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A journey of self discovery
(by Dedra Cordle, Staff Writer - September 15, 2011)
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Retired Grove City High School teacher, Bruce Purdy is on a journey of self discovery. He is hiking the 1,444-mile Buckeye Trail. Here, he stops for a photo along the path.
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| Bruce Purdy is seeing the sights in Ohio. |
Three years ago, scoutmaster Bruce Purdy was informed that his troops were planning a trip to the Appalachian Trial in the Shenandoah Mountains. Hiking in this famous region has always been a lifelong goal, so Purdy started getting ready for the adventure. He quickly realized it might be a bit harder than anticipated.
"I walked around the block and halfway through I had to sit down on a curb because I couldn't do it," he said.
Dismayed, Purdy made a commitment to getting back into shape to help his scouts and, in turn, helped himself.
Decades earlier, Purdy was riding on his motorcycle looking for his own grand adventure. He had some free time before heading off to basic training in the U.S. Navy and decided the open road and exploration would be an ideal way to pass the time.
While riding through New York, Purdy encountered hippies - or so he thought.
"They had long hair, what appeared to be only one pair of clothes and had what I now know is 'hiker's stench'," he said.
Despite their appearance and odor, Purdy struck up a conversation with the group and discovered they were hiking the Appalachian Trial.
Having an affinity for hiking, it was something his family did together, Purdy vowed he would hike the trail one day.
After coming back from Vietnam, Purdy went to Ohio State, started a family and got a job teaching wood shop at Grove City High School.
As the years passed, Purdy found his desire to hike waning. He still hiked with his family when they went on vacation, and he hiked with his son Robert when he was stationed in Hawaii, but it seemed that passion for long-distance hiking had come and gone. Raising five children and having a full-time job will often push personal goals to the wayside.
Then the scouting trip, along with his struggles to walk around the block, happened. Afterward, Purdy rediscovered his love of hiking.
While searching for a local place to take his troops hiking for their merit badge, he stumbled across the Buckeye Trail, a 1,444-mile trail that winds around Ohio, reaching into every corner of the state.
This was too much for his troops (he took them to sections of the trail instead), but a goal was set. He would thru-hike the Buckeye Trail one day.
He started circuit hiking on the weekends, usually in 50 and 70-mile sections.
After 27 years teaching at Grove City High School, he retired in 2010.
Earlier this year, he sat down with his family and told them his plan to hike the Buckeye Trail, all 1,444 miles, in 80 days.
"At first we were all concerned," said Robert Purdy, a Navy recruiter in Chillicothe. "He would be far away and we weren't sure what support he would have on the Buckeye Trail."
When he had some free time, Robert and his father hiked the trail in sections together to get more comfortable with Purdy's solo mission.
"After I was on it, I got a little warmer and fuzzier about it," Robert said.
Purdy started his journey on Aug. 14 in Milford, near Cincinnati. As of Sept. 12, he is in Litchfield, near Cleveland. He has completed 436 miles.
"I think he can absolutely do this," said Andy Niekamp, Purdy's friend and Buckeye Trail mentor. "He's strong enough and has enough mental determination to finish."
In June, Niekamp became the sixth person to thru-hike the Buckeye Trail. He has been giving Purdy encouragement and suggestions on where to camp, where to stay on Purdy's "zero Sundays" and where to find a good meal when pack-food does not suffice.
"As a hiker, the Buckeye Trail is a tremendously rewarding experience," said Niekamp.
"You get to see the beauty of Ohio and the friendliness of the people of Ohio."
Niekamp said strangers, or "trail angels" as they are known, offer assistance, whether it be food or shelter, in all four corners of the state.
Recently, Purdy attended church in Elyria on his zero Sunday. He stayed to witness a baptism and the family offered him a home cooked meal and a doggie-bag of food to take on his journey.
"There are a lot of trail angels out here," said Purdy.
Occasionally, he has been treated as a homeless person might, especially when he hasn't had the opportunity to shower, shave or wash his clothing in a week.
"Sometimes you get treated like that and sometimes you're treated as a celebrity," Purdy said. "You get the max and the low of it."
Despite the occasional misconception, inclement weather, foot tumor and brush with wildlife (like the hungry and sleepy skunk and the close encounter with a coyote), Purdy said he wouldn't change or stop his journey for anything.
"I'm kind of finding myself," he said. "I'm trying to be something, but I'm not quite sure what it is yet; not quite there yet."
And if he doesn't figure it out before his Buckeye Trail journey is complete, there's always the Appalachian Trail. He plans to tackle that 2,168-mile long behemoth starting in March.
To follow Purdy's journey, go to btpoppie.com.
For more information on the Buckeye Trail, go to buckeyetrail.org.
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