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Jimmy "Monkey Boy" Clinton has embarked upon the journey of his life.
Jimmy's journey starts on March 24, 1998
in Georgia. On April 8th Jimmy called in to say
that he reached the end of Georgia (Franklin), having
traveled about 70 miles and having met up with a group of
seven other pioneers. On May 2nd, Jimmy reached
Erwin, Tennessee. The last few weeks have been
rainy and sloppy as he hiked through the Blue Ridge
mountains. Jimmy, on the trail, is now identified
as Hawkeye. He estimates that he is about 9 days
behind schedule having traveled ~325 miles. He is
picking up the pace and is traveling about 15 miles per
day now. He said he is having a great time and it
beats working everyday. On May 15th Hawkeye reached
Damascus, Virginia, just over the Tennessee border.
He is taking three days off to relax and have a couple of
cold beers. Although he forgot his cleats, he
thinks the chicks will still "dig" him.
His feet are still soar and he just had his best day,
having walked 26 miles. Jimmy sent pictures (are you
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Appalachian Mountains or Appalachians, great mountain system of eastern North America, nearly parallel with the Atlantic coast, and extending from the province of Québec in Canada to northern Alabama. The system is about 2400 km (about 1500 mi) long and varies from about 160 to more than 480 km (about 100 to more than 300 mi) in width. Its altitude varies between about 460 and nearly 2130 m (about 1500 and nearly 7000 ft). The three divisions of the system—northern, central, southern—vary considerably in geologic age, having been raised by a series of crustal plate collisions that began during the Ordovician period and climaxed in the Permian (see Plate Tectonics). The northern division—including the Green Mountains and the White Mountains, the highlands of Maine, the Shickshock Mountains, and the Notre Dame Mountains of Québec—terminates in the hills of Newfoundland. The chief ranges of the central section are the Catskill Mountains, Allegheny Mountains or Alleghenies, and Blue Ridge or Blue Ridge Mountains. The Blue Ridge range is the principal uplift of the Appalachians. This range rises from the Piedmont Plateau to heights far greater than the Alleghenies attain. Beginning prominently in South Mountain in Pennsylvania, it stretches southwest in greater and greater heights, through Virginia and western North Carolina, where it divides, the northern branch continuing west to Georgia as the Great Smoky Mountains. This range, a broad mass of mountains on the border between North Carolina and Tennessee, contains peaks higher than those of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The culminating group of the Blue Ridge is known as the Black Mountains. The highest peak of the Appalachians, Mount Mitchell (2037 m/6684 ft), and many peaks above 1829 m (6000 ft) in height are situated in this group. The principal range of the southern Appalachians, which extend south into Alabama from the New River valley in Virginia and West Virginia, is the Cumberland Plateau and Cumberland Mountains. Elevations in this range average about 610 m (about 2000 ft). The Appalachian Mountains are heavily forested and contain deposits of iron ore, anthracite, bituminous coal, zinc, slate, limestone, asbestos, mica, granite, and emery. Along the western slope from southwestern New York through western Pennsylvania, into West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, lie coalfields. Numerous rivers make their way through the Appalachians. Among the more important are the Connecticut, Hudson, Delaware, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Potomac, James, and Rappahannock (flowing east or southeast) and the Cumberland, Kanawha, Allegheny, Monongahela, Tennessee, and others (flowing toward the west). "Appalachian Mountains," Microsoft® Encarta® 97 Encyclopedia. © 1993-1996 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.Back to Top |
Choosing to leave
his job, his home and the 1998 softball season behind,
Jimmy has dedicated the next 5 1/2 months to walking the 
ready
for this?). He is still walking with 4-6 people
daily. On June 26th, after almost a month, Jimmy
checked back in stating he was approximately 60 miles
from Harper's Ferry, WV. He just walked through the
Shenendoah mountains and he was 400 miles farther than
when he last touched base. He admits that he is
very trim after all the walking, and that he is a Popeye
in reverse; small biceps but muscular calves.
Tonight he rents a motel room, what a luxury. On
August 9th, Jimmy landed at Kent, CT. He just
walked into town to send and receive some mail. He
is now a couple days ahead of most of the people he has
been walking with, although he may alter his schedule so
that they will hook back up. He has calculated a
September 1998 completion of the big hike. On
August 17th, having traveled 90 miles since we last
talked, Jimmy arrived in Dalton, MA. He will be
hosting a Grafton Lakes party on August 19th
(10:00PM-5:00PM) for his friends as he is now the closet
he will be to his home town until he finishes the
"big walk". On September 21st Jimmy
called to say that he made it to Maine. He is
having a couple cold beers in Andover and he is still
hiking with the same crowd. The chill is in the air
and the end is near. Monkey Boy finishes
the "big walk" on 10/12/98! But
wait, he missed a quarter mile in Virginia so he comes
home, drives down to Virginia, finishes the quarter mile
and then calls in done. Only Jimmy! What will
he do now that the hike is over? Rumor has it that
his COBOL programming days are over...no more desk
job...he is heading west to live the good life. As
Bill Saunder's says, he'll need a haircut and a shave
before anyone will hire him. Good luck Jim.
The