June 9, 2017 - Ronald Barlow posted on June 5, 2017 a post on Facebook (Farm Road 1 - From one end to the other) telling a story about Dillon Brown's journey which started in January and ended June 4th. Brown is a 2013 graduate of Shelbyville High School.
Below is Ronald Barlow's post and photos:
On January 14, 2017, Dillon Brown took off walking.
Yesterday, Sunday, June 4, he finally got where he was going.
Over the course of 142 days he walked across 14 states, covering 2,189.1 miles, not counting side trips down the mountains to replenish his food supply and other necessities.
Why?...you might ask.
To get to the other end of the trail, of course.
The Appalachian Trail is the longest hiking-only footpath in the world, spanning from Georgia to Maine.
Dillon, who had graduated from Texas A&M University, with a degree in Horticulture, about a month earlier, needed to celebrate and in true Brown family fashion, he wasn't going to be confined or restricted or be dependent on a tour guide or anyone else for timetables, transportation, meals, lodging or instructions.
He got it honest.
His great-great-grandfather, Julius "Jule" Malcolm Brown (1881-1966), was quite a legend in the Little Flock/Burleson area west of Bronson.
In the 1930s, Jule fought a conviction for the illegal sale of alcohol all the way to the Texas Supreme Court..and won.
Dillon's great-grandfather, Judge D. Brown (1911-1993) of Pineland, and his sisters, Fayette "Fatie Mae" Townsend (1908-2000) and Virene Craig (1914-2011) of Bronson were also prime examples of this independent nature.
He also got a good dose of it from his mother's side, too.
Dillon is the eldest son of Malcolm Brown and Kristie P. Brown, who graduated together from West Sabine High School in Pineland in 1989.
Dillon grew up on Malcolm and Kristie's farm, off of Highway 7, southwest of Center, Texas, where they grow peaches, nectarines, mayhaws, watermelons, squash, tomatoes, blackberries, broilers, hog dogs, bird dogs, and squirrel dogs.
They've also tried their hand at strawberries, honey bees and dairy goats, among other things.
During harvest times, Dillon, his younger brother, Colton Brown, and parents, Malcolm and Kristie, take turns at Shelby County's Farmers' Market on the old courthouse square in Center on a daily basis and at the Nacogdoches Farmers' Market on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Younger brother, Colton, like Dillon, also went on to A&M for a degree in Horticulture, and received his Aggie ring a few weeks ago.
Both had graduated from Shelbyville High School, where their mother taught Spanish for 18 years, before switching to Center I.S.D. last summer.
Dillon was an academic honor student, all-district football and baseball player and regional qualifier in track & field.
In 2012, he was named first team academic All-State in football, basketball and baseball.
I know only enough about Dillon to know that he's a chip off the old block.
I was his Daddy's agriculture teacher at West Sabine High School from 1986 to 1989.
Malcolm was not only one of the most intelligent boys that I ever taught, but he also had an unusually high level of common sense.
He was also a courteous and respectful student who was always wanting to learn something new.
Dillon probably inherited some of his father's mischievousness, too.
For the sake of brevity, I'll save some of the best "Malcolm Brown stories" for some other time, but I really do have some doozies regarding the time he got stuck on the railroad track south of Pineland in the middle of the night...or the time he pulled a possum from a trap near Mark Best's home on a field trip...or the one about the cup of butter at La Caretta's...or the times it took the whole Ag class to hold him down for a paddling...or the time we nearly killed his county show steer...or a dozen other side-splitting stories about his teenage escapades.
The hundreds of hours that I spent in the woods with Malcolm Brown, Raymond Worthy, Jody McBride and Scott Simmons, were some of the most enjoyable of my 24-year teaching career.
They wanted to learn Forestry and found the right teacher that loved teaching it to them.
I wouldn't be surprised if a few of the skills that Dillon learned from his father, that were useful for survival in the Appalachian Mountains, date back to 30 years ago to our trips into the woods.
In fact, Malcolm walked with Dillon for the first few days, before deciding that was a young man's game.
Hikers on the Appalachian Trail are warned that potential hazards include: Severe weather, American black bear, Tick-borne diseases, Mosquitos, Yellowjackets, Biting flies, Chiggers (Redbugs), Steep grades, Limited water, Dangerous Fordings, Diarrhea from water, Poison ivy and Venomous Snakes.
If Dillon took after Malcolm in the least, none of this fazed him at all.
From January 14 to June 4, 2017, Dillon averaged 15.4 miles per day to cover the 2,189.1 miles between Springer Mountain, Georgia and Mount Katahdin, Maine, while passing through 14 states (Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine).
On April 7, 2017, The Appalachian House in Pennsylvania reported:
"First thru hiker of the year. Lumberjack (Dillon's trail name) from Nacogdoches Texas. Started January 14.
He's had to deal with some tough weather.
Thanks for stopping to chat!"
Trail hikers who attempt to complete the entire trail in a single season are called "thru-hikers". Rugged terrain, weather extremes, illness, injury, and the time and effort required make thru-hiking difficult to accomplish.
As of 2014, it was estimated that around 2700 hikers attempted to thru-hike the trail each year.
Historically, only about 10% to 15% of those who make the attempt report to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy that they completed it.
Yesterday, Dillon made it.
He wore out three or four pairs of boots in the process.
His mother, Kristie, made it too.
When Malcolm was asked if Kristie had made the entire trail, he answered, "No, Mama came and walked the last hill with him, and nearly died!"
A friend remarked, "Looks like a true mountain man!"
Kristie replied, "Smelled like one, too!"
In my "Deep East Texas Redneck Hall of Fame," this feat ranks almost at the top, perhaps only behind Rosevine's Tex McDaniel's ride from Houston to New York City, and then back to Washington D.C. on a steer named Barker in 1932-1933.
Good job, Dillon!
What's next?
To see additional photos posted and to read comments, here is a Link to the original Facebook Post about Dillon Brown.
Editor's note: Thank you Ronald Barlow for sharing this great story!
