Courtesy of Candy Wallace

Candy Wallace, Big Head and Tadpole at mile marker 77 on The Greenbrier River Trail.

Wallace's pit bull, Big Head, on the trail.

On April 4, despite the cold and the rain, Candy Wallace, her three-year-old pit bull, Big Head, and her four-year-old Chihuahua, Tadpole, set out on The Greenbrier River Trail -- a 79-mile-long trail that used to be home of the C&O Railroad right of way.

Wallace decided to hike 77 miles beginning at mile marker 80 with her two dogs, which she calls "the boys," and pick up trash along the trail. Big Head's job was to pull the cart carrying the trash and Tadpole supervised, she said.

Her decision to clean up the environment came after a trip she and her husband, Walt, took on the Durbin Rocket, an old steam engine in West Virginia and a book that she read about The Greenbrier River Trail back in October.

"I got to thinking about that and said, 'I could go pick up trash.'"

Twelve days later, on April 16, Wallace and "the boys" made it down to mile marker three, completing their journey.

"We had two good days of weather," Wallace said. "It turned out to be a blessing. The days it was warm were hard on the dogs."

Wallace said that they hiked in the rain when it was only 27 degrees outside.

"I made rain coats for the boys out of trash bags and then we had snow the next day. We broke the cart twice and I had to fix it. One day I lost my cell phone and had to hike a mile back to find it and I lost my walkie talkie."

Wallace woke up each morning to hike the trail, but at night, her loyal husband, Walt, was there to unload all of the trash from the days trip and then start all over again the next day. Between December and April, Wallace and her husband planned her trip, making an itinerary with trash pick-up locations. Her longest hike was ten miles a day, which took her about five hours.

"A lot of them were shorter than I thought. I am used to walking about two to three miles with the dogs anyway."

"I met no one on the trail until Marlinton. I met a man who was 94 years old walking. One of the biggest reality checks for me was during the ten miles I walked and didn't see anyone or anything."

Wallace found all the history along the trail, important and nearly forgotten. While walking she saw an old telegram station, an original tunnel formed through sandstone where water ran through it, a one-lane bridge and much more.

"You get a sense of what your forefathers had to go through to build the bridges and things. They had to walk on foot with horses and wagons and dynamite to build the trails."

Besides being with her dogs, the highlight of her trip was the tunnels.

"It's thoroughly amazing that this was built without machines."

And of course the sense of accomplishment she felt after completion. "Just proving to myself I can do it...the dogs loved it and that just thrilled me."

Prior to her trip, Wallace posted fliers and asked for donations for her cleanup efforts along the trail. She then donated the money to the SPCA and the Misunderstood Pit Bull Rescue. Although Wallace isn't sure how much money she has raised for the two organizations, she did pick up an entire truck load of trash, which she said isn't much when compared to five miles on the parkway.

"I just wanted everyone to see what good dogs all breeds are," Wallace said. "I just wanted to give something back. People have a voice and animals don't. Some people think they are just throw aways. My main goal is to give to the animal organizations."

Wallace said she has been picking up trash along trails for a year and a half on the Parkway, Cotton Hill Road, and Shingle Ridge.

Any aluminum she picks up is turned in and the money she receives from that is also donated to the SPCA.

Since she has finished her trip, Wallace plans to create a written and drawn journal of the railroad loop and make a historical coloring book for children, called "The Adventures of Big Head and Tad Pole." She also hopes to start a program called, "Pits and Pups for the Parkway" next spring to gather people together with their dogs to pick up trash all along the parkway. Half of the money from each will be donated toward both organizations.

"It was sad finishing up the trail," Wallace said. "It was so great getting up in the morning to a schedule like that. I want to go back up and re-do it and let the boys just walk it instead of work it."

Wallace sets up trade shows for Hollins Expositions and is also an artist in Southwest Roanoke County.