An adventure of a lifetime: Patel completes 2,178-mile Appalachian Trail

Loduska Patel has completed a life-long dream. She recently traveled 2,178 miles from Georgia to Maine with her best friend Luna, a beautiful 3-year-old white German shepherd.

Loduska, the daughter of Eufaula doctor Rajesh Patel and wife Catherine, completed the rigorous Appalachian Trail - and Luna was by her side every step of the way.

When Loduska set out on her journey from Springer Mountain, Ga. on March 16, it wasn’t her first time on the Appalachian Trail. She had attempted the trek in 2004, but after 850 miles, a stress fracture in Virginia sent her home. This year, Loduska was determined to complete the trail. But there were plenty of obstacles in her way.

Freezing cold, sweltering heat, wild animals and a plethora of illnesses met Loduska and Luna at every turn, but the trail’s harshness only matched the travelers’ resolve.

“I think everyone should have an adventure at least once in a while,”said Loduska.

Describing her seven-month trek, she rattled off a shopping list of natural hazards, “Cold, rain, extreme heat … just every sort of weather you could imagine,” she said.

Sickness was something else that plagued Loduska and Luna on the trail. Loduska suffered bouts with dysentery and Lyme disease on the way to Maine. Wild animals also posed problems for the travelers. Loduska saw, “tons of deer, tons of snakes” as well as a bear that tried to mooch off of Loduska and Luna’s food supply, but the protective German shepherd kept the curious bear at bay.

Luna carried her own special dehydrated dog food in her own backpack and she and Loduska slept in their tent - with Luna in her own sleeping bag - or lean-tos along the trail. The friends would sometimes rest at hostels and restock food supplies in villages off the trail.