FredMcKinnon.Com

When my heart is overwhelmed and I cannot hear your voice,
I hold on to what is true though I cannot see.
When the storms of life they come and the road ahead gets steep,
I will lift these hands in faith, I will believe.

I remind myself of all that you’ve done, and the life I have because of your son…

I enjoyed reading Both part 1 and 2. Thankfully for me the day I was on Springer it was clear and the view was breathtaking. My wife and I have been traveling the mountains for the past 26 years. We started by spending our honeymoon in a small community called Bat Cave NC and was given a tour to the Cave by the Ranger there at the time.
In the early part of this century I began to have severe knee problems which resulted in both knees being totally replaced. Since 2009 we began to make up for lost time and last Christmas section hiked the AT at Fontana Dam NC. Since then we have section hiked the AT every chance we get.Doubt if I will ever get to hike the complete AT but will do a little each time.
When I lived in Augusta we were only 3 1/2 hours away, now it is more like 6 hours. On August 31 I celebrated my 56th birthday with a 5.6 mile hike on the Augusta Canal and later a 3 mile hike on the Bartram Trail Thurmond Lake near Clarks Hill Dam.
It is wonderful to be able to do what I once did for so many years in my younger days before the knees began to bother me but the greatest part of each journey is the walk with God. I always feel so much closer to God when in the mountains. I think it is the beauty of the leaves in the fall, the cold winter mornings, or the mist in the early morning which gives the area that blue tent. Of course I am fully aware of His Creation anywhere but for me the sounds, smells, and the air of the Smokey’s is always calling me.
Thank you for posting this and allowing me to get to see a little more of who Fred is.