Delta Is Born

I fell in love with the trail years ago when I used to run more. I would travel from my home in Kentucky to Damascus for races along the Creeper Trail. After only a couple trips down I knew I wanted to spend more time there. The next year I bought a small vacation house and turned it into a tribute to the AT. I couldn’t wait to begin hosting hikers and hearing their stories.

Hike Trash Ingenuity

During the 2021 Trail Days I picked up a bag of hiker trash and brought them in for a couple of days of rest and relaxation. They couldn’t find a room in town so had pooled their money and rented a U-Haul and slept in the back of it, in the parking lot of the dealer! Hiker ingenuity at its best.

Not Just Another Day

They were so thankful but I feel like I took much more from them than I gave. I brought the 6 of them in and gave them the run of the place. They all ended up in various pieces of my clothes while they washed some of the stink off of their bodies. All of them opted for a two part wash. They would shower first then soak in the giant tub in the master bathroom. We fixed a big dinner, drank a mountain of beer, and laughed for hours. They told stories of the trail that made me die a little more inside, knowing I would never have the chance. I passed out airplane bottles of liquor one after the other. I had taken a cooler full of a few hundred of them to Trail Days to pass out to the filthy masses and there were dozens remaining. One of the guys named “Not Weird” happened by the cooler and in a drunken state yelled “why do you have all of these, do you work for Delta airlines?”  Everyone laughed and I got one step closer to saying the hell with life’s responsibilities and joining the trail. I had a trail name. Delta was born.

The next day they all began to pack up just as the rain began falling down. I walked into the living room as they gathered their things and told them they were welcome to stay as long as they liked. There were more than one set of tears flowing at that point. I figured they would wander back to Trail Days and have another round of partying all day and night, but after breakfast they all snuggled up on the oversized couch, turned off the light, and watched movie after movie. I’ve never seen more content hikers in my life.

As the evening came I started a campfire, but the couch had too strong of a hold on them, that was fine by me. I sat on the porch watching the rain and slowly they all staggered out. We laughed and laughed. I got to hear each of their stories and all of them were part fascinating and part heartbreaking. I think everyone takes a little piece of a broken heart to the trail with them. Maybe it’s something small or maybe it’s something big but everyone takes a small piece of them to the trail that they plan to leave there. It was touching to see glimpses of the pieces they were leaving out there and I’ll be forever appreciative of their openness to me.

This has went on long enough. Cheers to you Not Weird, Suds, Sweaty Betch, Mama D, Scott and Cupcake. I love you all and you are an inspiration to me.

Footnote

Lost the house in the divorce. To hell with Damascus.

Delta on the trail 2024