Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 26, 1992 TAG: 9201260176
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: E6 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: AFTON LENGTH: Medium
AMPUTEE FINISHES 2,034-MILE HIKE
Carl Moon, who lost a foot to cancer less than four years ago, says he hopes his 2,034-mile trek on the Appalachian Trail will inspire other amputees."I know that when I was lying in the hospital, I didn't know what was going to happen to me," Moon, 30, of Smyrna, Ga., said Saturday after completing his 10-month journey.
Moon began his trip on March 3, 1991, at Springer Mountain, Ga., and walked 832 miles to Waynesboro.
At that point, he took a bus to Maine and got the New England part of the hike out of the way before bad winter weather became a factor.
Several friends and relatives were with him Saturday when he concluded his journey at the Rockfish Gap entrance to the Shenandoah National Park.
Moon averaged 10-12 miles a day, although he took many days off and made a number of side trips along the route.
Moon lost a portion of his right leg in 1988 when a cancerous tumor was found in his foot.
The amputation came less than a year after the avid hiker had completed his first trip along the Appalachian Trail.
Moon began preparing for the physical challenge shortly after surgery. He went on a three-day hiking trip the weekend after receiving a permanent artificial leg.
He began talking with Danny Phelps about making a second trip on the Appalachian Trail. Phelps works for J.E. Hanger Co., an Atlanta-based manufacturer of artificial limbs.
"Ever since the beginning, he was right behind me," Moon said.
Hanger donated an artificial leg for the trip and Springlite, another company, gave Moon a prosthetic foot.
Moon's employer, Eddie Bauer, an outfitting company, helped fund the trip.
"It gives you a better view of people in general when you find out that people will come out to help you," Moon said.
The biggest delay Moon encountered was at the beginning when a sock designed to keep the prosthesis dry chafed when he waded through water, creating infected sores. That kept Moon out of action for about a month, but he said he encountered no major problems after that.
He said the most difficult terrain he faced was north of the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania, where the trail is extremely rocky and steep in several sections.
"The hikers out here say that's where boots go to die," he said.