As the sound of splintering white oak limbs reverberated across the large ravine, I thought of my grandfather.  If it were not for him, I wouldn’t have known what to use to shelter myself from the horrendous rainstorm that blew out of nowhere deep in the wilderness trails of Caesar’s Head State Park.  I would not have known how to get safe drinking water, when my water reserves ran out.  And, I certainly would not know how to track, kill, and clean deer or bears, if such an extreme were necessary.

Saturday morning I decided to go hiking by me self.  It is irritating when someone offers to join me, yet he or she only has a two or three hour window in which to hike.  That is utterly useless.  When I go hiking, I hike for at least four hours.  I go on wild walkabouts simply for the journey.  The constantly changing elevation and terrain is better than any tread climber.  The scenery isn’t bad either. 

On a usual trip, I see snakes (this time too), wild boars, bears, wildflowers, and of course, huge squirrels.  It is indeed a treat to hike through the mountainous terrain that is my home. 

Grandfather and I spent every summer of my youth camping, fishing, and hiking.  He taught me everything I know about how to survive in the wild.  He spent ages teaching me which wild berries are edible along with how to clean animals.  I didn’t always enjoy it, but sitting here today, I am very grateful that he passed it on to me. 

His parents died in a car wreck, when he was seven.  His mothers family on the Cherokee reservation took him in and raised him ‘til he was thirteen.  The elders of the tribe treated him as one of their own, even though his father was ‘white’.  He was taught all of the traditions that were still being passed down through the generations at that time.  Sadly, most of these teachings are fading away with the memory of the trail of tears. 

Gramps was on his on from his teens until he met my grandmother at a dance in 1949.  They were head over heels for each other from that point forward and married in ‘50.  Both had jet black hair yet managed to have three blonde haired, blue-eyed children. 

Everyone called him Abe, because he was a spitting image of Abraham Lincoln.  I don’t know if he fashioned his beard like Lincoln’s on purpose, but he definitely got a kick out of the remarks.  At 6’5”, he had the stature of a giant and the posture of a titan.  Throughout his life, he had five heart attacks.  I never heard the man whine or whimper once in the seventeen years that I knew him. 

When I was a wee lad, he would take me bowling.  This happened quite frequently, since I was sick a lot and unable to go to school.  On one occasion, a drunk started mocking me because of the way I talked.  He made the mistake of calling me retarded.  Gramps hit him so hard and fast that the man slid halfway down the alley.

He taught me a lot about life, but the most important one of all was to keep going down that wacky, and sometimes wicked, trail we call life no matter how arduous it may become.  So, I kept going down that lengthy trail soaked from head to toe and already exhausted.  Five miles later, a few blisters and bruises, and wrecked knees I emerged victoriously.  Fifteen miles through some of the toughest mountainous terrain the Southern United States can provide. 

Survivor Tip:  If you are in need of water and it happens to be raining (lucky you/me), simply ring out your clothes.  I got enough water out of my t-shirt and a few leaves to almost fill up the water bottle.  I could have used water from the rivers and streams that surround the trails, but I would have had to set up camp, start a fire, and boil the water.  Because of pollution and disease, the water in the rivers and streams is not safe to drink unless boiled.  You’re not supposed to drink from rivers right after it rains anyway due to the animal faeces that washes off the banks. 

How ‘bout some pictures? 

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