. "Thaere's a lot of water in here. I got a little wet, not bad. I've been wetter. It's April Fools Day. This tent won't stand much more. I'll pray for no rain."
In sprite of the rain and wind, Beorn did almost nines the miles that day. It's cold and very windy. The cold's getting to me...We're making the best of it." 'Pirate' and 'Hobo', with her dog 'Beau'. Thirty-five miles; no blisters. "I'm sitting here recording my douths...and then again there are no douths. There's nothing dead here. It's not like the concrete, the dead wood back in civilization. Everything's speaking. It's cool."
Beorn described the steep angles and breathtaking be views of the Georgia mountains as he walked from Gooch Gap to woods gap, along united states forest service road 42. But as he spoke of the days I get as a highlight, that night frozen rain fell softly on his worn out the tent, a remnants of last year's hike. "God, it's cold. Its still windy. The wind chills really low. I hope I'm here in the morning." As the wind howled and gusted against the tent, he added, "I hope I didn't park myself under any dead trees... last year it was hot and sunny. "What a difference." On a lighter note, "I'm feelin' good. "
the sun broke the horizon." Its a new day; less wind. There's a chilled in the air but I'm doing great. Gotta go back in, get resupplied, and get back on the trail again... in Georgia's beauty. Its April 2. "Later, did 10 mi. today, 8 mi. ahead of what I did last year. Spent $25 on food at Mules Gap. Last year at this time, I spent 170 dollars. what a difference. Today's our first nice day; 65 degrees. Last night there was thick ice every where... the sun's setting... it's good"
April 3 dawned a beautiful Georgia day. Beorn had spent the night at Bull's Gap, awakened at dawn bathed in the ray's of the sun. He put on his shorts for the first time as the temperature soared to 76 degrees. As he hit the trail at 7:30 AM., he could see for miles. No road in sight, only the glimmer of something that may be a house some 30 mi. in the distance. "I am eating my oreo cookies and fig newtons right now. You need the energy to do the mountains. the bugs are coming... the turkey vulchers are circling overhead, at eye level really. I am getting sun burned. Oh well, a little bit of discomfort. People want a bed of roses and they forget about the thorns."To all;
These are my thoughts;
For no matter what any one, groub, or thing could be done to me. I cannot be harm as what you all did to a man, who never told a lie, did not do a woman wrong, had the power to heal the sick and for that, he was cruifly. before he was hung out to dry, and before that thru hike he went on with a backpack(which you all called a cross) The beaten he received was so inhuman, you couldn't tell if he was a man or a woman. So please, do onto others as you have them to do onto you, and not just the ones who look like you. PEACE TO YOU ALL. forgive me I can't finish putting '96 on, to the ones who knows that year, they know, sorry, I'm ruled by my heart!
Still recuperating from knee surgery 'BEORN' heads for the 'Gathering' '97
Dartmouth college will be Woodrow "Beorn" Murphy's destination when he departs Pepperell on October 7. But first, fresh from knee surgery which removed the majority of the remaining cartilage from both knees, he will take a four day 53 mi.' Side trip 'to kingsman notch past Moosilauke Mountain on his way to "The Gathering."
always a lover of nature and always a dreamer, Woodrow Murphy was given the trail name ' Beorn 'when he first set his sights on Appalachian Trail in 1995. For those familiar with "The Hobbit." Beorn was the bear, the warrior in the battle of the five armies.
Those who encountered this mammoth, red hair giant on the "trail of the 5,000,000 steps" in 1995 and again in 1996, usually remembered him for his unlikely physical presence and his tendencies toward storytelling. As outlined in a feature article in Outside Magazine, Beorn became a legend few could live up to.
But even for Murphy, taking to the mountains so soon after surgery seemed a risk. "I don't feel the pain," he began. " I'll walk the trail to the Gathering. Warm up on the mountain. That's where you meet the philosophers. Life is so good and so short. When people are around. I don't feel discomfort. Imagine being in the box underground. Anything anyone does above ground has to be better."
The Gathering, Murphy explained, is an annual three day event when the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers come together. This year is the sixteenth such gathering. One of the speakers will be Beorn, the bear, who has twice walked the "never ending" trail.
"the speakers offer instructions to hikers," said Murphy, "particularly about state of mine and attitude. ' Oh, ah, who cares' its the song of the trail. It's so beautiful. Each step must be taken for its own sake, not as a means to an end. Its so hard to learn when you are in buildings. All they are is death."
"The trail is an education and a job, Murphy continued." Its a journey with deep ramifications. Don't fight the trail. You must flow with it and accept the pain. The trail cannot be changed. You must change. Heart, mind, and body must adapt. The trail is inherently hard, a trial. You do not need a roof and four walls at night. You can survive on macaroni and cheese or peanut butter and jelly. It's better to be a smart hiker then a strong hiker.Feel free. Relive your childhood. Be optimistic. No matter what happens. Things can always be worse. Expect the worst. 20% of your days will be wet, 20% will be dry, 20% will be hot, 20 dessert will be cold, and the rest will be nice. "
for Murphy, or Beorn, memories are still fresh of just how bad things on the trail can get. While keeping in mind the thought that they could still be worse, taking what came brought lessons in addition to discomfort. Sudden changes in whether taught about not unloading winter clothing too soon. The speed with which boots wear through, and zippers on back packs that break and let the rain into sleepingbags, taught about the best kinds of equipment to buy. Shorts whose failing seam is ignored until the shorts become a rather embarrassing skirt, taught about carrying an extra pair, or at least a needle and thread. The pain that comes with kidney failure after the need for water is denied too long, talked about the price to be paid when trying to push on... At any cost. Finally, 1996 taught how much easier the trail can be the second time around. And with a body 100 lbs. lighter.
The Appalachian Trail is 2,159 mi. long; its distance stretching from Georgia to Maine. With the trail's name meaning "never ending, " Murphy stated that their is 3 mi., just before Monson, Me. that's sacred, that he will never touch." How could I end something that never ends.
Knowing Woodrow Murphy is to know that this man is the exception to the rule. The question is, how come? While his life has been filled with experiences that most never have-- as a navy SEAL, a golden glove boxer, and as as an accident victim whose body was broken In more than some could count. It would seem that Woodrow Murphy was born different. One of nine children, his family, with parents, Dana and June, moved to Pepperell in '59. His named was changed to Paul favored by his mother.
My father named me ," Said Woodrow. " I was the only that he ever named. He use to say I only named one of you and never named another. Brings me to this---My name is WOODROW, and the first word I ever said was see, see. And this father that I had, who was only 5'6",and could never beat a man, but he could beat a child. Use to tell me how foolish my name was, before I could say my first word and countless times after. Well, I got to where no one, or group could ever beat me like that again. For now, I am like the whale-the largest and most powerful, but the most gentle. Have no natural enemies. It's hard and its lonely but life is good, if you just stop and smell the roses. "
Brother, George, is six years her older than younger Woodrow. When the family lived in Lowell, before George could will go out, Woodrow stated," he had to catch me a snake. In Maine, where we spent each summer, he had to catch crabs for me. But they bit me. I didn't hurt them. I just watch them. I have always appreciated nature. "He added, all my brothers are mechanically-inclined. I am out in lelf field. It was hard growing up in this family."
Summer's, from 1958 to 1984, were spent on Peaks Island, 720acre island 2.4 mi. from Portland. "Their was nothing to do and so much fun doing it."
while there were many tales to tell about summers in Maine, there was one that pointed to an affinity with not man as much as nature. Murphy recalled a day, just after Memorial day, when an electrical company worker he knew named Bruce, had fallen off his boat and was lost. Portland police skindiving team could not find him.
"they came and said they needed help finding him." Murphy recalled. "I didn't have a suit and said I couldn't go... but I went after him (I got into a custom made suit for 160 lb. man-I weighed 240 lbs. but the water was cold and I couldn't breathe. But you see, the ocaen hates to give up her dead, and people are happier to have their love ones back home) I knew where he might be. It took me five or ten minutes. I just went under where the boat was tied up to a moaring. Some things are right under our noses. Mother Nature likes me. She has always brought me along by the hand."
Attitude Is Everything... one learns that life is like a game of chess-before the game is over, I will not have all my pieces.
LIFE IS GOOD
Native Americans had no word for wilderness
