Weaverville Local reflects on Appalachian Trail hike


By Matt Tate A sink, running water and a little


soap. Tese are several things Scott


Litton will never take for granted again. After spending 183 days complet-


ing the 2,179-mile trek that is the Appalachian Trail, the Weaverville resident has a new appreciation for the simplest of amenities. Litton finished on Halloween,


and he returned to Weaverville dressed as a man who has a new outlook on life. “It was absolutely the hardest


thing I have ever done but also the most rewarding,” he said. “It re- stored my faith in humanity.” Te kindness of strangers–from


coolers of drinks left on the trails to the bond shared between random hikers–impressed Litton. It was also the kindness of his


family and friends that helped him keep going even through 100-de- gree days in Pennsylvania. His mom mailed supplies to


him along the trail, a much-need- ed bounty for a hiker who went through four pairs of boots and nine pairs of socks in six months. Family and friends also sent him a stack of letters two inches thick he


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Scott Litton poses at the trail’s northern end.


kept in his pack on the entire trail. Even with the supportive net-


work, he said self-discipline might be the most necessary supply on the trail and noted that the further north he went, the less crowded the trail became. He said 17 of 20 hik- ers who start the trail with the in- tention of completing it never do.


Litton started in May in Hot


Springs and hiked north to the trail’s end at Mount Katahdin, Maine, finishing up Sept. 27. He flew back to North Carolina and hiked from Hot Springs south to the trail’s beginning point at Springer Mountain, Ga. He kept a journal every day and


finished his thoughts with this quote from legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi: “I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field–victorious.”


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