Letters from the family.

From Lori's mom, Debbie:

When Lori first talked about hiking the Appalachian Trail I was adamantly opposed to the idea! I thought it was very dangerous and I felt that she should not take on such an extreme and lengthy hike, especially where she would not be hiking with a set group and may at times be entirely alone on the trail! I was very vocally against the idea and told her so every chance I got. When she had trial hikes, especially the one where she got rained out, I was grateful for the rain. And I felt assured that she would decide it wasn't for her.

She ask me to at least read the book "Hiking Through" before she started. She brought me the book and I let it set on the counter. She kept asking me if I had read it every time I talked to her. Finally I relented the weekend before she was to start her hike. It helped me in that I found that she would not be alone and there were many stops along the way to refresh and re-fuel. I finished the book in 2 days.

I called her and told her I would no longer be trying to talk her out of the hike and that I would support her. I can't say it has been easy knowing she is in the woods for such a long time and subjected to all the danger that is there.

The great part is that we are able to keep in contact quite often and can live the hike vicariously through her blog post, texts, and phone calls. She is living a dream and doing something that she really wants to do! We are all on this earth to live and experience life...not just survive!