A Cast of Characters

Here's a rough sketch of the people I have been with on this journey:

"Circuit Rider", "Sherlock", and "Hopeful" along with "Last Minute": These guys were on top of Springer Mt. with me at the beginning. I didn't know them then, but got to know them over the first week. All of them thru-hiked in '03, and the first three are doing it again this year. Last Minute was along for the first week to see them off. They are all older than me in varying degrees.
Circuit Rider is 50some. His trail name is derived from the old Bible-belt preachers who would 'ride the circuit' preaching at a different church each week. Circuit Rider and Sherlock have thru-hiked 6 previous times, this one will make 7. They do it as a ministry opportunity, to share the gospel of Jesus. It's a pretty good idea, seeing as people are so open on the trail. Circuit Rider took my picture on Springer, and I'm glad that he did. He's a boss.
Sherlock is the youngest, something like 31. He likes to read books by christian authors, and talk about what he has read. So he told me about things that he has read when we were hiking a piece together. Also, Sherlock has a girl back home, so we bonded over what it is like to hike and try and get phone service so you can talk to a special female. Sherlock was keeping his budding relationship secret from his hiking partners, except for Circuit Rider, because Hopeful and Last Minute would make fun of him if they knew. They did find out while I was with them, and didn't seem to make fun of him. All the same, though, when we were at Neel's Gap Outfitter he pulls me aside with "Hey Brown [that's what I was going by back then], I have a secret for you." Turns out he had gotten phone service on the previous mountain and had talked with his girl. He was excited.
Hopeful is in his 60s. He fought in 'nam and didn't go crazy from it, but a lot of his friends did. I consider Hopeful a gentle and quiet man, because he is, but he can talk for a long time about any subject you get him started on. Circuit Rider and Sherlock will tell you if you ask them that they are hiking in order to share the gospel as the opportunity arises, along with the personal adventure of a thru-hike. Hopeful is doing the same, but would probably never tell you that. He is one of the most authentic brother in the faith. Seriously, if I can know Jesus the way it is evident that this man does, that would be sweet.
Last Minute was a section hiker, so I hesitate to include him in this list, but here he is. Last Minute got his name because when he thru-hiked in '03 he got his gear at the last minute, caught his flight at the last minute... He said the name chose him.

Justin a.k.a. "Blaze": I met Justin my first night on the trail. Going around for introductions he said his name was Justin, "My name is Justin, I like that name." He was being a little defensive because everyone else had made up names. That cut to my heart though, that he liked his name. That night I said to myself, "I like my name too, I don't want to take a made up name." So I chose Monroe, my name but also distinct enough from what people call me at home to be playing alone with the thru-hiker name game. When I last saw him, Justin was toying with the trail name "Blaze", which I thought was fitting because of his blaze orange hat that he wore almost constantly in those early chilly days, and because he likes to smoke weed.

"CrazyLegs": CrazyLegs is from Florida. She started out "FancyPants", but decided that she is not that fancy a person (she's not) and that she wanted to pay tribute to the legs that are going to get her to Maine (they are really long, she's a tall one) so she changed her name. This meant that for the next few days she had to fight the improper name and name combinations, like "FancyLegs", "CrazyPants", and "PantsLegs". Eventually the new name stuck.

"DreamBeliever": DreamBeliever is an older woman who had recently had a serious car accident. This accident, which reminded her that her life will not last forever, inspired her to go after her lifelong dream of thru-hiking the AT. Unfortunately, there was serious pain in her shoulder from the accident which made carrying a heavy backpack not so cool, and she fell a few days in and thought that she added a broken rib to the mix. She went home, and is the only person I have known who has done so.

"Cotton": Cotton was a funny farm boy who got made fun of for having cotton clothes on the first day in the rain. Some people call cotton the 'death fabric' on the trail, because if it gets wet and it is cold you are in more serious danger of hypothermia than you need to be if you were just wearing something else. Cotton was cool, I hope he makes it all the way.

"Infidel/Doc/Boozer": This guy is/was a military man. His attempt in '03 was cut short by getting called overseas, so he is back to do the whole deal this time. He chose the name Infidel from his time spent around Islam, and because he classifies himself as a pagan. Changed this to Doc when it was a more natural name to be called (I think this means he was a doctor in the military). Then, on the first day, he picked up a fallen water bottle and thinking he had just scored some free water went to drink the contents when he had a bad surprise. You see, a lot of hikers carry denatured alcohol as a stove fuel, which looks just like water. Also, a lot of hikers carry this fuel in old plastic bottles, because these are cheap and lightweight containers. This one had x's on it, but Doc took this to mean that it had already been filtered. You can't drink denatured alcohol. Hopeful said later that day that we should rename him Boozer.

...more to come, stay posted...