Walhallan “thankful” for having finished mammoth hike

Thankful and a feeling of bless are some of the thoughts that Wayne Garland experienced when the 74-year old Walhallan finished his immense hike early this afternoon on the Appalachian Trail.  We spoke by phone moments ago with Garland, not long after he reached Georgia’s Springer Mountain.  Garland required about six months of actual hiking to finish his north-south route—from Maine to Georgia.  He feels in good health, although quite fatigued.  From this mammoth hike, Garland takes a lot of fond memories of the beauty that is a part of the mostly mountainous, 2-thousand-plus mile trail—including the beauty he witnessed in the vicinity of Front Royal, Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley.  On the negative side, there was a close encounter with a copperhead and a number of falls on slippery rocks in New Hampshire, where it just rained all the time.