Beauty of Kindness

Last Sunday (on Easter), my son and I went on a trip to Smokies mountains, specifically on the scenic loop of Cades Cove. We went hiking on Abrams Falls Trail (about 2.5 miles one way). It was nice meeting people returning on the way,? wishing “Happy Easter” and learning about their hiking experience to the falls. When we started back from the falls, it was around 4:45pm. After about 1.2 miles, we finally saw two people at a junction and they went in one direction. Seeing the board with directions there, we realized we had come about 4.2 miles from where I had parked the car. We had two options

1. To go back on the trail we came until we get to the falls again and then back to the car
2. To go in the direction those two people went for about 3.9 miles and reach a ranger station where we might find someone to drive us to the car

We decided to take option 2 as we saw two people going in that direction. The distance and the fact that it was slowly getting darker made me a little uncomfortable but did my best to stay strong and motivate my son so as not to scare him as well. The people who went in front of us were nowhere to be seen and we ran out of water. So we filled water from the flowing stream and continued walking as fast as we can (still taking time to relish the beautiful nature, as that helped ease out the situation a little). There was a point when my son walked a little faster and I lost sight of him. I called out to him multiple times before he answered. At that point, if we hadn’t seen each other, my son would have gone the wrong way. Then we ensured that both of us stayed at distance where we could see each other.

I set a deadline of 7:15pm beyond which I would call SOS/Emergency on my mobile. I was slowly becoming anxious and was preparing to make the call but at that time we saw those two people resting on the way again. They told us we were about 1.6 miles away from the ranger station. We continued further and reached a point where the trail went in two directions. Here again, we waited for those two people to join us, and then followed them till the end of the trail only to find that it was an unmanned ranger station! It was 8pm by then. We then asked those two people, who had reached the only car that was there by then, if they could drop us back to our car. They were skeptical but hoping it will be quite near, they agreed and we got on. Within few minutes, when they got the signal back, they realized it would be another hour to reach where I had parked. So I requested them to drop us off at a hotel so we can pick up our car in the morning. They were kind enough to drive us to Hilton Hotel at Knoxville airport. After expressing our heartfelt gratitude to them for accepting to drive strangers at this time of the night and through places where there was not much human presence, we got a room in the hotel.

We were telling our story to the empathetic hotel receptionist, Sandra. Terry, the bellman, heard our story and immediately called the forest rangers and let them know so that the possibility of either having the car towed away or having search parties sent is avoided. He also provided us with taxi phone number for getting back to our car the next day. On top of this, he was feeling bad that he couldn’t drive us there himself because he had a personal commitment with his grandkids the next day morning! We thanked him profusely, had dinner and slept peacefully being grateful to all the people that helped us be safe that night!

Next day, we availed uber to get us back to the car. Initially I was doubtful if the driver would accept or cancel or would be complaining, since it takes an hour or more to drive through the scenic loop depending on the cars in front of us. However, this person, William Moore, a 33 year Vietnam army veteran, was another Godsend for us! Young at heart and attitude, this 74 year old amazing person, became our tourist guide as he knew this place very well. He also talked about how he hates sitting at home watching TV after retirement and doing nothing. Instead, even though he had trouble walking or standing for long (uses a cane), he took up driving for uber and enjoys every experience. He also spoke about his wife, dog and cat and how he keeps in touch with his army friends. Growing up in nature and being in army had made him strong, resilient, very kind and helpful! He talked about how it is in his hands to paint his life beautifully. We got his number and address hoping to meet him agin/keep in touch with such an inspiring person!

When my son and I were finally driving back home in our car, we were filled with tears of happiness owing to a rich experience of the beautiful nature in the form of not only the forests, flowers, streams, deers, horses, birds and falls but also the beautiful, kind human beings we encountered! Absolutely grateful!