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To Your Health Mom and daughter take on the Ap Appalachian Trail
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OCTOBER 2017
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181 DAYS TOGETHER
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Mother and daughter go into the wilderness of the Appalachian Trail and conquer injuries, lost toenails and bad weather. Their reward is amazing vistas, new friends and a stronger bond.
By Pam Parker
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abby Scrofano decided she would take a journey. Alone. A long one. The Appalachian Trail. The journey that is the Appalachian Trail is a 2,200-mile trek that spans through 14 states from Georgia to Maine. But the 25-year-old’s mother wasn’t keen on letting her daughter disappear into the wilderness. Three weeks before Scrofano left for the adventure in 2016, her mom, LuAnn, decided the only way she could let her only daughter take on “The Trail” was if she joined her. Gabby Scrofano was thrilled. Her brothers wanted to kill her. And LuAnn Scrofano, 59 at the time, had one question for her daughter: “Do you think I can do it?”
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“I never hiked a day before that,” LuAnn Scrofano said. The mom in this duo is in great shape. She cleans 11 houses a week, is nanny to a 2-year-old one day a week, and holds down a part-time job at Wegmans. Her daughter is into fitness. The McDowell High School and Clarion University graduate runs and plays various sports. After college, she worked in children’s advocacy in West Virginia before she attended Marshall University for a master’s degree in public health. She also works for two farms when school isn’t in session and is a part-time nanny to two little boys. Days before she left on the trail this year, Scrofano earned her master’s degree.
Not your normal mother-daughter vacation Lake Erie LifeStyle sat down with the Scrofano women a few days after they completed the trail — a journey that took 181 days over two summers, 91 days in 2016 and 90 days in 2017. What made them do it? For Gabby, it was the need for a break from society, school and work, but she said that she isn’t the kind of person to sit on a beach and do nothing on a vacation. “I wanted to accomplish something — a goal,” she said. Her mom’s goal was to accompany her daughter, but she had to see if she could keep her jobs. All of her clients agreed to wait for her. “They were totally on board at Wegmans,” she said.
The Trail On The Trail, participants choose trail names. The younger Scrofano was Boss, and her mom was Goddess. Along the way, the duo developed a system that worked for them. “For the division of duties, we kind of figured out what we each did well,” LuAnn Scrofano said. They practiced setting up a tent in the living room of LuAnn’s Millcreek Township home to get the hang of it. LuAnn was in charge of the tent and Gabby was in charge of the cooking. “She would get the tent up and organize everything for sleeping and clean up, and I would cook,” Gabby said. “She was the mom on this trail,” LuAnn said. A guide takes Gabby Scrofano, front, and her mom, LuAnn, center, across a river during their 2,200-mile
Scary times
Appalachian Trail journey. [CONTRIBUTED PHOTO]
Hiking the trail was not without difficulties. “Everything was hard for me. I never hiked, so I had to get used to carrying the 33-pound pack,” LuAnn said. “It’s difficult to carry that. OCTOBER 2017
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Scenery along the Appalachian Trail gives participants unforgettable views. [GABBY SCROFANO/CONTRIBUTED PHOTO]
Gabby Scrofano’s boyfriend, right, joined LuAnn Scrofano, left, and Gabby for part of the
Gabby Scrofano, left, and her mom, LuAnn, right, navigate rocks on the 2,200-
2,200-mile Appalachian Trail journey. [CONTRIBUTED PHOTO]
mile Appalachian Trail. [CONTRIBUTED PHOTO]
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It’s fine in the flats, but going up and down mountains, you have to adjust yourself and make sure you don’t tip over. I was really good at falling.” While LuAnn Scrofano joked about falling, it was no laughing matter. Climbing up and down rocks and over slippery slopes on a mountain can and does result in serious injury for many trail participants. On one of her early falls, she and her daughter were scared. “The pack slipped around and was choking me, and there was blood everywhere,” the older Scrofano said. “She was covered in blood,” Gabby said. “I couldn’t find where it was coming from.” Both women said they began to panic, but the mom took over and calmed her daughter. “I told her ‘Gabby you need to get this,’” LuAnn said. “Gabby couldn’t even talk. She was hysterical. We figured out the blood was coming from two gashes near my eye, but the
blood was everywhere, and it was scary.” Gabby explained her fear. “Kids always think their parents are invincible. Mom knew everything. She always knew everything, and nothing bad ever happens to your parents,” she said. But laughter was part of the medicine. “All she worried about was her teeth,” Gabby said. LuAnn agreed and said her teeth were fine, but she wanted to stop the bleeding. Gabby found wet wipes in a first aid kit in the backpack and a compress to stop the bleeding, but there were no hospitals or towns around the corner. They managed to get down the mountain and into a parking lot, where they took a cab to the nearest town and hospital. By then, LuAnn’s eye was swollen shut. “It was quite a day,” LuAnn said. “People die on the trail. We never realized how dangerous it could be, and we were lucky.” To continue the trip, LuAnn opted for
adhesive rather than stitches to close the gashes. “We would have had to get stitches removed, and how were we going to do that? Plus we couldn’t get it wet, and we were going to get wet. I had a shiner, but we hid it from family in Gabby’s social media posts.” Gabby explained that they had promised to post as often as they could as they moved along the trail so family could follow them. “We got creative with Facebook posts — really artsy,” she said with a laugh. Mom and daughter agreed being together 24 hours wasn’t abnormal for them. They often speak to each other four times a day, and the duo were well-known on the trail, as well. At shelters and camps, people knew they were Boss and Goddess, and many followers were amazed that a mother/daughter team was on the trail. “We met a lot of really nice people. It restores your faith in humanity.” Gabby said.
Scenery along the Appalachian Trail gives participants unforgettable views. [GABBY SCROFANO/CONTRIBUTED PHOTO]
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The kindness of people The Scrofanos met people of all ages, sizes and nationalities on the trail. They said some people quit their jobs and weren’t in any hurry on the trail. The Scrofanos had more stringent timetables. During their first summer, they took five days off, and on the second trip, they took three days off. Visiting towns was part of the fun, but it was expensive to stay and eat. Hikers the Scrofanos had seen in 2016 rejoined them this year, and several friendly folks shared food. There was also what the duo called trail magic. “Trail magic is people who sit by the trail and access roads with coolers and hand out Gatorade, pop and water,” Gabby said. Many of the friendly folks are locals or people who had completed the trail themselves at one time. “It’s so nice to have a cold drink,” LuAnn said. Other trail magic included sandwiches and hot meals. “It’s really generous and shows that somebody cares,” Gabby said. Gabby’s boyfriend Justin Hieronimous took four days to join the Scrofanos and hiked the trail with them in Vermont toward the end. “It was really nice,” she said.
Mileage counts Climbing rock formations, traversing waterways and hiking up and down mountains is all part of the journey. So daily travel ranged from a few miles to 26 miles. “We called those marathons days,” LuAnn said of the 26-mile days. The weather was a major factor in the length of some of the daily hikes. Thunderstorm warnings sent them in search of shelters and towns, and there were days that it rained sideways. The Scrofanos said rain was the worst. On one of the
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Friends on the Appalachhian Trail help Gabby Scrofano celebrate her 25th birthday as she and her mom, LuAnn, left, near the end of the Appalachian Trail. [CONTRIBUTED PHOTO]
rainy days, they were carrying eight days worth of food and water, and exhaustion set in, but they pressed on for 14 miles to get to the nearest town. “Even though it was 14 miles, we knew we were going to be warm and dry and let the tent and everything dry out,” LuAnn said. There were also days that it took hours to travel a mile through rocks, but they agreed some of those were the most fun. The Scrofanos had a fire ring every night whether they had their own campsite, joined others, or were in a town. And they were often asleep by 6 p.m. “It’s a lot of fun, but it’s a lot of work, and everything ached, from my hair to my toenails,”
LuAnn said. She said she lost five toenails along the way. They explained the aches and pains can often result from stress fractures — a common ailment on the trail. “You can’t get enough calories and you can’t get enough calcium,” LuAnn said. “And you have to have really good shoes.” Eating on the trail meant trying to consume a lot of calories with transportable foods. They found sustenance from Pop Tarts, ramen noodles, tortillas, protein bars, candy bars, peanut butter, cheese and jerky. Traveling into towns meant treats of ice cream, Dr. Pepper and other foods. And food fantasies were part of the trail. “You would swear you smelled food cooking on the trail. It was so weird,” LuAnn said. Mashed
potatoes with butter, chickens wings, cotton candy and other delicacies were the phantom smells. “I love potatoes, so for me, it was always potatoes,” Gabby said. Part of the trip planning included shipping pre-packed boxes of supplies that would be delivered to towns along the trail so the Scrofanos could pick them up when they arrived at specific destinations. Family members also got involved and sent care packages to locations along the trail that included snacks, dinners, glow sticks, liquor, cards and pictures. The Scrofanos didn’t sugar-coat the trip. There were days of complete exhaustion, but they said showers and real food made everything better. So did great views. “Mountaintop views in the Whites (White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire) are beautiful and there’s so much water,” Gabby said. She and her mom said that even a hard day on the trail could melt away when they saw the scenery. “We would always say, ‘This is great day,’” Gabby said.
The last day On her 25th birthday, Gabby got a party on Mount Katahdin in Maine with a bunch of strangers who became friends, and they delivered a party complete with balloons and cake. “There was a father and daughter that had hiked with us for four days, and they were from England. There had to be 20 to 30 people there, and it was super cloudy but everyone was singing, and it was really cool,” Gabby said. Throughout the journey, the Scrofanos kept a journal every day of the 181 days. Each entry started with “Today is the day.” The memories of each entry are sweet. “It’s so nice to read them now, and you know exactly where we were,” LuAnn said. “She took good care of me.”
Would they do it again? Now that it’s back to reality for this mother/daughter team, they said people complete the trail more than once, but they would rather do something else. Trail travel is on the bucket list though, but a shorter trail might be the next challenge. The John Muir trail in California could be on the list. “It’s only 210 miles, that’s three weeks, and maybe we could take a three-week vacation,” Gabby said. They also discussed the Triple Crown of hiking. It includes the Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide Trail (3,100 miles from Mexico to Canada) and the Pacific Crest Trail (2,600-mile trail that goes through California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. Not bad goals for a mom and daughter who never hiked together, but conquered the Appalachian Trail in 181 days. LEL
LuAnn Scrofano, left, and her daughter Gabby finished their 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail journey at Mount Katahdin on Gabby’s 25th birthday. [CONTRIBUTED PHOTO]
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