Alabama trail links to the Appalachian Trail

Posted 7:50AM on Tuesday 12th March 2002 ( 23 years ago )

OXFORD, ALABAMA - Their legs and backs ache, but Beth Lawson and JoJo Smiley are determined to become the first women to hike the International Appalachian Trail, which runs from Florida to Quebec. Lawson, 35, and Smiley, 42, are also the first hikers to traverse Alabama's newly blazed section of the expanded Appalachian Trail. Until this year, hiking Alabama's section essentially meant hiking along roads. Now the Alabama Trails Association has extended the trail from the Georgia line to U.S. 278 and is working to finish the trail in Alabama. The women now are hiking roads and the Pinhoti Trail as they make their way to Springer Mountain, near Dahlonega, Ga., about two hours by car north of Atlanta. The Appalachian Trail runs from mid-Georgia to Maine about 2,160 miles; the International Appalachian Trail is intended to extend the trail from Key West, Fla. about 4,400 miles to the province of Quebec near the St. Lawrence Seaway. Smiley and Lawson stopped in Oxford Thursday night to stay with some of Lawson's family friends. Smiley started in Key West. Lawson joined her in the city of Okeechobee in south central Florida on Jan. 2. The two have already hiked through parts of Florida, Georgia and now Alabama. Together they will travel to Springer Mountain and from there, Lawson plans to return to Florida and hike down the state from Okeechobee to the Florida Keys. She has already hiked the northern half of the International Trail. Smiley plans to go all the way to Ontario, Canada. She started out farther south in Florida with another hiker, Nancy Gowler. The 65-year-old Gowler decided to go a bit slower, however, and now is about a day behind Lawson and Smiley. Smiley hopes to finish the entire trail before the end of the year. ``Hopefully, I should get there around the first or second week of October,'' Smiley said. With all the pains and hardships, it might be hard to understand why two women would want to set off at a grueling 20 miles-per-day pace to hike across the country. Lawson and Smiley said they can't imagine doing anything else. ``There is something about challenging ourselves with this,'' Smiley said. Smiley, who retired from the Navy in 1998 after 20 years, said she had never done any serious camping or hiking before she retired. Both women said they decided to attempt to be the first women to hike the international trail after attending an Appalachian Trail convention last year. Lawson said once she heard the idea, she decided she had to do it. Lawson and Smiley said they are finding many rewards along the trail. ``It is wonderful when you get to the top of a mountain that was a really hard climb and the wind is blowing through your hair and you look back and think, I did all that. I climbed all those mountains,'' Lawson said. The women also said they have been touched by the kindness shown them by strangers they have met along the trail. ``We call it Trail Magic,'' Smiley said. ``And we call the people that help us Trail Angels.'' Some people have given them free food. Others have taken them into their homes for the night, and others have let them use their telephones for free. ``I'll never forget this one store owner that said take whatever you want, well settle it in the morning and then locked us in his store for the night,'' Lawson said. ``It was so cold that night, and he just wanted us to stay warm, be safe, and have enough to eat.''

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/3/197579