Some years ago, back in the late 90's, there was a hiker with the trail name "Jack Rabbit Slim". He was hiking the AT and was likely a thru-hiker, starting in Georgia early in the year and making his way north through North Carolina, Tennessee and part of Virginia. Where his hike actually ended or if he finally did make it all the way to Katahdin in Maine, I don't know. A chance discovery on the trail made me aware of Jack Rabbit Slim's hike, but I have never met him in person. The little I do know about him comes from his hiking stick ..... the one that was left on the rugged west side of the AT, just north of the Three Ridges Overlook.
My journal for that time period with the exact details is packed away somewhere, but I'm fairly certain that I found Jack Rabbit Slim's hiking stick on a trail maintenance work trip. I remember it was a sunny, late spring/early summer day and other people were on the trail with me. We stopped for someone to take a 'break' off trail and while we waited, I was looking around at the woods and enjoying the scenery. A dead sapling caught my eye - no bark, gleaming a little starkly among other darker, live saplings. My glance moved on ..... and then came back to that dead sapling. Something about it wasn't quite right and I stepped closer to take another look. It was then that I saw the carving on it and I knew this was someone's hiking stick. It was jammed into the ground deep enough to hold it upright and it wasn't that far off the trail - after maybe two more steps, I held it in my hands.
The first obvious details were the rings carved around the stick along with the states: GA, NC, TN, VA, and I immediately thought 'thru-hiker'. The next thing I saw was the AT symbol at the top of the stick and carved underneath was "Jack Rabbit Slim". A name! I had a name so maybe I could find the person who left their stick on our section of AT. During the rest of the day, I hiked with Jack Rabbit Slim's stick, excited about finding it, curious about why such a unique and special stick had been left beside the trail, and thinking that he might still be in the area and I could return the stick to him.
The top of the hiking stick with the AT symbol & "Jack Rabbit Slim"
The carved rings with the states GA, NC, TN & VA .... notice there is no ring under VA, which seems to indicate that the hike through the state was incomplete.
My favorite hiking stick is one that a friend made for me as a present. He cut a hickory sapling, then removed the bark and let it cure before sanding and staining it. He finished it off by drilling a hole in the top and adding a leather loop. Because of its dark, natural appearance .... and having 'lost' it more than once in the leaves when I temporarily put it down, I added a strip of 'hot pink' duct tape for visibility. Aside from the fact that it was a present, this particular stick is near and dear to my heart because it's been with me for hundreds of miles on the trail and it's a tangible reminder of the many memories and adventures associated with those miles. There have been times when I've gone to some trouble not to lose it. On one still vividly memorable occasion, I even risked 'life and limb' to retrieve this stick after I slipped and fell on an icy switchback. It was a major fall and it took me over the trail edge and a good way down a steep, icy slope on my back before I could grab a bush and stop the slide with a jolt so hard it felt like my arm was going to be ripped off. My stick, which had not been attached by that leather loop around my wrist at the time, continued on down the slope and I could barely see a spot of pink duct tape where it was snagged on a bush.
Despite the 'advice' of my hiking companion (loose translation with expletives deleted:
Don't Do It !!), I slid farther down the mountainside from bush to bush and tree to tree, all the while trying to dig my boot heels into the ice in an attempt to keep my rate of descent somewhat under control. Finally, I made my way down close enough to the stick to make a grab for it. I could see it was barely snagged and if I didn't get it on the first try, it was likely to dislodge and continue sliding down an even steeper, icy slope that was below. This would put it at a much greater distance than I either could or would be willing to risk to get it back. Fortunately, I got it on the first attempt, put the leather loop around my wrist and between grabbing bushes and kicking toe-holds in the ice, managed to make it the long, difficult way back up to the trail. Once the adrenaline wore off and reason returned, I could admit rescuing the stick was an overly risky thing to do; however, it also rather dramatically made clear just how strong my feelings were for that hiking stick and to what extent I valued it. With such feelings about my own stick, I could readily imagine Jack Rabbit Slim's 'dismay', to put it mildly, at somehow becoming separated from what should be a prized keepsake of his already significant journey from Georgia and finding him to return his hiking stick became a mission.
Over the next several months, I made numerous inquiries in the trail community, trying to find Jack Rabbit Slim, but no one knew him or had heard of him. The following year, I read the ATC's published list of thru-hikers who had completed their hikes the year I found the stick, thinking maybe I would see his name; however, despite these efforts, I had no success locating Jack Rabbit Slim. I must have spent some hours over the following years, wondering what happened, Initially, I thought the stick was left by accident along the AT, but that particular section of AT is very rocky and if accustomed to hiking with a stick, you wouldn't go very far before you realized you were 'missing something' ..... certainly not so far that you wouldn't turn around and go back for it. Perhaps Jack Rabbit Slim really didn't need a stick and the novelty of carrying one wore off and he left it, but I'm not sure I'm buying this scenario either. Care was taken in choosing this particular stick, time was taken to carve the hard wood, and effort was made to carry it over hundreds of miles and crossing three and a half states ..... abandonment as a mere inconvenience doesn't seem likely.
One last theory, admittedly a stretch and mostly a romantic notion, is that so close to the trail head and a bailout point, Jack Rabbit Slim's thru-hike may have ended and that is where he left his stick in disappointment and frustration. Possibly, with the knowledge he would never return to his thru-hike, the stick was left close to the trail in the hope that some other hiker would spot it and carry it on. This could explain why no one had heard of him farther up the AT and why his name was not on the list of hikers who completed a thru-hike that year. At the time, I only looked for him with hikers and the trail community 'north' .... perhaps if I had thought to look 'south' as well, I would have found some mention of this particular trail name. Still, every minute of the time I've spent wondering what happened is pure speculation and I hope that no matter why the stick was accidentally left or intentionally abandoned, Jack Rabbit Slim was able to stay on the trail and finish his hike, whether all the way to Maine or a shorter section of the AT.
A decade and a half later, somewhere 'out there', is or was a hiker who went by the name Jack Rabbit Slim and despite the time that has passed, I still find myself keeping an eye and ear out for some trace of him. Maintainers on the trail encounter a variety of situations, have memorable meetings with all sorts of people, and occasionally find strange things and this hiking stick is the most unusual hiker item I've ever found. "Trail magic" has more than one meaning in my personal dictionary. Generally, it centers around kindness to others in some form or fashion ...... perhaps leaving a cooler of drinks and snacks at a trail crossing, driving a hiker down the mountain to Waynesboro, giving a bottle of water to someone who has none left and is miles from the next water source, or sharing a map with a hiker who needs directions. At times though, I have found that trail magic, emphasis on the '
magic,' is something entirely different and the only apparent way to describe an experience that occurs on the trail for which there is no logical explanation other than coincidence, fate, perchance even the intervention of the supernatural. After all these years, I believe it's going to take the influence of this kind of 'magic' to reunite Jack Rabbit Slim and his hiking stick, but who knows? It can be a very small world and stranger things have happened. In the meanwhile, until reclaimed by Jack Rabbit Slim, his hiking stick has a home with mine and I treasure them both.
~ Merlot
My own rescued, trail-worn and still much-beloved old hiking stick.
