InFocus, Vol. 9, No. 2, June 2001

      Hiking the Appalachian Trail is Leah Ross, a determined young woman who is making the walk in memory of her sister, Heidi, who lost her battle with lupus in 1998 at the age of 17. Leah is garnering pledges for AARDA in support of autoimmune awareness, education, and research. To date, donations have passed the $5,200 mark and are continuing to arrive, not only from her native Indiana but also from other states as well. Some local publicity has helped as reporters from newspapers and radio stations along the Trail have picked up Leah story.

      As of May 24, Leah had walked 1,004.9 miles from Georgia to Harper Ferry, West Virginia. She is intent on traversing the entire Appalachian Trail, a distance of 2,168 miles.

      According to the Appalachian Trail Conference, the South has the highest mountains on the Trail, but those mountains have deep soils that allow for switchbacks. Lengthy, graded ascents and descents are frequent. The miles ahead of Leah through the Mid-Atlantic states have the lowest mountains, where the Trail frequently leads along rocky ridges. Then, in New England, Leah will face a terrain both rocky and steep, and sometimes muddy and root-obstructed as well.

      Leah wrote in her journal on May 14: "I love coming into towns. I like the way that people are willing to give rides and ask questions and are amazed that you are hiking to Maine. I guess in a way, I AM AMAZED THAT I AM HIKING TO MAINE." Leah comments that she has seen a lot of memorials along the way, including a monument to Audie Murphy, the most decorated World War II veteran whose movies our older readers will recall.

InFocus readers may access Leah Web site at www.trailjournals.com/windex. Those who want to pledge any amount of dollars in support of Leah walk may send a check to AARDA (written to AARDA, with a note "for Leah hike") or call AARDA national office to place a credit card donation (Visa, MasterCard, or American Express). Go, Leah!