The last day of the leg and we began expecting more
surprises and the opportunity to meet more interesting people. We were not disappointed.
Victor carried us by Jack’s for us to have breakfast with the
locals at the morning roundtable. We met
Carolyn Smith and really got some history of Lineville with this meal. Carolyn is on the city council and it was
very evident that she loved her community.
It was definitely interesting stories around the table even if we didn’t
know the parties being discussed. There
will be a picture posted with the names of the people around the table.
After the breakfast Victor carried us to the starting point
for the day at the police jurisdiction on the south side of Lineville. It was a beautiful clear sunny day and we
were enjoying it to the fullest. We soon
walked into the city limits and as we were approaching downtown in a
residential area we heard someone calling us.
We were walking right in front of Carolyn’s house and Beauty Shop that
she owned.
We traveled on through Lineville going up Highway 49 headed
toward Mt Cheaha. David and I had
determined that in this rural stretch we would have to depend on food in our
packs for lunch. We spotted a farmhouse
ahead on the right hand side of the road and across the road was a gate into a
field with a good grassy area to enjoy our lunch. And about the time we were
getting to the spot Shelton and Victor pulled up on their motorcycles. It was perfect timing for a visit with them while
we ate. We were getting settled being
sure bikes were off the road safely and could stand on the ground. Packs were coming off and breaking bread was
commencing. A guy pulled up in a Jeep
that I had seen back in town and thought he had probably seen us too. However, he had not and was just stopping to
talk. As it turned out we couldn’t come
up with a subject that he wasn’t a resident expert on. He had pulled up and stopped with his Jeep
sitting in the ditch, 2 motorcycles, David and I sitting on the ground eating. I had actually pulled my boots off while
sitting there eating and that is not an uncommon thing for me with a pack off
break. But with this scene for the folks
driving by raised a question in a lady’s mind.
A lady with a teenage girl driving stopped, actually drove by and turned
around. Her question was “Is everyone
ok? I’m just making sure nothing is
wrong.” We assured her all was fine and
thanked her for her hospitality. Not too
many people would do that.
David asked Shelton and Victor to come pick us up that
afternoon and he would treat us all to dinner.
All agreed and the motorcycles rumbled off and David and I quietly
walked on. The climb to Mt Cheaha had
begun and we didn’t know the mileage and where we would get to before
dark.
We crossed Shinbone Valley and was walking along and I had
seen a truck pull out of a dirt road headed up the mountain and it turned
around in a church yard and came back to us.
It was a lady that was headed across the mountain to buy groceries in
Anniston and spotted us. She and her
husband lived up the dirt road near a hiking trail crossing and they had
experienced so many lost hikers and had carried them to Mt Cheaha. She said she couldn’t go on without checking
to make sure we didn’t need something.
She did have some interesting stories of some of the hikers. We thanked her and it’s not very often you
will find that type of hospitality.
We called it a completed day of the walk and a finish to Leg
4 at the point that Hiway 49 ends into Hiway 281. This puts us about 3 miles from Cheaha State
Park and the peak of Mt. Cheaha. We traveled
19 miles today, attaining a total of 54 miles for Leg 4.
Here at the end of this leg we have walked a total of 359
miles.
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