Cheaha Mountain
Alabama
November 2013
None of the hiking trails on Cheaha Mountain take you to the summit. They all bypass it or end on a road which requires at least a half mile of pavement walk. The best hiking route I can find is the Lake Trail. Since this is a linear trail, out and back, and we don’t prefer to double our mileage on this particular hike, I’m struck with the idea that there may be a shuttle service. We could leave our car at the summit, get a ride to trailhead and hike back to our car. We can take as long a hike as we like, extending the suspense and excitement by doing more miles before we get to the peak. Y’see, more miles to our destination is good while more miles after accomplishing reaching the summit, is superfluous and unnecessary.
I start my research online and find a website for a shuttle service that is exactly what we need. There are two names and numbers listed. I pick one of them and dial. (Whoops. We don’t actually dial anymore, do we?) The woman answers the telephone saying something like, “Hello.” Yeah, I’m pretty sure that is what she says.
I say, “Shadow Sue?” Shadow Sue is the name listed on the website.
She says, “Yep, that’s me.”
“You’re the shuttle lady?”
“Yep, that’s me.”
I tell her my plan and ask her details and logistics. Shadow Sue surprises me by reporting, “I’m retired. I don’t run the shuttle any more.”
“How come?”
“Too much driving. Too many of the same hiker stories, over and over.”
“What if I promise not to tell you any stories?”
Sue says, “Yep, I’ve heard that one before.”
“Well, Shadow… May I call you Shadow? Do you know anyone else who might run a shuttle?”
Sue says, “My husband Blister Bob used to run the shuttle but he stopped when I stopped.”
“Same story?”
“Same story.”
Meanwhile, I’m thinking, Shadow Sue and Blister Bob. Married couple. Hmm… No doubt, running around the house would be their kids, Sunburn Sam, Hopping Harvey and Bubble Becky.
But still, no shuttle.