Thursday Oct. 21, 1982 I Kaleidoscope I 3
features
Autumn Walk designed for fun and fund raising
By EUse Henshaw
Editors note: Elise Henshaw walked
in the fourth annual Autumn Walk
Oct. 16. She was just one of the
many people who turned out to help
raise money for the new walking-
jo^gging trail.
Did you know there’s an 8:00 a.m.
on Saturday s too? Eight boy
scouts, three scoutmasters, a
dachshund, several serious runners,
my daughter Lisa, and I made this
discovery together last Saturday at
the fourth annual UNCA Autumn
Walk.
By the time the walk ended at 5
p.m., our ranks had swelled to nearly
400 and 60% of us had run, walked,
strolled or staggered 12.4 miles to
the top of Elk Mountain and back to
the UNCA gym. The other not-
quite-so-hardy souls had covered 10
km or 6.2 miles.
The sun was shining, the skies
were blue, the air was crisp. Dr.
Russ Reynolds, assistant professor
of Spanish and coordinator of the
event, must be on excellent terms
with whoever arranges autumn
weekends in the mountains.
I was confident of my ability to
complete the 12.4 mile walk as I had
accomplished ten miles in a walk
last fall. I had however failed to
comprehend the full significance of
“Elk Mountain.” The word moun
tain obviously suggests ascent and
descent, and in this case there was a
great deal of both.
Before starting out from the gym,
I talked with Jay Thomas, scout
master of Troop 53 from Lyman,
N.C., his two assistants and eight
scouts. They held the record for
traveling the greatest distance to
participate in the walk, 357 miles.
With hikes of 25 miles under their
belts, this walk would be a cinch.
“Anyone who can’t make this will
be back in Cubs,” said Thomas.
Being flatlanders, they also hadn’t
thought much about Ml that ascent
and descent. They did make it to the
top and agreed the route was very
challenging. They also agreed on
some rather unpleasant possibilities
for whoever thought it up.
Three Autumn walkers are shown enjoying the fall weather while helping
raise money for a walking-jogging trail. Staff photo by David Pickett
Further evidence that word of the
walk reaches far beyond the campus
came from two sisters-in-law from
Spruce Pine. Carolyn and Linda
Medford, attired in grey warm-up
suits, said they read about the event
in the .Asheville Citizem. Being
walkers, they decided to come.
“Five miles is about as far as we
usually walk,” said Carolyn. They
walked a lot farther Saturday.
Gunther, the dachshund, who will
be seven in November, was on his
second Autumn Walk. He was ac
companied by his owner Emily
Sloop of Asheville, who also walked
with him two years ago. Last year
Emily walked with a golden
retriever. Emily is a registered
nurse who works in blood services at
the Red Cross. She said she walks
three miles a day.
A walk of this length could hardly
be uneventful. We rounded one
curve to find two police cars with
BtUage dallertcH
9 Boston Way • Biltmore Village
Butch Ochsenreiter
(704) 274-2424
P.O. Box 8442
Asheville, NC 28814
blue lights flashing and a car that
had gone over the side resting
against a tree. No one appeared to
be injured and since the police seem
ed to have the situation under con
trol, we proceeded up the mountain.
We also encountered a friendly
dog, a walker with his “box” going
full blast, numerous squirrels and
one wooly worm who seemed to be
making dire predictions about the
approaching winter. At least that’s
the way many mountain folks
would view his red and black body.
As we approached the top, we
received assurances from all who
passed us on their way down that
“we were nearly there, not much far
ther, just around the corner,’-’etc.
When we started back, we Wnd
ourselves giving the same
assurances to the eager, hopeful or
desperate faces that looked to us for
encouragement.
After one final steep climb, we
reached the promised land. On this
particular Saturday, it consisted of
an olive drab truck containing a
supply of cool water brought by
National Guardsman Ronnie Met
calf.
Metcalf, a member of the 109th
M.P. Battallion, said they had sup
ported Reynolds and the walk
every year, carrying water to the
half way checkpoint and to the top.
He also picked up anyone who
couldn’t make the walk. At 10:25,
our arrival time, Metcalf said 63 peo
ple had reached the top.
Don’t put a whole lot of stock in
the generally accepted idea that the
uphill part is the worst and once you
start downhill, it’s a piece of cake.
My experience is that one simply
uses a different set of muscles com
ing down than going up and they all
can be equally painful. Going up the
hills, the calves hurt. Coming down
the hills the aches were in the
ankles, knees and at times the
thighs.
At various places on our descent,
we encountered members of the
group comprising nearly half of the
walkers. These were ROTC cadets
from several high schools. The
largest group of approximately 100
came from Pisgah Academy in Can
ton.
Also represented was Reynolds
High School. As an avid Erwin
High fan and coming off of a 28-26
football loss at the hands of
Reynolds the night before, this was
hard to take. The problem was com
pounded by the fact that I was
proudly sporting my Erwin Band
Booster jacket which left me wide-
open to numerous uncomplimentary
comments.
Jimmy Biddix, a sophomore and
a member of the Naval Junior ROTC
from Marion, explained that they
were walking for sponsors. Their
earnings would go half to the United
Way and half to support their ROTC
trips. Biddix said the first ten of his
group to come in would receive
special notice at their annual inspec
tion and receive a free dinner. Bid
dix finished sixth despite many
aches and pains.
I finally came upon a couple of
UNCA students participating in the
event, proceeds from which go
toward a walking-jogging path on
the campus. Annette Brown and
David Plunkett were walking for the
second year. “We’re in better shape
this year so it should be easier,” said
Annette. They started up the moun-
' tain, David with his camera and An
nette with their lunch in her
backpack. “Easier, maybe; easy,
nOi”
At 12:30 Lisa and I handed our
cards over to Dr. Reynolds and
received our medals with a feeling of
pride and accomplishment. Mine
will be displayed prominently on my
chest [one of the few areas of my
body that is ache-free]. Actually the
walk was great fun and I shall prob
ably do it again next year.