They were both still processing their son’s death and he was again retracing some of the trails they had hiked over 25 years ago, when Adam was eight years old. As her husband was leaving to hike this time, his wife told him, “Adam is going with you. I’m praying for signs and experiences for you to feel his presence.”
He was once again on the Appalachian Trail in 2026 — fifteen years after he did the through-hike just as he had promised they would, but with his son in spirit. Norm Morris, whose trail name is Jingles, recounts his faith-affirming experience:
While I was trying to find the parking lot for access to the trail where I was going, I got lost. I was out of the loop for about 15 minutes before another hiker came by in his car and I was able to follow him.
I went to the location of the shelter where Adam and I had camped when he made me promise we would hike the whole trail together after I retired. And lo and behold, that shelter wasn’t there anymore! Our shelter had been replaced, due to the flood. This was a great shelter, but it wasn’t the memory I had. The lesson I got from it is that you have got to move on in life. Things change. So, as I’m walking back I see this old man sitting on the trail. He is wearing a Vietnam veteran hat and I am compelled to sit down and talk to him.
The guy is 79 years old and he’s been hiking the trail on and off for years and years. I told him I had previously hiked the trail in 2011 and 2015. We figured out that while we had been on the trail at the same time in 2011, we had not seen one another because he had started later than I had. “It gives me hope that you can still hike at 79 because I am hoping to do another run when I am 80.”
“Well, it’s funny you should say that because my trail name is Hopeful,” he told me before asking me my trail name.
“I’m Jingles,” I tell him and continue, “and when I started out in 2011 I was so scared of the bears I had about 10 bear bells. They kept falling off.” Hopeful tells me his hiking buddies were finding bells along the trail. He had gotten upset because they were really neat and he never got one. I began mentioning names of other hikers I had met in 2011, asking him, “Did you know Swamp Dog or Rainbow?”
“Wait a minute. You’re Jingles!!!” Hopeful bursts out, “All of those hikers are my buddies. We’re still buddies…. Circuit Rider told me the story of what happened to you when you hiked Mount Katahdin. He came back for you and hiked back up and did a prayer service for you when you spread your son’s ashes.”
I am shocked. “I can’t believe that you know about that!”
Hopeful exclaims, “Yeah, I know about it. And Circuit Rider is here. If you stand right here and just wait with me, he is going to be coming up the trail.” Sure enough, 10 minutes later, Circuit Rider, the minister I met on Mount Katahdin that did the service for Adam is standing in front of me and we greet each other. I couldn’t believe it. I was crying because it was such an emotional thing back then. And to see him now, I only knew — I knew I was in the presence of God. Circuit Rider was here!
We spent some time and caught up with each other. It was just fabulous seeing him.
Because how could it be that he had been there on Mount Katahdin to do the prayer for Adam and now our being here in the same place at the same time after having met him 180 months ago? I realized that must have been the reason I got lost. And I don’t know how I got lost because I had really good directions. But if I wouldn’t have gotten lost, I wouldn’t have met up with Hopeful and Circuit Rider.
I knew what I wanted to do for Hopeful. “I don’t have any more bear bells, but I have my special Japanese prayer bell that was given to me by my best friend. And I’m going to give it to you. I want you to have it because it’s going to keep you safe on your travels on the trail.” Circuit Rider took our photo.
After I got home from the trail I had a vague sense of recall of a hiker with the trail name Hopeful. Might we have been on the same team? Sure enough, Hopeful and I had been together on Team Indecision in 2011….
For us to be in the same place now at the exact moment and meeting up with Circuit Rider confirmed for me: it could only be God and Adam’s doing. One of the things I remember saying to Circuit Rider when I was just hugging him and thanking him is, “You gave me back my faith in God.” My faith in God was reinforced. My faith in God had never been lost. Just as our son Adam had never been lost….
“Jingle’s Promise: Asking for a Sign” was posted on Yellow Brick Road February 16, 2023.
(ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE SALE OF Jingles’ Promise: A Father’s Quest for Truth on the Appalachian Trail WILL BE DONATED TO HELP PEOPLE RECOVERING FROM TRAUMA AND LOSS.)