Dozens of southbound Appalachian Trail thru-hikers had to cut their trip short this autumn, after wildfires closed more than 75 miles of the AT.
However, one hiker whose journey WBIR 10News has been following got what he calls a Christmas miracle.
You may remember Andrew Feeney, a 23-year-old hiking the Appalachian Trail in between his college graduation this past spring and finding a job.
He spent two weeks in November stalled in Hot Springs, N.C., hoping the more than 75 miles of trail, closed because of wildfires, would reopen.
"I was so committed to doing the whole thing, I decided to wait," he said.
Sally Lassiter, a Hot Springs resident, let Feeney pitch his tent in her family's backyard. In exchange, he did some housework for them.
"I was very blessed to meet Sally Lassiter, and she let me work for her for two weeks and had Thanksgiving with her family," Feeney said.
He also spent Thanksgiving with other stalled AT hikers.
Soon after, he left Hot Springs and tried hiking right up to the closure.
But on the night Nov. 28 of the deadly Sevier County wildfires, he was staying in a shelter on the trail, just 14 miles from Gatlinburg.
"I was really, really close and, I guess, just very, very blessed the fire didn't come up to the ridge, because if the winds were blowing another way, I could be in some serious trouble," he recalled in a phone conversation with 10News on Thursday.
He decided, however, it might be best to get off the trail.
"I didn't think finishing-- it wasn't worth dying," he said. "It looked pretty grim, and everyone thought the trail wasn't going to be open until March, so I decided to go home and try to find a job and always try to come back when it's open."
He flew home to Connecticut to see family and find that job, hoping to finish his hike once the AT reopened.
"I remember thinking like, 'Oh, I would give anything to be able to finish before Christmas or the New Year," he said.
About to accept a seasonal job at a ski resort, Feeney checked the Appalachian Trail Conservancy website one last time and learned a large portion of the trail had reopened and the remainder would likely open again soon thereafter.
"So I booked a flight from New York City down to Charlotte and got my butt back to the trail," he said.
That was last week. His Christmas wish of completing the trail became possible.
But, as he explains, "It gets even better."
While walking along the trail this week, he got a call from somebody at his alma mater, Roanoke College.
"They needed to fill a position as an admissions counselor, which is a job I really wanted, and I got interviewed on the trail," Feeney said. "And I got it! So now I have a full-time job - kind of the dream job that I wanted out of college - after I hiked the whole AT."
He reached the trail's end, having hiked the entire 2,190 miles, in northern Georgia on Wednesday night.
"Very rewarding after five months out on the trail," he said. "Just a great feeling of accomplishment.
Feeney said he's grateful to everyone who helped make this journey possible, and first on his list are firefighters who protected the trail.
"They did a lot to save the trail and save the shelters through there," he said. "If it wasn't for them, the trail definitely wouldn't have gotten reopened in time."
In the wake of the tragic Sevier County fires, he said, his "thoughts and prayers (go) out to the people in Gatlinburg this holiday season, who don't have a home."
He'll return home to have Christmas with his family, then start his new job in January.
