{"id":1235,"date":"2019-02-14T13:43:38","date_gmt":"2019-02-14T18:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/read.whitefire-publishing.com\/?p=1235"},"modified":"2020-07-16T11:46:50","modified_gmt":"2020-07-16T15:46:50","slug":"mountains-madness-miracles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whitefire-publishing.com\/read\/mountains-madness-miracles\/","title":{"rendered":"Mountains, Madness, & Miracles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Mountains, Madness, & Miracles: 4,000 Miles Along the Appalachian Trail<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\n\nby Lauralee \u201cBlissful\u201d Bliss<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this look into a lifelong dream of adventure, Lauralee Bliss \u2013 or \u201cBlissful\u201d (her trail name) \u2013 reflects on the 4,000 mile journey she undertook with her teen son, hiking the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, and then again from Maine to Georgia as a solo hiker. Through the retelling of events from the hikes, \u201cBlissful\u201d compares the adventure to life\u2019s journey, encountering the miraculous through the numerous challenges she faced and through it, a new understanding of the Creator and His creation. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Chapter 1<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t

I Could Drop Dead<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

June, 2007 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carlisle,\nPennsylvania<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I stare at the physician in\ndisbelief. I\u2019d wanted a second opinion, one that would get me a pass out of\nthis cold, antiseptic place called a hospital. Instead, a doctor is trying to\ngive me an admission ticket. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you kidding?\u201d I say. \u201cIt\u2019s\nthat serious?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe won\u2019t know until we run some\nmore tests. You don\u2019t want to go back out hiking with no medical help around\nand then drop dead. It\u2019s better to find out. Heart conditions are more\ndifficult to diagnose in women. We don\u2019t take any chances with chest pain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did he just say I could drop\ndead while hiking the trail?<\/em> Fear washes over me. This doctor has to be\njoking. The Appalachian Trail is many things. It\u2019s steep, flat, winding,\ntwisting, challenging mind, body, and soul. It can make knees ache and feet\nwish they were nestled in soft slippers rather than soggy trail runners. But\nnow a doctor claims I could drop dead hiking it. It never occurred to me that I\ncould actually die on this journey of mine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell then, I guess I\u2019d better find\nout if I\u2019m okay,\u201d I tell him in a meek voice. I turn to the cold white wall,\ntrying to blink back the tears. This isn\u2019t supposed to be happening. I\u2019m forty-four\nyears old and in the best shape of my life. I\u2019ve lost twenty pounds and dropped\ntwo clothing sizes since starting this hiking trip back in March. As it is, my\nhiking pants would be falling down if not for the waist belt of my backpack\nthat keeps them up. I know I\u2019m not eating the right foods at times, but surely\nthat shouldn\u2019t drive me to a hospital bed with an IV in my arm and a nurse\ntrying to give me a nitroglycerin tablet for an unknown heart ailment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, God. There has to be a\nreason for this delay. <\/em>Maybe I was being spared some further calamity from\ngripping me or my son on the trail. Or maybe this signaled the death of a\ndream. I would end my quest to hike the entire Appalachian Trail from Georgia\nto Maine at the halfway point within the bounds of a hospital in Carlisle,\nPennsylvania. What the Pennsylvania rocks hadn\u2019t yet inflicted upon me my own\nexcesses would\u2014with doctors convinced that my chest pain signaled a major heart\ncondition. Halfway along on my journey and it\u2019s come to a screeching halt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I blame it on the half gallon challenge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I grimace, thinking back on what my\nteenage son Joshua, or \u201cPaul Bunyan\u201d\u2014his trail name\u2014said. Just a few days ago\nwe\u2019d stopped at Pine Grove Furnace State Park in Pennsylvania, just north of\nthe halfway point along the Appalachian Trail. At the general store, hikers\nindulge in a tradition called the Half Gallon Challenge, requiring one to\nconsume a half gallon of ice cream to mark the halfway point on the trail. Paul\nBunyan joked how someone had posted the phone numbers for the nearest rescue\nsquad and hospital on the outside wall of the store, as if to warn all would-be\nchallengers of the potential risks involved. We shrugged it off, laughing as we\nshared a half gallon carton of cookies and cream. I thought about my past\ngallbladder issues but pushed it aside. This was the midway victory lap, and I\nwould enjoy this refreshing treat on a hot summer\u2019s day. But when I ate my last\nspoonful, I wondered if I would come to regret it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few nights later, I awoke to the\nworst pain. It started in my chest and radiated to my back. When I reported to\nthe emergency room to have it looked at, I told the doctors it was likely my\ngallbladder raising a ruckus because of my excesses in the eating department.\nInstead they believe I\u2019m having heart issues. They want to admit me for further\ntesting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can\u2019t believe this. I\u2019m actually\nbeing admitted to the hospital, right smack in the middle of my hike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once everything is ready, the nurse\nwheels me to a room in the medical ward. They hook me up to a telemetry unit\nthat will monitor my heart. I stare out the window that overlooks a modest\nmountain range in the distance, the same mountain range I\u2019m supposed to be\ncrossing on the Appalachian Trail today. Instead of hiking, I\u2019m in bed, wired\nup with electrodes, waiting for tests on the ol\u2019 ticker. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t supposed to happen! <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I face yet another challenge\nrendered by trail life. Another mountain to conquer. Another test of faith.\nAnother moment that forces me to choose between peace or crippling anxiety. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, God. My life is in Your\nhands. And so is my heart, in whatever shape it\u2019s in<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet the real test still remains. Can I accomplish this one dream that has\nstayed with me some thirty years? Can I hike the entire Appalachian Trail and\ndo it with my only son? Is this really what I\u2019m supposed to do, or is it sheer\nmadness?
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