Doug Marshall
Flint, Michigan

somewhere in Virginia (photo by Tim Geoghegan)

somewhere in Virginia (photo provided by Doug Marshall)

photo by Susan "Butch" Henley

photo by Janet Parsons

Camp Mardela, Maryland -- 5/23/1981 (photo by William Ewart)

West Plains, Missouri -- December 25, 1980 -- Day 258 Sky 3 chopper A news crew from KYTV (Springfield, Missouri) flew in for a Christmas day story.

From Doug's Facebook - August 19, 2020: TV crew came to West Plains, MO, to get pictures of HikaNation Christmas at the American Legion hall in West Plains. One of my nicer Christmas's Bruce Ole Ohlson gave me his old rain jacket as he had gotten a new one in the mail. (photo by Doug Marshall)

HikaNation Memories

Doug Marshall, posted on Facebook -- January 31, 2019 at 6:20 PM: One of the memories from HikaNation was how cold it got in Missouri (December 20, 1980, through January 15, 1981). I believe it was Bruce Ohlson who had a low reading thermometer, but after reading Marcie's log a couple of years ago realized that she also had one. The memory is that on a number of mornings in Missouri the word going around the group was that Bruce's thermometer showed a minus five degrees the night before. When I read Marcie's log she also noted on a number of entries of a low temperature of a minus five degrees. This last few days in Michigan we have been having low temperatures below zero, which have gotten down to a minus fifth teen degrees, but to make it worst the wind has been blowing hard creating a wind chill factor of a minus thirty or more below zero. One of the things I learned on the hike was that I can survive outdoors in the winter in below zero temps with a good four season tent and sleeping bag. One other thing I learned that while I was in the tent alone at night and woke and was chilled was that a candy bar would do wonders on making me feel warmer. On the day the group took the tour of the lead mine, Bob Alter, Wayne Phillips and myself skipped the tour and I believe offer of a shower to make time that day as the three of us were new to the hike and the days were short and the miles seemed long to us then. During that day Bob stated that he had been freezing every night and if he could not find a way to stay warm he would have to call his wife and asked her to pick him up and leave the hike. After sharing this he noted that I had a four season three person tent and if he could stay with me in my tent it may be warm enough. At this time Wayne also stated that he had been freezing during the night and if both he and Bob could share my tent that he would put up his tent for us to stow the packs. Myself I had a three and a half pound down sleeping bag which was rated to thirty below zero and except for waking up and having to eat a candy bar once in a while I was warm as toast. At the time these two were my two best friends being that they had joined the hike four days after me and we had walked together every day since their joining, so I said yes. This was advantageous to all three of us and the temperature in the tent was much warmer that night. Bob and Wayne would get up first and by the time I got my clothes on, they had water boiling to make coffee and oatmeal. A few days later a reporter from the St Louis paper came out to interview us hikers. When Wayne met him, Wayne asked him to say hello to the editor for him, as he I believe, he was a student of Wayne's when Wayne taught journalism at Columbia. The reporter came back as we were setting up camp that evening and explain that his editor had told him to take Wayne out to dinner that evening. Wayne said that he would go as long as the report also took his two tent mates. I don't know where we went for dinner but it was about a thirty minute drive away. Normally we would get into the tent as soon as we finished dinner which was about six PM. I remember how great it was to be up at 8 PM, sitting at a table in a well lite warm diner and enjoying an after dinner coffee. When we got to the Mississippi River, Bob when back to West Plains, and Wayne returned to Washington, DC and I was alone in the tent, but the benefits of sharing me tent did not stop there. When we got to the AT, Wayne started joining us on the weekends. My relationship with a woman back in the Detroit was on the repair, and she had agreed to join me for our walk into Washington. I asked Wayne if he knew of any reasonable price hotel in Washington where we could stay. Wayne stated there were no reasonable priced nice hotels in Washington to stay, but he said that I could use his apartment and he would stay with one of his many lady friends. Wayne picked me up at the campsite the night before entering DC, took me to the airport to meet Michelle and took both of us to dinner in Georgetown. When he left us at his apartment, he told us not to mention that we were using his apartment at the Washington dinner the next night, as he was staying with a different lady friend each night we would be using the apartment. I did not rejoin the group until Annapolis the next Monday morning. The moral to this story is that sometimes the rewards of a good deed keep on giving. Stay warm out there.

Doug Marshall, posted on Facebook -- February 8, 2019 at 11:14 PM: I looked up Wayne Phillips' obituary in the NY Times. I knew he had five wives by 1981 because my friend who was staying with me at Wayne's apartment in Washington found a book in his library which had five 8 x 10 photos with a cover sheet for that section which said I have been married five times and the next section was titled but I have loved many more and it contained a number of lined sheets with woman's names. Michelle did not show me the book, but after I got back to Detroit she told me about it. She stated that one of the women was black. One night in east Missouri Wayne's oldest son stopped by and took Wayne, Bob and myself out to dinner. At the time Wayne was 55 years old and his son was 40 years old. I had asked Wayne why he was joining us on the weekends while we were on the AT, he stated that the women keep him so busy during the week he needs Friday and Saturday night to rest up. He had many interesting jobs. When he joined us on the hike he was Chief of Public Affairs for HUD. After hearing about the book, I think he was well suited for that job. Wayne was a good friend to me, but I did not realize how fascinating his life was. Wayne, Doug, Robert near Taum Sauk Mountain, Missouri (photo provided by Doug Marshall)

Doug Marshall, posted on Facebook -- April 8, 2020: I first heard John Prine about 15 miles west of Greenville, KY in February 1981, a couple had invited a few of the hikers in for dinner and they played John Prine on the record player. The next day we walked into Greenville and a church arranged a pot luck dinner for the 50 of us hikers. The next day a group form the church took a group of us out to the Peabody strip mine and we got to see the River Queen (world's second largest steam shovel), then to Paradise where all that was left was a coal powered electric plant and a mine dedicated to the power plant. The next day we walked out of Greenville on KY 176 to 70 and passed the turn off to Paradise on KY 70 Reggi and I stopped beside the Rochester Dam to have a drink of whiskey. While we were having the drink, a local stopped and asked what all the people with backpacks were doing. We gave him the 5 minute answer and we continued walking. About a mile or two down the road he came out of his house and asked Reggi and I if we would come in as he had made a lunch for us. We did, later that evening at the campsite this guy showed up again and asked if I would come back to dinner and meet his wife and daughter. I did and after dinner he took me back to the campsite. He then ask if he came back the next morning if he could walk with me to Morgantown. I said yes, he not only walked with me the next morning, but carried my pack and when we got to Morgantown his wife was waiting in a restaurant and they bought me lunch. I have great memories of Muhlenberg county and the Green River that come back to me every time I hear that song. (Click image for youtube video) I saw John Prine perform live 5 times ( 4 in Ann Arbor) and once in Royal Oak. In Royal Oak he shared the bill with Arlo Guthrie. Singer-Songwriter John Prine Died From Coronavirus Complications At 73 (huffpost.com link) John Prine, the ingenious singer-songwriter who explored the heartbreaks, indignities and absurdities of everyday life in "Angel from Montgomery", "Sam Stone", "Hello in There" and scores of other indelible tunes, died Tuesday, April 8, 2020, at the age of 73.

7 photos above are from May 13, 1981, Washington, D.C. and provided by Marce Guerrein. Click for larger versions. Top of page