Farmington Hills Hiker Heads Home

Editor's Note: Farmington Hills firefighter Kevin Bersche and his fiance, Christa Rutherford, are hiking 110 miles of the Appalachian Trail, from Dalton, MA to Wallingford, VT, to raise money for Homes for Our Troops, an organization that builds specially adapted homes for severely wounded veterans. They're part of a relay team called "American Hero Hikers". Bersche will be sending updates along the way. You can help by visiting americanherohikers.com, click "Our Charity," scroll down to "HFOT," then click on "Kevin and Christa Bersche" to donate and read their bios.

Thursday, 6 am: I put Christa on the train home late Tuesday. Her knee wasn't healing up, and we received the sad news that a close friend had been killed in a vehicle crash, so she will be attending the funeral while I try to finish the hike.

I did 20 miles yesterday and am only 7 miles from the end of our section, which I think I can do before noon today. The plan is that I will hitch a ride up to Rutland, VT and stay at the hikers hostel there until Friday morning when the train leaves. I hope Amtrak is running on time. My itinerary shows a 7 hour layover in Skenectady, NY...no idea what I will do for 7 hours there.

I am looking forward to the feeling of being "finished" and the sense of accomplishment that goes along with completing any challenging endeavor! So, I'm off this morning to get it done!