The Longest Summer:

An account of the Appalachian Trail.

My cell buzzed on the table, next to an obnoxiously large carabineer-turned-keyholder that said, in words too small to read, “For Mountaineering Use Only” as if the stocky red and gray 'biner with an extra clip on the back didn’t get the message across. I let the buzzing go on long enough to manifest a raised eyebrow on a neatly-suited businessman at the next table before I lazily reached up and clicked on my Bluetooth. I was in a crowded cafe in the “Little Italy” section of San Diego, watching the tourists go by while I enjoyed a double espresso. I hate it when people call it “eX-spresso.” It’s one thing when a person does something incorrectly because it’s complicated, like finding a cure for impotence for instance. It’s another thing altogether when they mess up something as simple as a word that they see printed everywhere. People have become so lazy, they don’t even see the letter “s” in the beginning of the word. They just slide right past it like that thing from Carnegie-Mellon University where all the words are misspelled but you can read it anyway as long as the first and last letters are correct.

“EX-spresso” people are just one of the many things that bother me on a daily basis. Another is when people use the word “irregardless,” when they mean to say, simply, “regardless.” A testimony to the limp-wristed “sheeple” we Americans have become, some weasel at Websters Dictionary included “irregardless” in the dictionary as an alternate for “regardless,” capitulating to the illiterate and imprecise. I discovered this once while trying to express my displeasure to someone when there was a dictionary nearby. God knows, we wouldn’t want someone to learn from their mistakes.

I’m disgusted at Webster as I answer the phone,

Sup Mickey?

My youngest brother Michael is probably the only 21 year old male in this word that I enjoy speaking with on a regular basis and he sounds excited.

I thought of an adventure!

Earlier this year, Michael came out from Philly and spent his last “underage” summer with me in San Diego. We started a habit of “adventures” by going to Tijuana while he was here because he was too young to get into the clubs in the US where I earn my living as a Jazz singer. The real adventure for me that summer was trying to find a way to entertain him that didn’t involve places he couldn’t go. I probably could have slipped him in to most places. I’ve worked with most of the bouncers and club owners in town; but, I felt like that would have been a violation of the trust that I enjoy from their acquaintance; besides, I enjoyed the challenge. He certainly piqued my interest with his opening line.

Whaddaya got?

The Appalachian Trail…

I thought for a moment of the miles and miles I’d hiked with our Scoutmaster Father and Grandfather and the rest of Huntingdon Valley Troop 208. Rainy days and nights, painfully slogging along the rock piles of Eastern Pennsylvania with a vintage BSA backpack and bulky boots, were somehow forgotten in the romantic notion of the legendary footpath that stretches from Maine to Georgia. I figured he wanted to do a few of the sections that our other brother Doug and I had hiked since he was too young to come along when we did it as teenagers.

Sure Bro, we can do that. We can do Sunfish Pond or Wind Gap when I come home this summer. Maybe we can get Doug to come along.

I wasn’t quite aware of the enormity of his plan:

No man, the WHOLE THING!

The whole trail? disbelief

Yeah man, I read about it in school last week.

My thinker kicked into gear: It hadn’t even occurred to me to do the whole trail. Sure, I had thought about it as a kid, just grabbin’ a pack and starting in Georgia; walking all the way to Maine; through the woods and the mountains like some kind of Thoreau Brothers. The WHOLE TRAIL? What was that, like a thousand miles or something? Two thousand miles? I thought about it for a minute. Maybe I could swing it. I wondered how long it would take… Was he serious?

Let me do some research Mikey, I might be able to take off for a couple of months.

I think we need like six months.

SIX MONTHS? I thought. It can’t take that long. How the hell do people do it? Take off for six months? Nah, we could get it done quicker than that. I was a Marine wasn’t I? I had to get online as soon as possible. My laptop was in the car. He lit a fire in my imagination and suddenly I reclaimed a forgotten dream with the force of ten sledgehammers.

Our adventures were like that; spontaneously catapulting from impossible to mandatory in the space of a few blinding moments of irrational speculation and inaccurate calculation.

As far as I was concerned, we were going; and Doug was coming with us.


(for the rest of this story, please start at the bottom of this blog:)

Acceptance: Time to go home

Acceptance: Time to go home

Hiker’s Paradise, Gorham NH to Dad’s House in Philly

I woke up thinking I might try to get a ride back up to the top of Mt Washington but it looked like it was going to be too much of a pain in the rear. I called my Dad while eating the “hiker special” to discuss options. He surprised me, saying he could be there in 10 hours, so I gave in and said, “OK, come and Get me. I’m ready to come home.”

This trip has by far been the hardest achievement I’ve ever attempted in my life. I knew when I began that it would be rough; but, I really had no idea what I was in for. It goes without saying that I experienced a truly unique adventure. I have met diverse and deliberate people who treat the trail with respect and awe. I walked a thousand miles, up mountains and through valleys of mud-slick rocks and roots and streets through both rural communities, remote wilderness and heavily populated National Parks in the last three months. I faced the surety of defeat almost from the beginning of my trip, knowing I would not be able to realize my dream and complete the entire trail; striving regardless, even when my brothers left me for reasons that angered and saddened me at the time. I spent an unhealthy amount of time in constant dialogue with myself and became even more acquainted with character flaws and attributes I was already familiar with. I’m not sure if this even served a purpose. Self Knowledge seems so trivial in the bigger scheme of life. It seems to only obscure God’s Will which I admit is still unfathomable to me; although, I hope my travails will serve us both in the future. I am beginning to know nothing. I gained a level of fitness that I am both proud of and fearful to lose. I know it will be hard to motivate myself to maintain a regimen that will keep my physical being in this kind of shape and I will surely lament its decline. Acceptance. My body is damaged and broken in places and probably will be for months before I can use my legs and feet normally again. I’ll need surgery to fix my hernia and my financial situation is dire. I’m not really worried though. I have spent the last few years in a program that emphasizes Acceptance and I have grown in unbelievable ways. Despite the peace I feel from accepting that my trail is at its end for this year, I cannot ignore the visceral feelings of guilt, loss and unease at not having gone further or longer. I catch myself glancing upward at the surrounding mountains as if I might grab my pack and do another twenty miles; continue on and tell my family I’m going further. I know the next year’s thoughts will be full of deliberation concerning completion and or closure on this Appalachian Trail. For the fifteenth time this morning, I resign myself to go down to the Laundromat and scrub my clothing and gear so that it won’t contaminate Mike’s car when they come to pick me up. I wish they were here already. I continue to glance at the mountains I have left to climb, alternating between humility and resentment. I have learned that you cannot feel both at the same time; however, they can relentlessly switch back and forth; some kind of emotional strobe light, flickering jitters in my soul. Ahhhhhh Acceptance… When will you come?

David AKA "Mister F. Gentle Spirit"
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Lakes of the Clouds

Lakes of the Clouds
Mitzpah Hut to Mount Washington:

The moon drifted in and out, much like my sleep. The temperature went pretty low, even in the hut, and I was definitely glad to be inside. I’m concerned with the hernia situation so I’m going to see how it feels today. The weather was supposed to clear up but this morning the report came in and it was looking ugly. I didn’t know if I would be able to summit Mt Washington today. Mount Washington is the tallest mountain in the Northwest. Before it was called Mount Washington, it was called Agiocochook by the local indigenous tribes; which means “home of the Great Spirit” and stands at 6288 feet above sea level. It is the most prominent peak on the East Coast. It is the first land seen by sailors approaching America. The weather here is arguably the most erratic in the US since Mt Washington not only creates its own weather; but stands at the apex of three different, common, weather fronts (the Jet Stream being one of them). It spends over 50% of the time in a cloud and lately, has been covered in clouds for the last three weeks. New England has already broken the record for the rainiest summer in recorded history, and I had to pick this year to attempt to thru-hike the White Mountains.

I left the Hut with a heavy heart and full rain gear. It was COLD. Everything was fogged in; but, the fog kept lifting and coming back again. Some moments it would get sunny and then the mist would drift back in and get bitter cold. I got in to Lakes of the Clouds hut and it looked like Mt Washington was clear for the first time in weeks. I couldn’t believe it. Lakes of the Clouds Hut is spectacular. I can’t even describe the view. I took some pictures but as usual you can’t compare the actual view with pictures. Mt. Washington kept getting cloudy and then clear again so I stopped in the Hut and got some soup and bread before I attempted the climb up the boulder strewn pitch up to the commerce riddled summit. I started up the wrong trail and had to bushwhack back over to the AT. It took me longer than I thought to get up to the top but it was awesome. All day today I was rewarded with amazing views of the White Mountains and it made the day so nice to climb among these spectacular summits all around you. It really makes it a joy to climb when you are surrounded by so much majesty. I decided not to try for the next hut and get a ride into town from the peak and hitch a ride to Gorham where I will probably slack-pack the last sections of The Whites and then go home for the year. Hopefully I will have the funding and the time to come back next year for the rest of the Trail.

The Appalachian Money Club doesn’t let anyone hitchhike down from the summit of Washington because they have an overpriced shuttle service that they run there. I hitchhiked anyway. I am so unimpressed with the AMC it’s not even funny. And now they want to take over Maine’s sections of the AT as well in case you haven’t heard. This cool family took me down the hill and dropped me off. I got out on Rt 16 and hitched in to Gorham with two cats from Massachusetts who are here doing some work here. They dropped me off at Hiker’s Paradise, a hostel in Gorham and I got a shower and set up the command center since my cell phone isn’t working anywhere around here. I keep getting some weird message that says I’m not registered on this network or something like that. At least I can get the Internet here. I really want to try to get some sleep though so I can slack-pack tomorrow. I’ll have to get up early and catch a bus in to Pinkham Notch at 0750.. HaHa! We’ll see if THAT happens! I think I need to go out and get a Coke or something. I’m thirsty.

There are some really weird cats here at the hostel. This cat from England named Dave who I think is a little off his rocker and this other guy Maurice who is a really funny guy but he’s got something going on too. He was talking about wanting to book me for a gig here but I’m not sure how to take him. He seems sharp but he’s a little crazy too. There were supposed to be a bunch of hikers coming here tonight but they never showed up. I am feeling restless and a little out of place as I lay down on the narrow mattress that rustles from the plastic sheath under the cartoon-design cotton sheets.


David AKA "Mister F. Gentle Spirit"
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Friends in High places

Friends in High places
Crawford Notch to Mitzpah Hut: 7 miles

It didn’t rain last night and I was so happy I got up early. The pad worked well and I had a great rest. It turned out that Shawn and Sage were in the campsite across from me and they invited me to coffee. We talked for a good while until I felt the tug of the trail and I had to get out of there and pack up all my stuff. The two of them were very cool. It was refreshing to see Dad and daughter having that kind of report and getting along so well.
I got up to the store and one of the guys gave me a ride out to the trailhead. The climb was tough up Webster Cliffs to Mt. Webster. It was ping-ponging back and forth from sun to rain and I kept changing my wardrobe to match, finally I resigned to just keep all my raingear on and to hell with it. I am glad I did. Last night when I was taking a shower I was checking out my hernia and it looks like it’s getting worse. The climb up this mountain was not helping things. There were many times I had to just climb up over rock faces or throw my poles down and scramble over wet boulders. Knowing I have the hernia was making me climb cautiously and that was dropping my progress to about one mile an hour. I ran into some cool people and took the opportunity to rest and talk.
Eventually I got to the Mitzpah Hut. I was intending to go another 5 miles to the Lakes of the Clouds Hut just before Mt. Washngton but I was beat up and dripping when I got there. They let me do a Work-For-Stay even though I was an hour early. I took it. At the rate I was traveling, it would take me 5 hours to get the 5 miles to Lakes of the Clouds and than it would be almost dark and I would have to stay in a dank basement there (or so I heard). Mitzpah was the Mitzvah for me! The “Croo” there was very cool.
I washed dishes again and the Lasagne was really good. They do everything vegetarian here because you can’t put meat in the compost. They really take their conservation seriously up here. Everything is considered and all green technologies are used. It’s very interesting to see how easy it is once you get it going to be “low impact.” The weather is rumored to improve; but, I’ll believe that when I see it. I did get glimpse of the half-moon as I fell asleep on one of the dining room tables. The clouds were moving very fast; however, and soon it was gone; appearing occasionally in the night through the mist and rain.

David AKA "Mister F. Gentle Spirit"
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Frozen Underwear

Galehead Hut to Crawford Notch General Store and Campground

It was still raining when I woke up. The mist pervaded everything and I hadn’t slept very soundly due to the sound of the wind-generated electrical harnesser thing on the roof that moaned and whined all night with the gusts that came up the valley. The “Croo” got breakfast together and the regular folks ate breakfast while we thru-hikers sat over in the corner like hungry dogs waiting for a scrap from their master. This is the way it goes at the huts so I guess it’s cool, at least, we knew it would be thins way so there’s not much to complain about. At least we’re not paying $89 to stay there for the night. We do work-for-stay (WFS) at the huts but technically there are only two slots at each hut for Thru-Hikers and so invariable there are many more than two Thru-Hikers coming through, looking for WFS and sometimes we get turned away and have to hike on to the next hut or camp out in the woods; which they discourage due to the fragility of the alpine environment. It’s a hypocritical situation and it all has to deal with money. The Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) runs the section of the Appalachian Trail that goes through the White Mountains. Basically you have no choice but to stay at one of their facilities be it a campground or a “Hut” which is actually more like a chalet and costs about a hundred bucks a night to stay there. They charge to stay in the campsites too although for Thru-Hikers it’s only $8-12. If you get to a “hut” at the right time, you c an get WFS and do dishes, sweep, scrub the oven or clean out the freezer for your stay and for dinner and breakfast. Of course, the normal guests are served first and they want you to go sit outside or disappear while they eat, like peasants or something. The thing is, the “Day Hikers” all want to talk to you and hear about what it’s like to be a Thru-Hiker so sometimes your WFS can involve giving a presentation to the group after dinner. Most of the people who come here are very well-to-do and I guess the AMC figures they don’t want to be bothered by a bunch of rough-and-tumble, smelly Thru-Hikers. We’ve known it would be like this but the fact that the AMC offers no alternatives for Thru-Hikers gets us a little pissed off and there we were, over in the corner; at least they didn’t make us sit outside in the freezing rain. That would have been pretty rough at 7AM and I have heard of it happening to a lot of Thru-Hikers. After the gentry were served, we got to eat all of the leftovers; basically, Pancakes. I’m just glad I got to sleep in a building last night rather than some dilapidated shelter. The temperature has been going down to the low 40s with a wind chill factor in the low 30s. Add to that the rain and hail and you’ve got yourself a hell of a night in the wilderness. After breakfast I did some journaling and everyone was marveling over the computer. That always seems to happen. Most of the Thru-Hikers I know are used to it by now. I was hoping the skies would clear up but it didn’t look probable. Eventually I got my wet clothes back on and got ready to head out. There’s something very harrowing about putting on cold, wet underwear that really bothers me. Obviously it the same underwear as the day before; but, that part doesn’t phase me anymore. I’ve been doing that for three months now. You generate a lot of heat out there once you start hiking and if you are like me, you hate to stop and take off your pack once you are going so you try o wear the clothes that you would want to be wearing once you are all hot and exerting yourself. The problem with that is that you put on clothing that doesn’t keep you warm until you’re climbing a hill and as soon as you stop, you start getting cold again. The constant rain we’ve been subjected to makes it so that nothing ever gets dry so not only it is it skimpy, but it’s wet and REALLY COLD when you put it on. Bitter cold, wet underwear is one hell of a shock in the morning; more effective than the strongest cup of coffee. I got out on the trail later than most but managed to pass almost all of the day hikers before the next hut where I was treated a hot cup of $3 “bottomless” soup. I threw in a packet of tuna to up my protein. The sun had come out and I ran into some of the younger day hikers and sat at the table with them while we discussed life and they gave me pieces of their bread. It was cool and I hated to split but I had to get down to Crawford Notch and hitch in to a place to stay. I had no idea where I would go and thankfully the trail down was easy. When I got to the road, there was a hostel 3 miles to the left and a hostel three miles to the right. I stuck my thumb out to both directions of traffic and let the fates decide which one I would go to. A day hiker who was passing by picked me up and took me to the right: The Crawford Notch General Store and Campground. The place was full of Thru-Hikers so I had to rent a campsite and pitch my tent. I hope it doesn’t rain. The folks there were very accommodating and I got a shower and did my laundry; although I was up ‘til about midnight getting it done. While I was in the General Store picking up some Ben and Jerry’s and some Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups I met Shawn and Sage. Sage was a cute little girl accompanied by her Dad Shawn who had taken her fishing that say and she caught a rather large “Native” trout. She was extremely excited about that and I was struck by how cool that was. They brought their catch in to show us. I guess I have never seen a Native Trout before; but, they have a bright orange underbelly and to hear Sage tell it, they put up a darn good fight. I set up my hammock in the dark and got to try out the Big Agnes inflatable pad that I modified for the hammock.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Into the Great Whites, North

Lafayette, I think

Franconia Notch to Galehead Hut: 13 Miles

I convinced everyone to go to Mr. W’s Pancake House again and we had a full table. All the usual suspects were there: Creek Diver, Whisper, Blazing Socks, Superman, Crosby, and two other guys I can’t remember right now. Breakfast was just as good as it was the day before. I had the Mr. W’s Big Breakfast: two of everything; including chocolate chip pancakes. It looked like we were going to get on the trail late and we did. Dutch dropped us off at the bike path and we had to walk a mile to get to the trailhead and we didn’t get there until about 11AM.

The day was sunny and clear. I was so happy. The forecast said thunderstorms but it looked like the sun might hold out until we got to where we were going. I hadn’t anticipated the difficulty of the terrain however and it seemed like I couldn’t get any faster than about 1.5 MPH. I got up to Franconia ridge and I was still in the trees. Every once in a while you could see out across the White Mountains and it was hinting spectacular. I couldn’t wait to get above tree line so I could view the whole scene. Clouds continued to threaten and I was really worried I might get hemmed in before I could see it but eventually I summitted an unnamed peak and although it was getting cold, I was rewarded with my first unrestricted view of The Whites. The clouds were just above the peaks and it created an amazing effect like you were in a small room; just you and the tallest mountains in New England. Once you get above tree line, there are a series of peaks: Little Haystack, Mt. Lincoln and Mt. Lafayette, each hidden behind the one you are climbing and each higher than the next. Just as you summit one, you are rewarded with a beautiful view of the ominous climb you are about to endure. The climbs are tough but the view is encouraging. The descents are painful, joint-pounding scrambles. It looked like me might get through the day unscathed and dry; although, there were thundering rainstorms off to the south and to the east. You could see everything from Mt. Lafayette and as we went over, a huge cloud enveloped us and dropped a little rain; but, it passed and kept moving westward. We descended back into the thick trees and shortly thereafter the rain and hail started pounding down without any warning. I was pissed because I hadn’t seen any other clouds anywhere. It’s like the rain just materialized out of nowhere. It would make the going slow and I was trying to get to the Galehead Hut before 6. The climb over Mt. Garfield was brutal, with scrambles and face climbs that didn’t seem fair somehow. It seemed like it took forever to get to the hut. I had seen it from Mt. Garfield and it seemed encouragingly close. I got in around 7:30 and it looked like they might turn me away because there were already a bunch of thru-hikers there, including two guys I hadn’t yet met named Hammer and Smokin’ Joe.

Due to the weather conditions they took mercy on me and allowed me to stay. The place was packed with day hikers and people up for the weekend. We had to disappear while the guests ate dinner. I guess nobody wants to look at a hungry thru-hiker while they are trying to savor their dinner. After they ate dinner and went in to their bunkhouse, we set up in the dining area and went to sleep. I slept great on a table using Doug’s Big Agnes air mattress thing that he sent to me. I hope the weather is better tomorrow. The forecast said it might be nice but it’s still raining and blowing hard as I go to bed.





David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Punishing, Grueling Climbs punctuated by beautiful views completely obscured by fog and rain.

Chet

Chet’s Garage Hostel

Zero Day. Blazing socks and I went down toe Mr. W’s Pancake house and had a great breakfast. On the TV, the Olympics were being broadcast and it was some kind of game I had never seen before. I went back and looked it up and it turned out to be Team Handball or Field handball. It was cool. France was beating up on Angola but it was more the fact that I was trying to figure out the rules of the game by watching it that was so intriguing. We hit a couple of outfitters. I busted a shoelace and needed to get a new pair. They have like six Lahout’s stores her and each one has a different slant on it. One is a ski shop, one is a Columbia clothing outlet, one is a true outfitter and I don’t know about the other ones; but, I think they carry a lot of the same gear. We made it back to the hostel around 11 and I figured I would just take a zero day. The weather is intermittent and I’d like to be able to see something interesting if I’m going to punish myself with the climb.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Steeper than it Looks

This is much more steep than it looks

Kinsman Notch to Franconia Notch: 17 Miles

A couple of people were going out to Kinsman Notch so I got ready and got a ride with them. “Dutch” is a girl from PA who is taking a break from the trail and does some shuttling for hikers here at an incredibly reasonable cost. She swung by the post office so I could pick up a package and then took us out to Kinsman’s Notch. I went north and the other two; Songbird and ? continued SoBo and I headed North for another rough climb. The climb out of Kinsman’s notch would have been horrible with a full pack and I was damn glad to be slack packing. The second climb was really tough and I have to say it made Albert Mountain look like something you would give your kids to play with from McDonalds. The weather was nearly identical to when I did Albert Mountain and it was another day of grueling, painful climbs punctuated by a magnificent view, completely obscured by fog and mist and rain. I actually like the way it looks up at these treeless peaks with nothing but fog drifting over the scrub; however, for taking pictures or sharing it with anyone, it doesn’t do any good at all. There’s a unique solitude up there when you are hemmed in by cold, blowing mist and I really enjoy it; however, I always feel like I’m missing an opportunity to film a great vista for people back home. The day was very hard due to the terrain and mud. At one point I put my foot in mud up over my knee and missed smashing my kneecap on a big log by a millimeter. Needless to say I wasn’t too happy about that. There were several high-altitude ponds and the sun came out a few times so that you could see the surrounding mountains; but, nothing that presented a good picture. During the roughest climb, part of it followed alongside another series of waterfalls and I was glad to be going up it this time so I could enjoy the rushing stream and waterfalls without risking my life on a precarious descent; still, the climb was technical and difficult. I’ve heard that this particular stretch I’m in is the toughest on the trail and I hope they are right.

I got to see my first AMC hut today and although it was impressive, I hardly think it’s worth the 80 bucks it would cost to stay there if I wasn’t a thru-hiker. Maybe the other ones will be better. I got a bowl of soup there for a dollar and that was cool. Just before the hut I ran into Mike, Snake Charmer, Shelter Monkey, Dust In The Wind, and a few other hikers I had been running into for the last week or so. We all hung out at the hut for a minute and then I took off. I wanted to get to the road and get in so I could go to McDonalds. They have one in Lincoln and I was really dying for a Double Quarter-Pounder and Fries. I’m getting too skinny!

The trailhead at Franconia Notch was confusing. I ended up walking about a mile in the wrong direction down the Highway and then I came all the way back to find I hadn’t been walking in the wrong direction technically; however I wasn’t on the AT, so I redid that part and got a ride in with Mike. We were all soaked and Mike is a section hiker who had his car there. Thank God! We would have been walking a long time if he hadn’t been there.
Back at the hostel I got a shower and went to McDonalds, grocery and pharmacy. Tomorrow I need to get a new shoelace and mail a bunch of stuff back to Doug If I can get all of that done early enough I’m going to get back in to the Whites for the remainder, probably another week. The climb back in is going to be rough. The next hundred and fifty miles is supposed to be both harrowing and beautiful. Let’s hope the weather allows me to enjoy the views and my hernia doesn’t interfere with my endurance.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Moosilauke in the Rain

Hikers Welcome Hostel to Kinsman Notch then Chet’s House: 10 miles

I spent the morning finishing up an email update and sent that out so I didn’t get out on the trail until about 11 or later. I can’t remember. I had to ford Jeffers Brook and that meant taking off my shoes. The water was about knee-deep and I wore my Crocs to get across. While putting my shoes back on I was marauded by a gand of street wise Mosquitoes. They knew where to bite me without me being able to get them or see them until it was too late. I got the boots on and picked up the pace. They stayed vigilant until I got some elevation. The climb was rough but I had psyched myself up for it so it wasn;t too bad. That only works once in a while. After it works once or twice you start to expect that it will work and then of course it doesn’t. This is why I’m not a pro athelete. I can’t figure out how to trick myself every time yet.

I passed a ton of day hikers on the way up; lots of kids from local camps. The weather cleared up nicely but by the time I got to the top is got all fogged in and cold again. I met some cool people and was talking to them and so by the time I got up there the sun had gone and I was alone at the summit. It was very surreal as the mist drifted across and all you could see was shadowy cairns through the mist. I caught some of it on tape and then I kept on. I had a short day in miles but I knew that the final section was a scary downhill even when it’s not raining, and as I got closer, the thunder got closer and the rain began to fall.

I dropped by the Beaver Brook shelter and ran into two people who told me the climb down was going to be really tough. I only had a mile and a half to get to the road but they said it was taking people two hours to go that far. I found out they were not exaggerating. It took me over an hour just to do a mile of the section. It was crazy. There were weird wooden blocks drilled with Rebar into the side of igneous rock flows that looked almost like they were there at the time of the original lava flow. Sometimes I see the stone work people have done to make these trails passable and I can’t believe the tings that people have accomplished. Other times I wonder if anyone has done anything at all. The climb down was treacherous and frustrating. The rain made everything tougher and believe me this descent would have been tough enough on dry rocks. For a long time the trail joined a long series of cascades and it was absolutely awesome to climb down the rocks with this huge series of waterfalls alongside you. It was distracting though and the last thing you need in a place like that is distractions. I had to keep telling myself to concentrate. I fell down about four times but I’ve learned to take the little falls without trying to save myself. When you try to save yourself, that’s when you get in trouble. Wild recoveries only put you in more perilous positions and so I’ve figured out to just take the unbalanced fall and drop onto my pack instead of flailing and trying some wild recovery.

I eventually made it to the road and there were hardly any cars going toward Lincoln. It was something like a ten mile walk too. I had walked about two miles and only four cars and one motorcycle had passed in almost forty minutes. Things were not looking goods and then this Forerunner that was going the other direction put on his signal and pulled over and asked me if I was a thru-hiker. It turns out this guy and his buddy were going to be doing trial magic up at Kinsman Notch this weekend and he had some time to kill so he decided to pick me up and take me in to town. His trail name was “Gold Thumb” and he was returning the magic he had been given in the past. We got in to town and found out where the hostel was and dropped off stuff and went back out. I eventually got dinner and he dropped me back off at the hostel. Chet’s Place is great. A bunch of people where there. I found out that the night before he had a record 31 people all staying there. Tonight there weren’t so many and I got a spot so I wouldn’t have to sleep on the floor. I decided I would slackpack the next section north from Kinsman Notch to Franconia Notch and settled in to get some sleep.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Feeling Wellcome

The Mosquitoes in New Hampshire are HUGE!

Zero in Glencliffe
Hikers welcome Hostel: 0 miles

I stayed up most of the night and finally got to bed around 3 or 4 am so it was interesting to me that I still woke up at 7AM to the sounds of people getting ready to get out to the trail. This cat Phat Chap is doing a bunch of shuttling but it’s kind of expensive unless you get a bunch of people to go with you. I’m teetering on the verge of leaving the trail and I’ll be talking to Doug today about the logistics of getting off. I’m hoping I get re-motivated; but, at the same time I would just love to go home and chill and get my hernia fixed. I’m willing to bet that I won’t be able to do it though. I know how I am. I’ll sit here for a day and get all fretful thinking about how horrible I’ll feel about myself if I do get off the trail and I’ll be dwelling on how I should have kept going. I know how I am. I’ll go crazy unless I go as far as I can; however, today that’s not how I feel yet so I’m going to blog and work on the pictures and talk to Doug about how soon he could get up here. Doug called and he didn’t offer any motivation; he just said I can be there on Saturday to pick you up. I felt funny about that as soon as he said it. I figured he would give me a boost or something but instead he just said, “I’ll come get you.” It made me want to keep going actually. I can’t explain it; but it did. We’re watching a marathon of movies here while it pours rain outside. There are seven or eight hummingbird all hanging around the feeder at the same time. I’ve never seen hummingbirds do that before. Usually there’s only one at the feeder at a time and then another comes and chases that one away. These ones are swarming at the feeder and they are reminding me of the Mosquitoes in Connecticut and Massachusetts. We watched about six movies today and I finally decided to keep going. I’m going to hike out tomorrow morning instead of slackpacking because this place is costing money. There’s another Hostel at the end of the next section that is free and Fat Chap charges too much to shuttle you around. This place is very cool though and I’m going to hike over Moosilauke tomorrow. It’s a rough one; 3800 feet up and 3500 feet down. I’ve heard the downward section on the north side is horrific, especially when wet. I figure it will probably rain all day tomorrow but I’m going out anyway. I had better get some sleep.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Hikers Welcome Hostel

Hexacube Shelter to Hiker’s Welcome Hostel, Glenclliff NH: 15 Miles

I got up very early. I was actually the first one up. I find that this happens a lot when I’m about to go into a town. I’m a sucker for town. Actually, I won’t even go into town but I’ll get a shower and laundry and be able to sleep on a bed; that is, if I’m not up all night doing my internet stuff and blogging. Since it’s currently 2:26 AM and I’m still typing I guess we both already know the answer to that one. The trail was as muddy as ever and although it didn’t rain, I heard it was going to rain later tonight so I wanted to get in to town early and secure a space for myself at the hostel. I also thought I might be able to get there in time to pick up the stuff Doug sent to me. I met a lot of Southbounders today and I made good time. I got to the road and it looked like it was going to be a close call to get to the post office before closing but the hostel was loaded up with people. I found an available couch and dropped some gear there to lay claim to it. I was standing there in my underwear and apparently I offended Phat Chap, the guy who runs the hostel here and drives people all over the place. I bonded with im later but I was a little put off thathe suggested I put on a pair of pants. I’ve been grumpy lately and I’m not the only one. In fact, I’m more sick of people’s attitudes out here than I am of the rain. I keep running into all these sensitive people and they are pissing me off. It’s annoying when you’re at these hostels with people that can’t lighten up. Phat Chap took us in to the grocery store and I picked up a resupply and got some steak to cook for dinner. Some people had cooked up a hug feast and eventually we had a big campfire. I was up all night trying to get stuff together from the gear that Doug sent me and update all of my blogs. The weather is not looking good. It looks like sever weather out here every day until next Friday. That’s 10 more days of rain. Some of the rivers are too very high and have to be waded through. It’s actually kind of dangerous and it started raining again a few hours ago. I’m really sick of the rain and I’m having serious thoughts of getting off the trail.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

New Hampshire is Melting!

Someone is hiking in Bare Feet?

Moose Mountain Shelter to Hexacube Shelter

I slept on the hard floor of the shelter again. Doug is sending me his sleeping pad and I can’t wait. With all of this rain I have been using the shelters instead of getting my hammock all wet and having to break it down and carry a wet tent for days. Last night while I was hanging my bear bag I got the line stuck way up in a tree and I had to climb up there on this wet, mossy tree that I wasn’t sure could actually hold my weight. I was a little worried about the hernia but I couldn’t lose my bear line and I tried everything to get it down. The rock I tied to the line got miraculously stuck in a fork of branches. I couldn’t believe it except that it was just another thing to make the day a little worse. I managed to get up there and get it down but it was treacherous going. I think I popped a stitch or two but I’ll be alright. I tossed and turned a little on the cold, hard floor but I’m getting used to it. Rain was splattering on the shelter roof all night and it sounded like someone dropping pebbles on a tin roof. That surely didn’t help anyone sleep. I got up and ate all of my Pop-Tarts and got on the trail by 10 or so. The climb was treacherous as usual. The skies kept threatening; but, it never really rained. It got sunny for a second or two and then it kept getting colder and colder. I thought Vermont was bad, it has nothing on New Hampshire in terms of mud and muck. Sometimes I can’t believe it; the trail is horrible. You find yourself foolishly trying to balance on these slippery, wobbling logs that are in the middle of deep mud fields or foolishly trying to skirt them by walking on the crumbling sides of the trail that have you inevitably sliding right back in to the deep bogs. This has been the case for a month but now the bogs last for hundreds and hundreds of yards and you just can’t escape getting mud all over everything. The climb up to Smarts Mountain was rough. There was a cool looking fire tower up there though and I wanted to get some good views on film since it wasn’t all foggy for a change. IT was windy and cold up top but the fire tower’s windows were intact and it was cool to be up there with the wind howling and views of all the surrounding mountains. I was thinking of calling it a day at the Fire Warden’s Cabin but it was only like 10 miles when I got there and saw a whole bunch of girl scouts or explorers or something. They were taking up the whole cabin and I was standing there in my soaking wet underwear when it occurred to me that it probably would be prudent for Mister F. Gentle Spirit to sleep elsewhere tonight. I had planned on making the next shelter anyway but I was damn hungry and out of water but I singed the register and kept moving. It was going to be a good haul to the shelter and I was starting to chafe pretty badly. It was another five miles and I was seriously thinking of going Au Naturale but I was worried about running in to more girl scouts. We weren’t in Vermont anymore. By the time I got to the Hexacube Shelter, I was seriously chafed in my nether regions; another side effect of being wet for 48 hours straight. Site, Bandai, Newt, Butters, Hard Rock and some SoBos were there but it was a huge shelter. I spent a while getting washed up and applying a ton of Neosporin to the affected locations and cooked dinner in the dark. I felt sick for a little while and I thought I might pass out for a minute. I lay down for a minute before I resumed eating my Ramen and Salmon. I am almost totally out of food and I have a good hike ahead tomorrow. It’s going to be a rough one. I’m going to have to eat a lot of blueberries or something. I’m even out of GORP which NEVER happens. At least I’ll be really light tomorrow and I’ll be able to move quickly up the hills. The next section after tomorrow is going to be very rough. Mount Moosilauke is a 3800 foot climb which then goes back down to 1900 feet in only 9 miles. This will be the first test to see if I can handle a tough climb with the hernia.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

New Hampshire: River of Mud

This was the trail

Newton’s House to Moose Mountain Shelter: 11 Miles

It looked like the rain might hold off. Newton made some espresso and I started packing while we discussed lots of musical things with Beau in the kitchen. Beau is a drummer and he’s young but cooler than anyone I’ve met at his age. I was getting the itch and had to get out of there today. I some little toast and peanut butter at Newton’s; basically, I skipped breakfast and got on the trail sometime around 10 or 11; which was easy because the trail was just outside of Newton’s door. The Trail goes right through the center of Hanover and I would have to say that Hanover is the nicest town that the trail actually goes through. The trail was a river that trickled some places and flowed two inches deep in others. The muck and mud was constant except where there was a running stream so it often made sense to just walk in the stream rather than the soft mud on the sides. Someone had tied a climbing rope in one section but they had it wrapped around a tree at the top so it was no use for going up. Maybe it was for SoBos who had to go down that crazy, slippery boulder. I ran into a bunch of guys, Grizzly, Site, Bandai and Newt. Before I even got a mile in the woods it started pouring again so I rushed to the Velvet Rocks Shelter to wait it out. Grizzly was there with his Martin Guitar and he played a little. Some other folks showed up and we had a conversation on sexism and political correctness. I hate talking about that stuff but it’s so hard not to chime in. The rain eventually let up and I rushed out to try to get to the next shelter before it rained again. I ran into my old friend ATV again and we talked for a while but I eventually took off so I could get to the shelter before the rain. There were a lot of people there and I decided to stay in the shelter because it was raining again. I’m so damn sick of rain. I heard on the news that this has been the heaviest rain in July on record for Vermont and that probably means New Hampshire too; it figures. I hung my bear bag and got to bed fairly early. I’m going to get up early and blog in the morning before I get on the trail. I need to catch up about four days. I hope it’s not to crappy tomorrow but I know it will be. The rain is depressing as well as a hazard. It’s really tough to stay motivated when you can’t get warm, your feet are always wet and even when your spirits would have been uplifted by some of these spectacular views, you are hemmed in with fog so you get a great view of the mist and rain for at least five feet. Slipping through ankle-deep mud for miles on end is a frustrating way to decrease your mileage potential; which never helps. The forecast looks like rain for the next week as well. My knee hurts and I can’t maintain enough mileage in this terrain. I spent a good mile or two cursing God today. Then I got wise and thanked him for making me tougher. I hope that works…

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Newtonian Hospitality

Beau and Newton Eyeing the Waitress

Newton to Newton

I awoke and changed my laundry to the dryer even though I didn’t really need to since all of my clothing is hiker stuff that’s practically dry right out of the washer. I lay back down and eventually roused myself to the sound of Paul making espresso in one of those aluminum steamer things that go on the stove. He offered me some and he took some up to Newton who was feeling the effects of the Fin Du Mondes from the night before. I got out the computer and started to fix some of the pictures and blogs while I had an electrical outlet and the internet. It was one of those lazy Saturdays and it didn’t seem like very long before I looked at the time and it was 2PM. Newton offered to let me stay another night and although I really wanted to get on the trail, it was still raining on and off and it would be nice to chill out another day. We went out and got a Hamburger at the Irish Pub and there some kind of big High School all-star football game going on at Dartmouth between Vermont and New Hampshire. We got back to the house and eventually went to catch some dinner where we ran into Beau and he joined us. Then we went to see the X-Files movie which I though was really no better than a regular episode. I’ve missed a few years of the X-Files so I might have been in the dark about some things. There were no aliens. That was surprising. One guy really looked like an alien when they flashed to him and the girl whacked him with a garden tool. I thought they were going somewhere with that; but, NOPE! We walked the trail back to Ben and Jerry’s and I met a nice Romanian girl with a “Body by Ben and Jerry’s” T-shirt on. If you had told me she had a body by Ben and Jerry’s I wouldn’t have believed you. She had a body by Hefner if you asked me. I’m glad she didn’t ask me if I wanted my cone Hand Dipped. I might have taken her up on that. We got back to the house in more pouring rain while they both pulled out umbrellas. These guys were on the ball! All I had was a parka and I had to try very hard not to get too much rain in my Mint Chocolate Chunk. I again went to sleep to the rolling thunder and rain pounding on a tin roof somewhere nearby. It’s hard for me to stay awake when the rain is zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Ivy League Wanderings

Dartmouth: 0 miles

Got up on the couch and Augie Doggie was sniffin around and growlin at us so I made friends and then brushed my teeth. The girls were cool for letting us stay and we thanked them. I went to Lou’s to get some breakfast and everyone was bustling around and the food was great. I stayed there for hours and talked to so many people my teeth were falling out. Actually that’s not true but it sounded good. I had to go to West Lebanon to pick up some more HDV tapes for the camera because they didn’t have any in Hanover. It was a public transportation situation. The public transport here is totally free and that was really surprising. I got a ride to the Best Buy from a cool girl I met on the bus whose husband works for the Appalachian Trail Council. You gotta love the camaraderie surrounding the trail. I got back to town and set up the command center at the DOC so I could blog and stuff. Shelter Monkey showed up with her pal whose name I keep forgetting to ask. They decided to get a hotel and they split. I sat at the DOC and typed blogs for hours. I got some dinner at Molly’s and I wasn’t really impressed with the particular pizza I ordered. It was some weird, new pizza and it had a strange combination of toppings. The bartenders and waitresses were cool though and they were asking some questions about the trail. The manager allowed me to put my pack in her office which was very cool. The place was packed but I wasn’t feelin’ my kind of vibe so I split and went over to Babba’s place; India Queen. India Queen is a hookah bar and Indian Restaurant which has Samosas. I love samosas ever since I first had them in Africa back in 2000. Delicious meat and Lamb Samosas are like an Indian Version of the Philadelphia Steak Sandwich; just like Carne Asada Burritos are the San Diego version of the Philly Cheesesteak. I ordered a couple of Samosas and ran into Paul from the night before. A very cool couple invited me to stay at their table and we talked about the trail a lot. I’m having trouble remembering their names since I’m typing about four days later right now. They finally split and I ended up talking with a bunch of people that kept showing up until I finally met these two cool cats Newton and Paul. Newton is a professor here in Dartmouth and specializes in Electronic Music. Paul is a Philosophy Professor at another college but they were roommates back in their college days. We had a lot to talk about; music and Philosophy. Before I knew it, it was raining and it was 2AM. Newton asked me if I needed a place to crash and I accepted his offer. It seems we knew a few of the same Musicians on the West Coast. His place was very cool and he really hooked me up with sheets and a futon mattress and comforters when I could have just slept on the tile floor in my sleeping bag. He also had a washer and dryer; which really comes in handy at a time like this. I was in heaven. The window was open and I could hear the torrential downpour rage and I wasn’t experiencing it from a tent for a change. Bliss, sweet bliss! I slept like the dead.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Dartmouth Outing Club

Jammin' at Panarchy

Happy Hill Shelter to Hanover: 6 miles

It was raining when I awoke. I had no urge to rush out of the shelter. The rain held off all night until the morning. I actually got out of bed uncharacteristically early at 7AM and packed up pretty early; however, I ended up BSing all morning and didn’t get out of there until 9 or so. It was going to be a short one into town and I figured I wouldn’t go anywhere. I was very interested to see what Dartmouth is like and this would be the nicest town I would pass through on the trail yet. After a few miles I got out on some roads and it was road hiking from then on in. Several miles of road gets kind of boring and I eventually crossed the river into Hanover. The town is beautiful. The campus is clean and there are tons of students here since they have a requirement that their third year students spend a summer session here. The campus is so well groomed I feel like a dirty interloper, eyes wide open for a lodging opportunity and trying not of obviously ogle the beautiful female student body(s). Man I feel like a dirty, old man all of a sudden. It must be the beard. Summer is a great place for Dartmouth to be and I’m glad we coincide at this moment. I looked around and easily identified the thru-hikers among the clean bodies and intellectuals. Dartmouth has an awesome organization called the Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC) and they have maintained the trails around here for a long time. One of the halls is open to Thru-hikers to drop in and get a bathroom and drop the packs but it’s tough to find lodging here. I had a long chat with Sam and he hipped me to the haps ion the town. Tomorrow they are doing this 50 mile marathon Hike to Mt. Moosilauke where they hike for 24 hours and 54 miles. CRAZY! I tried to sign up but it’s a lottery and only 30 peeps can do it so I was out of luck. That’s alright; I have to pick up a mail drop in a town before Mt Moose anyway. I’m probably going to Zero here tomorrow. During the week, the Phi Tau house offers hikers a place to stay but when I got down there they informed me that Thursday through Saturday, they don’t do it. I wasn’t sure what to do at this point but I came back to the DOC and dropped my pack and went tooling around, looking for a place to crash. If all else fails I’ll sleep at the soccer field where they allow tenting. I ran into this cat Billy and a few other guys: Butters, Rock Steady, etc. I went down to get free pizza at Ramuntos. They offer a free slice to Thru-hikers who sign the log. IT started raining again and I figured I was going to need to hook up with someone cool and crash at their pad so I flew back to the DOC, picked up my pack and headed down to the India Queen, a local hookah bar and restaurant. I met some cool peeps; Rachel, Ed, Peter and Paul who invited me to hang with them and smoke the hookah. Tomorrow is my one year anniversary of quitting smoking. I don’t miss it at all so I figured what the hell. I hit the hookah a couple of times and we talked about tattoos and the trail until they split and I went to find food. I roamed around and ended up in some place called 5 Olde Nugget Alley Bar. I got some skins and Billy came in and told me he found a place to sleep. Eventually I went back with him and we met a bunch of girls living in this huge place that used to be a frat house. It was interesting and after much guitar playing and general tomfoolery, they went to bed and we crashed on the couches.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Holdin’ it in

Which one should I water?

Vermont Route 12 to Happy Hill Shelter: 17 Miles

I got up and went down to another fabulous breakfast. I’m finally going to get the heck out of here. Shelter Monkey and her friend were going to join me on the ride and slack back. Tom came by and was very patient, waiting for me to pack my gear. I wish I would have done it the night before. The girls were already packed and had their stuff downstairs. If history is any indication, I should have known better than to rush when packing. That’s when I am most vulnerable to forgetful mishaps and today was no exception. We got on the road; Tom is a Retired Army Lt Col and we had a lot to talk about. He drives a ton of hikers out to slack pack and he’s got a trail name like “Never Sleeps” or something like that, I can’t remember what it is. I got on the trail and it w3as later than I had wanted but I figured I would go far. The day was pretty nice and although rain was threatening, it never really manifested. The report said it would rain tonight so I figured I would just crash in the shelter. Passing through West Hartford, I stopped in the village store and signed the register and ate dinner. That way I wouldn’t have to cook up at the shelter because it looked like it was going to be late when I got there. I had some hot dogs and ice cream and filled my water bottle at their hose. As soon as I got on the trail I tasted the water and realized I had made a big mistake. It tasted horrible. I hadn’t let the water drain out of the hose and it tasted like it had been sitting in there for a long time. I dumped it all out cause it was a big hill I was climbing and I’d be damned if I was going to carry crappy water all the way up a big hill. Eventually I got to nice stream where I ran into two other thru-hikers bedding down for the night. I had about another hour to go so I got a liter of water and headed out. I got there after dark and there were a bunch of SoBos there. I got to bed fairly early and didn’t have a chance to blog. I jokingly complained because there was no picnic table to sit at and they seemed surprised, “Picnic Table?” I’m assuming that this means there won’t be any more picnic tables up north. Blogging at night will be that much tougher. Rain is expected…

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Back Home Again Again

Back Home Again Again
Back Home Again Café

I got up and decided to stay another day here because I couldn’t get a hold of Tom to drive me out to the Trailhead on Vermont Route 12. I rested and took care of some business. I wanted to get out today but I went and saw a movie instead. I saw the worst movie I have ever seen in my life. Don’t go to see Step Brothers. You will wish you spent two hours grinding salt in your eyes instead. I got back to the hostel and did some more work. I went to a meeting, ate dinner and ended up talking to Shelter Monkey for a few hours before bed. I really need to pack but I guess I’ll do it in the morning. Tom is going to pick me up at 8:30 and I’ll be on my way to Hanover.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

White River Junction Veterans’ Hospital

Back Home Again Café/Hostel

I got up and went down for breakfast which was breakfast burritos that were very good despite the fact that it’s the East Coast. Someone around here must have spent time in California. I needed a ride to the VA hospital to get my Hernia looked at and to figure out what my next step was. Should I go back to Philly and get the operation there so I could recoup at a place where I had full amenities? Should I get the operation here since there are less people around here I could probably get the operation sooner and then I could either fly home or recoup at the hostel and then maybe get back on the trail? Maybe I should just fly back to San Diego and get in line for an operation there so I could start working again and making money. Four months with no income has left me in a pretty tough predicament financially. I have gigs coming in so I’ll be fine once I start working but I’d have to lay low for a few weeks until that happens; not to mention the price of gas is so horrible that I probably would have to walk everywhere so I might as well stay on the trail. I did some work here at the hostel to earn my keep and I caught up on blogs. I talked to Yohanan and Ranan and they said they would take me out to the VA after the lunchtime rush. We didn’t get out til 3:30 and I figured they would be closed. White River Junction is about an hour away by car and Indy came with me since he’s going to catch a bus back to Boston and get off the trail. It sucks when money runs out. It de-motivates you. You figure, “What’s the use in doing big miles today? I’m not going to make it to the finish anyway.” I hope he can finish it next year. I hope I can finish it next year. At the hospital they were waiting for me. For some reason my records were messed up and it says I don’t have Combat Status History which is BS so I talked to the guy and I’ll have to get that fixed when I get back to San Diego where I have my records. I’ll have to get all that updated. The wait was pretty short (compared to San Diego) and I was seen within an hour. The doc was a woman and I was thinking, “this is the first time in a long time I’m going to have my pants down in front of a woman. I hope nothing weird happens.” Well, that’s not exactly what I was thinking but you know the deal. I managed to keep things under control (probably because I was afraid of the pain she might inflict on me during the examination). She said I definitely had a hernia although it wasn’t an emergency to fix it. I asked the big question, “Can I stay on the trail?” She looked t me for a minute and then said, “let me see if I can get surgery down here to take a look at it.” It turns out she was a hiker and knowing I was a Marine she called surgery to get them to tell me their opinion. The guy came down and did the examination and actually said that many people live a regular life without getting the surgery; however, climbing the White Mountains of New Hampshire is far from a regular life and he recommended that I not strain it and get the surgery when I could. He didn’t say NOT to hike The Whites. I was really listening too. The conversation went a little like this:

Doctor: You have a hernia but it’s not an emergency. You can get it fixed sometime in the future.
Me: I’m climbing the AT
Doctor: What’s that?
Me: I’m hiking over 2000 miles through the mountains with a backpack
Doctor: That’s insane. Really?
Me: Yeah; but what I really want to know is, can I keep going? I only have 400 miles left; but, it’s really the toughest terrain coming up. The White Mountains are very strenuous.
Doctor: Ummmmmm
Me: If I’m climbing and moving my legs would that make me more susceptible than doing something like bench presses?
Doctor: No, any strain will cause it to pop out. The position of your legs shouldn’t make a difference. Right now it’s popping right back in on its own once you relax your abdomen.
Me: If it pops out and stays out, should I just push it back in?
Doctor: Yes
Me: What if it doesn’t go back in.
Doctor: Go to a hospital. Immediately.
Me: Can I keep Hiking.
Doctor: Ummmmmm
Me: I mean, I’ve hiked a hundred miles since I noticed it.
Doctor: You should try to avoid straining it.
Me: OK sounds good!

I’m going to keep hiking for a while and see how it goes. Ranan came and picked me up after I gorged myself at the China Moon Buffet next to the Vermont Bus Station in White River Junction. These guys are unbelievable in their accommodational behavior. He drove an hour back just to pick me up and take me back to the hostel. I’m going to have to come back here for sure. I was in the bus station and looking at all the destinations and I kept thinking how easy it would be to just jump on a bus and go to Boston and fly back to Philly or San Diego and just chill out. I’m having trouble distinguishing the right voice to listen to here. I don’t want to bail out if I could have done it. I don’t want to do it as a matter of pride or Machismo. I want to keep going if this is nothing to really worry about; otherwise, I’ll be lamenting my decision until I come back and finish it. It will be hard to get back to New Hampshire to finish it. To be honest, the odds are probably slim that I finish the rest of this trail. I feel like I should get it while I can and knock out The Whites and as far as I can go into Maine. This is such a hard decision. I guess I’ll have to sleep on it. It talked to my Mom and she’s obviously against me continuing on and she brought up a good point. If I strangulate it in the wilderness I could die. If I blow it out I could mess up my ski season and I wouldn’t be able to teach this year. I just got my Level 2 PSIA and I was really looking forward to teaching this year up in Tahoe. Leave it to Mom to find the one leverage point that could undermine my recklessness. She’s a darn smart one, my Mom. I think I’ll hike to Hanover (23 miles) with my full pack and see how I feel. My knee has been really bothering me and if that is acting up too, I may just pack it in for the year.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Killington Peak and Cafe

Killington Trail Sign

Slackpack US Rt 4 to VT Rt 103: 18 miles

I got up early and got breakfast before I headed out on the shuttle with Papa Bear and the Preacher Boys. They were going north from US 4 and I was going south. I took my time and ran into a bunch of people I knew. I finally ran into Indy again, he had stayed at the Shelter right at Killington. When I was a Junior in High School, I saved up a bunch of money to go on my school ski trip and I got grounded for staying home “sick” two days before the trip. After my Mom put her foot down, I decided I was going to go anyway and my Mom flipped out and we had a major confrontation involving police and sirens and fireworks and a few Kung-Fu moves. Needless to say, my Jedi Master Mother prevailed and I never made it to Killington (a situation I have lamented for almost twenty years. Well, I finally made it to Killington, Mom, and it took me months to walk here. I hope you’re happy! I summitted Mt. Killington from a very steep side trail. For just a few moments, the clouds broke, the sun came out and I got a few good shots of the surrounding countryside. I walked the ridge to the gondola and had a burger at the café. The guide book says it has prices to match the altitude and although it wasn’t as bad as some places I’ve been, it was steep and delicious.

Despite the imptroved weather, the trail condition is horrible. Mud, muck and streams are what make up the trail and when you’re on the rocks or roots, they are so slippery it feels like you’re Scooby Doo, trying to run from the swamp Monster on a frozen lake; legs going every which way while you frantically try to maintain an upright position and not stab yourself with your trekking poles. The only thing missing is the slide-whistle sound effect and marimba tinkling footsteps as you jangle down the slope from wet root to moss covered rock. I also ran into ATV after I came down from Killington and we talked for a while with another hiker who was doing the Long Trail which goes from the Massachusetts/Vermont border to Canada and utilizes the same trail as the AT for the first hundred or so miles before the AT turns east and heads to New Hampshire. I got out to the road around 1730 and for the first time since I have started this trail, I went 18 miles without refilling water or changing my socks. It was great. I didn’t even eat any of the food that I brought since I had that burger at lunch. I got changed into Hitchhiking Clothes and started down the road, thumb out and smile beaming.

It took forever to get a ride. I finally got one from this nice guy after I had walked about two miles. He wasn’t going all the way in though and he dropped me off at the town’s edge. The next time I hitch I’m going to ask about that first. It was terrible; I had to walk SO FAR to get downtown. No one gives you a ride when you are in the city area. You have to be outside on the highway to get a ride. Next time I’m going to have the guys stop just outside the city and I’ll get another hitch from outside from someone going all the way to where I’m going. If I was a normal hitchhiker I wouldn’t mind; but, when you’ve already done 20 miles on the day, walking on pavement another four is depressing as hell. I finally broke down and called a cab. I had her drop me off a block away from the hostel though. It wouldn’t be dignified to show up in a cab. I’d probably get made fun of; but, I wasn’t walking another mile in this town. I got in and the town was D.E.A.D. No one was there. I took a shower and got cleaned up for dinner. I ended up at the “Two Shea’s” pub down the street watching Boston Kick the tar out of the Yankees. I got to bed early, tomorrow someone would be taking me to the hospital.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Twelve Tribes Medicine and Maté Bar

Yohanan and Ranan

Back Home Again Hostel

I zeroed today. I didn’t feel like I could get up and catch the shuttle to RT4 in time and do another 18 miles. I thought it would be too messy and slippery after the rain last night and the weather report was looking grim. It was the Shabbat for Twelve Tribes so everyone was off. Ranan still made breakfast though. It was very fattening. He made delicious Cream cheese-stuffed French Toast which was slathered with Vermont Maple syrup. I learned how to make Maple Syrup. Down the street was an open market and they had lots of vegetables but hardly any fruit. I found a guy who made Samosas! I haven’t had a good Samosa since Africa! I still haven’t! Just kidding, it was good but they didn’t have the same kind as they did in Africa. I miss those little, delicious goat-meat triangles. There was a movie theatre and I eventually went to see Hancock which I thought had much more potential. I called the family and talked to them all about the Hernia Situation and what I was going to do. I’m still not sure; I think I’m going to slackpack the last section over Killington and the next day go to the VA and see what they can do for me. I don’t even know if I have coverage for something like this. It’ll probably cost me 10K just to get operated on. I think all Vets should have full coverage. I’m not a fan of socialized medicine because of the poor quality of service in places like Canada and the UK; however, I think that all Vets with an Honorable Discharge should have full medical and dental coverage and I think they shouldn’t have to pay taxes. HAHA! Now that would be awesome. Maybe if they gave Vets a tax break for the rest of their lives that would be better; but basically, unless we retire, we don’t get jack and I think there should be something more. Then again, since I’ve never even really looked into Veterans’ Benefits, maybe there already is something cool and I just don’t know about it; but, I doubt it. We’ll see in a couple of days. I wish I could cut a deal with some doctor or hospital; like, I’ll sing for free at your Daughter’s Wedding or your Hospital Christmas party if you fix my hernia for free. What a nice world it would be for me if I could work out those kind of deals. I eventually went to another celebration at the Twelve Tribes house and came back to the Café/Hostel later. Yohanan offered to take me to the hospital again and I found out it’s right near Hanover, NH which is where my next section would take me. I’m considering hiking the last section and just hiking right to the VA Hospital; but, I’d probably look like one of those homeless, alcoholic Vets comin’ in for a handout. My beard is getting long.

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Slackpackin’ SOBO in the Mud and Crud

Killington Hydroelectric

Slackpack VT Rt 12 to US Rt 4: 23 Miles

Last night I found out that a bunch of the guys here were going to slackpack a large section from North to south and I decided to go with them. I’m still bringing my Guitar and camera with me so my pack will still weigh about 25 pounds with water and a day’s food. Some guys carry that much as their regular pack. I want that guitar to go every mile with me. It’s a backpacker guitar, it deserves to go the whole trail. We got out in Tom’s Truck and drove for a half an hour. My feet were completely asleep by the time we rounded the second turn. It was painful and cold with the wind blowing all over us and our packs. We got out at the trailhead about 30 minutes later and guess who was standing right there? You guessed it; Cubit. She and Kat have been hiking together and she was about to go in to Hanover NH. I was hiking south. We talked for a little bit and then I split, trying to catch up with Croce Hunter who was too fast for me. I got to the top of the first big hill on the way to Wintturi Shelter. It was a nice climb with only 25 pounds. A fella could get used to this. My hernia didn’t seem to be bothering me even though I kept thinking about it twelve times a second. For food I had only brought with me a half a bag of Gorp and one of those Maté bars which is supposed to have 540 calories and lots of good stuff in it. I passed the shelter turn off and got up to “Lookout Cabin” which was a tenth of a mile off trail but I decided to go check it out. I would have to be quick though. I was attempting a 23 mile day with a hernia. I got to the cabin and everyone was there who had come on the truck except for Daddy-O and Peacock. There was an old, dilapidated, grey cabin with a little platform on the roof accessible by a long, rickety ladder. Top hat was sitting up there on his phone, presumably the best spot for service and I climbed up to peep the view, which was spectacular. You could see all of the distant mountains you had climbed as all of the distant mountains you were going to have to climb in the coming weeks. I got back on the trail and it was tough going through ankle-deep mudslides and the trail had turned into a full-blown stream in some places. You couldn’t avoid it; however, I did relish the lack of mosquitoes and flies I might normally have expected to have to deal with under the circumstances. The day was long and I stopped once to change socks and cool my feet in a rushing stream of perfectly clear water. I crossed by Killington Hydroelectric and got some great shots of a nice set of Falls nearby. I realized that the trail and my maps were not the same. Then I looked at the date on the map and discovered that my maps are seven years old and the ATC moves the trail around all of the time. I was getting a little ticked off as I would expect a climb here or flats there and be completely off. I’m going to have to try to find better maps for the next section north. The day was long and I finally got to US4 too late to catch the shuttle so I had to hitch in; but first, I had to clean up. I hiked about a mile to a small pond on the side of the road and cleaned of and changed into dry, clean clothes so as not to offend whomever picked me up. I got back on th road and started walking and hitching. It didn’t go so well. I must have walked a couple miles before I caught a ride from a nice girl who was home from college for a week. I think her name was Anna. She got me beck to the hostel and the road was closed because they have this thing on Friday Nights where they downtown closes and they have bands and vendors and stuff. I got a shower and roamed the street, checking out all the sights and sounds. Then I heard that the Twelve tribes Community was having a special Shabbat Celebration at their house. I thought it was closer than it was and I walked there, putting my total miles for the day around 27. My feet were throbbing as I got up to the house. They were having a service inside but it was more like a gathering. It was cool, they had songs and dancing and eventually Lasagna. Six or seven people were playing a variety of instruments and the songs were very reminiscent of a Hebrew/Middle eastern sound. The dances were like that too, people dancing around in circles, holding hands and leaping and stuff. The kids and adults were all together just havin’ a blast. I would have joined in; but, my feet said, “what you talkin’ ‘bout Willis?” We had delicious lasagna and good conversation until late. I got a ride back to the hostel and eventually went to check out the bar I had heard the blues paying at the night before. It was a variety band this time and it wasn’t long before I was back at the hostel. The door was locked; but there was a note:

“Mister F****** Gentle Spirit,
If you need to get in,
call ***-***-****
-Team Awesome.”

That meant Magnus and BrüHawk were here! I yelled up to the open windows but I woke up some of the Café residents on the top floor. I hadn’t meant to do that. One of the girls from the community came down and unlocked the door for me. I could have shimmied up the drainpipe but it didn’t seem appropriate somehow in this spiritual place. I got to bed and considered taking Yohanon’s offer to take me to the VA Hospital in Nearby White River Junction to get checked out. I wanted to do the Killington Section tomorrow but then it started raining and I figured, the last thing I wanted to do was to slip off a rock with a hernia.

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Rain Fugitive and Back Home Again

Greenwall Shelter to Back Home Again Hostel: 8 Miles

I guess I’ll get out of here sometime. I’m sitting here waiting for the rain to ease, and it has, several times. I’ve been updating my journal for the last four days. I’ll post them I think and then get going. It’s already 1210. I didn’t feel like getting water this morning. I ate a little bit and killed a few hundred mosquitoes. They are slower here in Vermont than they were in Massachusetts. I thank God for that. Maybe it’s all the moisture in the air?

Later

I got out of there around 1230 and walked over mud and slides and twisted, gnarled roots that provided conundrical stepping situations as I went down toward Vermont Route 103. The hike up and over Bear Mountain was difficult. There seems to be a Bear Mountain in every state and I have to go over it. Every Bear Mountain is also a tough climb either up or down. Maybe there’s something to this. I’ll investigate it later. At some point I was investigating the map and I realized that at Rt 103 I could just hitch a ride in to Rutland and it would actually be closer than it would if I passed over Killington where the book suggests you hitch in from Route 4. Rt 103 is a smaller highway but it’s still significant and has lots of traffic so I decided I would stop there and go in to the town of Rutland. I’ve been hearing about this hostel called “Back Home Again.” It’s run by a religious group called The Twelve Tribes. I’d been hearing all about these guys from people on the trail. They offer work-for-stay which is great ‘cause I’m almost completely out of money and I have plenty of energy to work with. I can work all day long I just can’t make any money while I’m out here. They feed you too; so it seems like all of my issues would be solved, including the “wet socks” and “soggy, muddy life” issues. I heard there is a guy who will slack pack you too. Slack packing is when you hike a section of the trail with the bare essentials in your pack for the day; basically, water, camera and lunch. Sometimes a person will drive you out to a trailhead about 20 or 30 miles from the hostel and you hike much faster and more miles back in to the place you are going to stay. There are many ways to do this but basically it allows you the benefits of staying in town without losing miles for the day. My brothers and I slackpacked one three mile section back in Franklin but I’ve resisted the temptation to slackpack so far on this trip. I hear temptation calling…
I got down to the road and the effects of the rain were evident as I crossed the last bridge over the Mill River. It was incredibly loud as the bloated river rushed throught he rock channels. It looked like the Colorado River. The narrow rock chutes took a 90 degree turn and sloshed back and forth in what looked to me to be class-four or five rapids. I wanted to take some pictures but my camera was packed up tight to keep it safe from the rain so I thought about it and kept moving; Town was beckoning.

After I got on the road and changed into Hitchiking Clothes, I got a ride pretty quick from a guy who took me all the way into where I needed to go. I’m really glad he did because where they said the town was only 4 miles away was just the very outskirts and it would have been another four miles or so to get downtown to the Back Home Again Café. I called and made sure I could get a bed and the response I got was “we’ll make room” so I anticipated it to be pretty full but there were like 25 people there; many of whom I knew like Croc Hunter and Leonides Shadow Cast; but there were also a bunch of SOBOs and non-hikers. They set me up with a great bed by the window to the main street and I would fall asleep later that night to the comforting sounds of Blues emanating from one of the local pubs across the street. Ranan greeted me as I came into the café and showed me to my bed and around the café. They have dinner for everyone at 8:30PM and then we all clean up and do various chores afterwards. Rutland is a pretty cool town that once boasted the most bars per capita in the US. The WAL-MART and the Grocery Store were only a block away so re-supply would be easy. I went and hung out in the WAL-MART among the brightly colored boxed to re-acclimate myself to society. I like doing that when I get into a town. Just like I need to be silent and listen to the forest when I get back into it. I also need to get amongst commerce and air-conditioning for a while before I can “Be” in society again. It’s kind of weird but it’s definitely something I’ve noticed since I’ve been on this trip.

The café has its own bakery and when I got upstairs I found the Preacher boys wrapping up muffins, huge ginger snaps and Maté energy bars. I had heard about these energy bars from Greta in the Green Mountain House. My work-for-stay involved moving a bunch of stuff and I was really starting to feel this hernia thing in my groin. When I lifted a box and the edge of it was against my pelvis I could feel it popping and one of the other hikers is a doctor and he cursorily diagnosed it as a hernia. I guess I better figure out where a VA hospital is. I looked up the treatment for hernia on the Internet and it looks like I’m going to need surgery. There is a chance that they can just pop it back in and I can keep going but I’m not counting on it. I’m afraid after coming all this way, I may have to get off the trail. I was really ready for the White Mountains too. I’m about to enter the most difficult section of the Appalachian Trail and I’ve been psyching myself up for it. I would hate to have to get off now. We had a delicious dinner and we had a long discussion with Ranan and Yohanan about their community which is basically like Messianic Jews but they live in a neat community which is linked to many other communities just like it all over the world. They make some awesome liquid soaps and amazing Yerba Maté drinks and baked goods. The café is awesome; made from an old barn that they disassembled and cannibalized for their décor and furniture. They have an amazing fellowship and connection with each other and their God. It’s very neat to see how the community operates and thrives with every family member playing a role.

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Ver-mud, Ver-muck, Vermont

Cairns, Carns, everywhere is Cairns

Peru Peak Shelter to Greenwall Shelter: 15 miles

Dawn came slowly, over a period of hours, or so it seemed from under the bundle of my sleeping bag where I had wrapped myself fitfully through the night to avoid the onslaught of mosquitoes that bit through sock and sleeve and attacked any exposed surface. bearded though it may be. The rainsong mingled with the sound of the pregnant stream and as I finally peered from my bag, roused by the packing of my temporary companions, I was greeted by the rain-jangling foliage that surrounded the shelter. The rain on the tin roof morphed from piiter-patter to frenzy and back again all morning and I assuaged my psyche by burrowing further into my bag. I had no desire to put that wet shirt on and sling a pack on my shoulder and navigate over wet, slime-covered rocks and slip-trip down steep winding staircases of roots and rubble with a cumbersome pack swaying from left to right like the smaller of the trees I passed in the stormswept forest. My dreams were of this and other horrible things unrelated like unrequited love and naked speeches as I waited for the day to brighten. All alone in the shelter now, I tried to get it going. I got up and relieved myself in the wet bushes, avoiding raindrops and trying not to brush against the soaking pine branches. I had some breakfast; pepperoni, sharp provologne and pita, only to return pitifully to the sleeping bag, half dressed and half packed and half- hoping for the sun to break through. I knew it wouldn’t. They said that the rain would last until Friday. I wondered briefly if I had enough food to last me here til Friday. I did; but, then I would still have to walk 50 Miles to Killington on M&Ms and whatever mushrooms I could find along the way. I entertained the idea during yet another roll-over on to yet another uncomfortable position and finally decided to get up and get the hell out of there while the rain was only pittering rather than pounding. I didn’t get out of the shelter until about 1230, maybe later. I knew I had to make some miles. I was also out of toilet paper and I had three days to go. I had some moist wipes but I knew it wouldn’t be enough. Maybe I could find some in a Privy or something. I got out of there and hustled. I did find some toilet paper at a really nice privy maintained by a caretaker. I took a little extra for the next two days just in case and then I tried to get some miles. I still feel that hernia thing happening but it seems familiar so maybe I’ve had it before. I’ll walk it off. The rain kept going on and off all day. I got wet, really wet. I changed my socks a couple of times but it would only last a couple of miles before I was swimming in my socks again. It was getting dark already and I had only done about 12 miles. I was trying to get to the Greenwood shelter and I came upon this ghostly site with rock cairns all over everything. It was really spooky in the rain. I took some pictures, there were probably a hundred little rock cairns all over the place, balanced on precarious ledges and even on logs which were balanced in turn on another cairn. It was very strange. I was hoping I was at the shelter when I ran up on another display of freaky cairns. The sign that was there said it went off to some vista instead of going to the shelter as I had hoped. According to the book, I still had a mile and a half to go. I couldn’t believe it; I was sure I was there! Another 30 or 40 minutes to go in the steadily increasing rain; I was losing it. I started telling myself to keep it together. The thing was, the Shelter was another .3 miles off trail and the water source was questionable and just because it was raining like mad didn’t mean that there would be a stream. Sooner than the book said, the shelter trail came up and I trudged through rain and mud to get there. Snickers and Pack Animal were there and a bunch of kids that I didn’t see under a tarp down the hill. This rain is getting worse and I’ll probably sit around till noon or worse tomorrow. I had to find the water source and it wasn’t all that exciting: just a dribble out of a rusty pipe. It took a while to fill up and by the time I got back it was fully dark. I cooked in the dark and cleaned up and was too damn lazy to hang a bear bag. It seems like no one hangs them here, they just hang them in the shelter from mouse hangs and go to sleep; well, I might as well do it too. I’ll try to blog in the morning instead of just sitting there and watching the rain. I’m never going to catch Croc Hunter like this.David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Rainforest tap dancing on the slippery roots

ATV on Bromley Mtn

Green Mountain House to Peru Peak Shelter: 10 Miles

We got up later than we said we would and then me and ATV went to breakfast at this AWESOME place: “Up For Breakfast” in Manchester Center, VT. We got the “Hiker’s Special” and it was definitely filling. Vermont has some bad-ass maple syrup, I must say. It must be all the rain. We walked to the other side of town and couldn’t get a hitch. I finally found a place I thought would work for sure, right next to a parking lot and a convenience store. Someone had to be going out of town and could give us a ride! Nope! We stood there forever. I ran into the store to pull some money and after getting a hundred bucks I found out I have $3.83 in my account. Let’s see how far that gets me! Finally this awesome couple gave us a ride. They have lived in Manchester all their lives and they give hikers rides all the time. I can’t remember their names right now but I hope they will email me and tell me so I can put them in. I have a picture of them by their truck in case you’re wandering just who they hell those people are standing g next to the truck. As a matter of fact, you can probably guess that if anyone is driving or standing next to a vehicle in a picture, they gave us a ride and should be held in the highest of regards. As soon as we got on the trail there was magic. A group of schoolchildren and their teacher drop off sodas and sandwiches at the trailhead. It’s an awesome thing to do, too bad me and ATV were still overloaded from the “hiker’s special” to do anything about it. There was a camera there too but it was out of film so I took a picture for them in case you’re wondering what the hell is that guy doing with a can of orange soda? I threw the orange soda in my pack for later and headed up the hill to Bromley Ski Resort. We could see Stratton Mountain from one of the vistas although it was soon to be obscured by clouds as we would be enveloped once again by rain and thunder. Vermont is starting to really irritate me with all of this rain and mud and muck and slippery roots and rocks. I’ve done my share of Charlie Chaplins and a full-on Buster Keaton over some of the rocks on my way to Peru Peak Shelter. Before I get to that; nearing the top of Bromley, we came to this clearing that looked kind of weird and overgrown. I couldn’t figure out what it was until I saw the pipes and nozzles. We were on a ski slope! It was only a beginner ski slope but it felt like a Black Diamond with a 60-pound pack. We got to the top and we had been on the “Run Around” slope of Bromley Mountain. I took some video at the observation deck and I got a shot in a ski lift. Then I hauled Pack for Peru Peak and I haven’t seen ATV since. He said he was going to take a leak and then that was it. All of the trails here are full of mud and muck and vain attempts to stay out of it. Every few yards there is a huge mud puddle or mucky, leafy mud that sinks in to your ankle if you aren’t careful. When I got to the Peru Peak shelter, I needed to rinse off my legs something fierce. The gaiters worked as advertised and my socks were clean! Snickers was there with Pack Animal and another guy who was doing the Long Trail as well as Drew, a guy who had passed me earlier that day. The rain had been on and off all day and I was wet; but not too wet. I got set up for the night. The water came from a fast moving brook right next to the shelter which means MOSQUITOES! I left the Orange Soda in the stream so I could give it to ATV later. I decided to sleep in the shelter, even though it was going to hurt, I didn’t feel like finding a couple of trees and the rain was going to pour tonight so I laid down my meager pad and resigned to suffer on the hard, wooden floor. ATV never showed and after a little guitar music, I went to bed early.

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Zero in Vermont

Green Mountain House Hostel

In an effort to minimize my casualty rate and to keep the trails safe from my tumbling body, I have decided to wait out the rain at this fabulous hostel which has only been open for a week by Jeff Taussig and his Wife, Regina. They have set up an entire house for just hikers and have a kitchen, internet and movies (all about Long Distance Hiking of course). Jeff has section hiked the AT and is doing the Pacific Crest Trail now. The house is very clean with laundry and a shower and I am most impressed. Croc Hunter has decided to stay here another day too so we can go see The Dark Night I have also opted to use this day to buy new socks and a pair of Gaiters which I have been waiting to find for hundreds of miles. I was laying down and I coughed and I felt something strange in my nether region. I’m hoping it’s not a hernia but I think it might be; at least, it feels like what the doctors are always looking for when they tell you to turn your head and cough. I’ll just walk it off, it’ll be fine.

(Later)

We ran into a few other Hikers at the movies and I got all of my shopping done. SOCKS ARE DARN EXPENSIVE! Pun intended. I tried to sew up the holes in my socks but it just wasn’t good enough. Some of the holes were too big and then once they got too close to the fire when I was drying them and they got all crispy so they fell apart. I saw these Smartwool Trekking socks with extra padding and I decided they might increase my distance so I went for it. For a while there I was wearing apair of socks that someone left behind at a shelter that only had holes in the heels where I already have titanium skin from old calluses so I wasn’t worried about it. I brought back a rib-eye and cooked it up. I haven’t cooked a real dinner in along time. It was delicious. Just as I was settling down, ATV showed his face. I thought he was way ahead of me and he thought I was way ahead of him. I guess that’s how it goes. It was getting boring just sitting around and watching Jim Rome bust on Michelle Wie and Brett Favre so I got on the Internet and investigated some methods of healing my knee and just how dangerous is that tea-stained water I’ve been drinking out of ponds and marshes? Some guy fed me a load of crap that Chocolate Milk would hinder my healing and I had to look that up too.
I knew I needed to get back out on the trail. Later on three SOBOs showed up, Mango, Greta and this other guy I can’t remember his name. They were from PA and we were familiar with each others’ habitats of youth. Mango was originally from Venezuela but went to Penn State so we got along just fine. His girlfriend Greta had spectacular legs; maybe the best I’ve seen on the trail yet, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. He’d lost 30 lbs and would get them back I’m sure before he came looking for me! We became good pals and I’m going to ry to look them up when I get finished up in Maine. Maybe I’ll section with them in PA if the time is right and I don’t have to be back in SD. We all want to do the PCT though so maybe that will work out. I didn’t get to bed until 0230 and ATV was still downstairs repairing his thermarest.

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
hotos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
ideos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Torrential Downpour

Jeff, underexposed

Story Spring Shelter to Green Mountain House, Manchester Center VT: 22 Miles

Right now I am completely waxed. I did 22 miles today in the Green Mountains, not to mention the last four or five was in the POURING rain, on muddy mountain rocks and pregnant streams. I really wanted to get in to this city; Manchester Center, Vermont, for two reasons: One, I’m completely out of food except for a ramen packet and some coffee and pepper. Two, so I could pick up gaiters at the Mountain Goat outfitter they have here. It’s the only place in hundreds of miles that has the gaiters I want, the OR Flex-Tex Gaiters. Oh mama, are they sweet! Hopefully they will keep the sweat out of my boots a little so I don’t have to wring my socks out every four miles on tough days. Even if they help a little and I only have to wring my socks out every ten miles, it will help me out tremendously. My feet take the hardest beating once the socks get wet because they lose all their padding properties and my skin gets pruney and vulnerable to blisters and other weird conditions when they stay wet all day (or several days when it’s really rainy). Last night it rained a little but I didn’t notice. It looked like it was going to be a really good day. “Perfectly Overcast” I like to call it. No rain but not sunny enough to overheat you. I got out of camp early at around 0920. The Scarlet 7 (-5) had left just before me. Beanie was getting off for his family vacation (to Maine of all places) and his family was picking him up at the next road. Soon it would be The Scarlet 7 (-6) AKA Croc Hunter, or Vince. I’ll probably hike with him a bunch till he gets off at the end of the month. I got down to the road and Beanie was just about to leave. I got to meet his family and then I headed up the trail toward Mt. Stratton. Croc Hunter is faster than me so he’ll catch me. We talked about doing 22 miles today in order to make it to the next major highway and then hitching in to Manchester Center but it looked like there were only hotels to stay at and they were all expensive. Ahead of me was an 1800 foot climb to Mt. Stratton, a popular ski resort in the winter, it had an observation tower on top and I psyched myself up for the climb. Croc Hunter passed me on the way up and it was tough but I finally got up there. There was a Caretaker, Jean, staying in this cool little white hut. I had to wring out my socks and underwear when I got to the top. Since Vermont doesn’t have a nudity law, I just did it right there. Croc Hunter was up in the tower but I don’t think he was looking. He was trying to get service since it was the highest point anywhere around. After I climbed the tower and got some footage of haze and barely discernable mountains, I came down and all of a sudden people started showing up like crazy. There was this huge family from Atlanta and all these young girls and I was pretty glad they hadn’t come up about fifteen minutes earlier while I was standing there on a big rock, naked except for my untied boots, wringing out my underwear and socks. Now that would have been a moment! Anyway, I shamelessly promoted the website and moved on. I had a big day and the caretaker said there were huge storms on the way and flash flood warnings for the whole area. I had to get down there before the storms hit and night fell or I was never going to hitch a ride into Manchester Center. Croc hunter mentioned he might go with me but only if we could find a hostel. There was a shelter 3 miles before the road. We would meet there and figure it out then. I got to Stratton Pond and decided to jump in for a dip. It definitely smelled like a pond but I didn’t care. It felt good to rinse off the sweat and leaf particles and mud and whatever else was all over me. As I was getting ready to go, these three kids showed up. I can’t remember their trail names except for the one without a trail name who was Sean or Shawn or Shaun or whatever. He didn’t have one of those text bubbles over his head when he spoke so I couldn’t tell. They hipped me to a fabulous place that has just opened up: The Green Mountain House, a hostel that was super cool. They gave me a business card for the place and I called when I got service and made a reservation for me and Vince in case he wanted to go. I would have to catch him though, he’s fast. If he gets to the shelter to far ahead of me he’ll have time to eat and unpack and he won’t want to go. It looked like it might be dark before I got to the road which makes it hard to hitch. I started to haul ass. I had to wring my socks again and I opted for totally new ones which were fresh and dry. As I was trying to get to the shelter the ominous thunder and lightning began to play its game with me. I knew it was going to be close and I didn’t want to stop to get my raingear on cause I sweat a lot more with it on; however if I made it to the shelter before the downpour, I could keep my socks relatively dry and then don the gear for the final three miles in the downpour. I didn’t make it. The sky kept teasing me with sprinkles and thunder off in the distance. It never seemed to be in front of me though so I kept going. I wasn’t sure how far it actually was to the shelter but then it got so dark that I should have turned on my headlamp. Suddenly the rain started to really pour and I was getting soaked. I tried to hustle but it’s tough when everything is all slippery. I saw the sign for the shelter and didn’t realize it was still several hundred yards downhill. I ran down the path but I was still getting soaked. My socks still seemed semi dry though and when I got to the shelter, Croc Hunter and Greenwood were there. They though I was coming in for the night but I really wanted to make that hostel. I told Croc Hunter about it but I know he was reluctant. Eventually he broke down and got packed back up. We left during a lull that we hoped was going to be a long one. It wasn’t. As we were gong down the first hill he said, “Just for the record, I think this is a dumb idea, but what the hell, I could use some more adventure.” The trail was very wet, very muddy and not at flat as the map led us to believe. He cruised way up ahead of me and it got pretty dark again. I finally made it to the road and I was really worn out. Just as we crossed the road this Minivan was coming at us and I just threw my thumb out there as a joke and the guy pulled right over and picked us up. It was AWESOME! His name was Brian and he was from Jamaica. I thought he had stolen the car ‘cause he didn’t know how to open the back hatch or unlock any door; but at that moment, I could care less who or what he was. He was giving us a ride in the rain and he was alright by me. In fact, if they asked me to go to court to speak of his character, I’d have to fly all the way back here to do it. “Your Honor, that man is a saint and I don’t care how many bodies I was sitting on in the cargo area when he drove me into town!” For a moment I thought it was going to be a Great Adventure and then we got to the McDonalds and he wouldn’t even take a sandwich for his trouble; not even a shake! I, on the other hand, had two Double Quarter Pounders with Cheese, Large Fries, a 32oz Orange Juice and a 20oz coffee. Paul Newman does McDonalds Coffee, man! I calculated the total calories and it was 2470! Yeah man, I needed it. Jeff picked us up to take us the hostel and when I got there I weighed myself: 155 lbs I haven’t weighed 155 since I was 20! This Hostel is the nicest place I’ve stayed yet on the trail. It’s a very nice house and I can’t wait to drop into that fabulous bed!

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Hiking Au Naturale

Melville Nauheim Shelter to Story Spring Shelter, 17.4 Miles

I got out of the shelter really late, even for me. I didn’t get on the trail till 1130 because I was trying something new and writing blogs in the morning instead of late at night so I don’t bother people with the typing at the shelter. On the way out I ran into some hikers that I had met at the Unionville Mayor’s house, Shadowcast and Tangent were hanging out with two guys I hadn’t met: Filadelphia Greenberg and Greenwood. I was trying to catch Indy and the climb up Glastenbury Mountain kicked my ass. I kept thinking the shelter was coming up any time now and then it just kept going UP! I nearly bonked a few times and when I finally got to the Goddard shelter, all the people that slept at the shelter with me last night were there except Indy. They hadn’t seen him either. I stopped and had some ramen and tuna. The Shadowcast and Crew came up a few minutes later. My knee was doing OK today but it has its moments when it just hurts out of nowhere so I’m taking it easy. Later I climbed the rest of the way with showers threatening and thunder clapping. All of a sudden there was this fire tower, observation deck thing. I really wanted to climb it and take some pictures, it was well above the tree line though and lightning was looming and thunder was booming so I climbed it anyway. I have always had this idea that should I ever get hit with lightning, all my hair will turn white and I will possess super powers afterward. I realize this is a fantastic improbability but so is getting struck by lightning so I climbed the tower and kept the film rolling in case it did get struck while I was there. I pressed for the next shelter. I really wanted to go 17 today because that would put me in reach of a town tomorrow. The rain was intermittent and the rocks were slippery but so far the Green Mountains are reminding me a lot of the Smokies; wet, muddy and rainy with beautiful views obscured by haze and mist and thunderstorms. I got to the Kid Gore Shelter and it was late. Shadowcast and crew were there and I decided to try for the next shelter. They thought I was crazy and they told me so. I told them nothing. They don’t understand why I carry a heavy pack. It’s one of those things. If you get it, no explanation is necessary; if you don’t, no explanation will suffice. I like that quote but I can’t remember who said it or what it was originally in reference to; however, it fits me perfectly. Speaking of which, after I left Kid Gore Shelter, I noticed that I was getting a little chafing in my nether regions and it had me worried. My knee had been bugging me a little but that seemed to go away. I really didn’t want to roll in to the next shelter with a chafing problem so I decided to just go Au Naturale until the next shelter. That’s right, I took it all off and hiked in my Birthday suit; well actually, I kept my shirt on. I didn’t want to offend anyone with my naked chest. I discovered the other day that Vermont has no Nudity Law and you can go Au Naturale any damn where you please. This fascinated me and having a practical reason, I dropped trou and headed to the next shelter. I don’t know if it specifically helped my chafing problem but it sure took my mind off of any pain or other issues I might be experiencing. It was actually quite nice. I had to wring my socks out so I put the underwear back on and they had time to dry so they were comfortable again and I was proud of myself for having the balls to do it. I think it may become a regular thing while I’m in this state. I got in to the Spring Story Shelter and to my surprise, Indy wasn’t there. I was a little confused since no one had seen him and he didn’t pass anyone. The Scarlet 7 (-5) was there though. They lost another two and now it was down to Beanie and Croc Hunter. There were two SOBOs (southbounders) there: Clemson and Sweet Tea. I took forever to get set up but I got some eats, I’m almost completely out of food, and played some Guitar and set up camp and got to bed late. I kept hearing something walking around out there and I thought it might be a Moose. Before I went to bed I saw a big rabbit and I know they have snowshoe hares here so maybe his big feet were paddin’ around all night. Whatever it was, it was freaking me out.

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

I see Moose Turds!

Not a good place to step



Seth Warner Shelter to Melville Nauheim Shelter: 14 Miles

I got up late, as usual, which leads me to think that since it’s usual than I guess it’s not late. If I got up at the time when everyone else gets up I should probably say I got up early. Acceptance is the key my man. Normal reveille for me is about 9AM and that’s when I got up, stomach growling and hungry for Pop-Tarts and coffee. It was going to be a great day I could tell. The weather was perfect. Me and Indy got all packed up at roughly the same time and headed out around 10:30 or so. Most people I know have already done 10 miles by 10:30. Not me, I get my hiking stride around 4 or 5PM I really wish I could hike all night but I don’t have a good night-hiking headlamp. Night hiking is a little sketchy too with all the slippery rocks and the faint blazes. I could wind up in Kentucky or something. I figured I’d be down at Vermont Route 9 by about 2PM and maybe that would give Truckstop enough time to call me back. I wasn’t counting on it though. Besides it would be better if I got in some bigger miles today. The climbs were reasonable and although my pack is very heavy, probably 60lbs at least, I don’t even really feel it anymore. It has more or less become a part of my body. I passed Sucker Pond and some guy sitting there painting or rather Charcoaling it and I asked him a few questions and all I got were gestures so I figure he must have taken a vow of silence or something. He looked like a Thru-hiker though. I’ve never seen him so he’s probably SOBO (southbound) although, if he’s sitting around at every pond charcoaling and stuff, I’m probably going much faster than him and he could be a NOBO (Northbounder). Regardless, he didn’t say a word and I noticed it; pompous, vow-of-silence bastard that he was. Maybe I was interrupting him… ONWARD! I managed the climb down to VT9 without a knee-splitting incident even though I was harangued my Vermont Deer Flies constantly. There is always this low-grade buzz around your head and you know he’s just waiting to land on your hat and bite right through it. At least the Mosquitoes haven’t been a problem here. I met this guy Scottie who is a SOBO and he was saying that he discovered that the mosquitoes go about 2 miles an hour and if you go just faster than that you can outrun them. I informed him that he was traveling into 5 MPH Mosquito country and I hope his legs were ready for that. My brother’s Friend Eve called me to say that she and her boyfriend could meet me up the trail. They were very generous and were talking about driving several hours to come and meet up; but, I think that’s too far. I wouldn’t ask them to do that, maybe I’ll meet up witht hem when the trail gets much closer. Truckstop still hadn’t gotten my message by the time I hit VT9 so I pressed on to tackle the uphill to the next shelter. Later I got her message saying she was laid up at her parents in New Hampshire due to a rather gruesome sounding fall into an ocean somewhere or something like that. Maybe we’ll do Karaoke in NH.
The last time I did Karaoke was in Gatlinburg with Mad Mtn. Mike and Cubit and MacGuyver. I could stand a night of caterwauling at the drunks. I really miss that. Then climb up the hill from VT9 had me pausing a few times to Ahem, check out stuff while my heartbeat returned to double digits per minute. I got in to the Melville Nauheim Shelter around 1545 with roughly 2 hours left of daylight it was a tough decision whether or not to go the next 8 miles to the next shelter. Thunder had been booming since I came up VT9 and I thought it was going to rain any second which helped me to make my decision to stay. Some folks were already there, a couple of young guys from Minnesota, one going to MIT, a guy showed up from New Hampshire, Half-way was his trail name when he Thru-hiked a few years ago. A woman whose name I forget was in the shelter already and Indy showed up while I was getting water. Two sisters, Ratchet and Awesomoppossom, came in a little while later with their dogs, Sadie and Bosco. Dinner and a campfire ensued and Guitar playing until late. The rain held off. I was trying to journal out by my hammock when all this racket went up around me. Some kind of animal was running around just outside of headlamp and computer light and I was getting a little unnerved. All I need is to startle some Drunk Belligerent Skunk coming home from the local watering hole to ruin my night most completely. I hung up the computer and hit the hammock. Around Midnight I awoke with a startle. It was silent and then the wind blew up with a tremendous howl, the likes of which I don’t think I have ever heard. It blew through the trees like a freight train and my hammock started to bob up and down; not side to side; but up and down, which meant the trees were being pulled away from each other. Lightning and thunder started popping up everywhere like a natural Fourth of July celebration. It was almost a constant show of light through the rain fly of my hammock. Then the rain started. You could hear it coming up the mountain with the howling wind and I suddenly realized that not only were we on the highest ground in the surrounding area; but, I had tied up to a tree which had already been struck by lightning. I hadn’t really thought of it except to assess whether or not it would be good to tie up to. Since it was a big tree and still living I figured it was OK; but now, with lightning assured, I reviewed the statistics of Lightning hitting the same tall tree on a ridgeline twice and the chances seemed pretty good. I have always wanted to get struck by lightning because I have this idea that after I do, I will be blessed with some Super Powers so I just laid there and waited for it. I woke up in the morning with no apparent Super Powers and a completely unsigned tent so I guess the lightning skirted our ridge. Oh well, maybe next time. Other than the vegetation being wet it looks like it will be anice day for hiking. I think I’m going to catch a toad today and put it on my head to see if he’ll stay there and eat the deer flies. It could happen! Oh yeah, this morning while I was talking about Mt Greylock I was describing these huge turds I saw on the trail that I thought were Elk or a big deer and it turns out they were from a MOOSE! I might see a MOOSE! I can’t wait! I’m going to call him Bullwinkle and see if he laughs!

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Sleeping under the stars

Vermont/Massachusetts Border

Mountain Goat Williamstown to Seth Warner Shelter: 8 miles

When I got back to the Mountain Goat last night everything was soaked; my sleeping bag, my pack, anything that was out in the air had dew all over it. I figured the sleeping bag is synthetic so it should still work fine wet so I packed everything up, put the pack cover on it and went to sleep. The bag worked fine, I got up in the morning and it was still wet but I slept fine. I think everything go so wet because we were sleeping right next to some river and the temp went way down. My knee wasn’t feeling any better. I didn’t think I would be able to walk on it but maybe it would feel better after some breakfast and maybe some lunch and maybe a zero day? Nah, I’m going to try my best to get out of here today. Indy was hangin’ with me and we tooled around and got coffee and charged some electronics. I have decided that Williamstown has something special in the water. I officially name it the city of beautiful legs. They were everywhere! We gotsome really good pizza at the place next to the outfitter and packed it up to go. I bought one pair of new socks because I have holy socks and dwindling finances. We managed to get on the bus, which was free because it was my birthday! Yee haw! I knew birthdays were good for something! The climb out of Williamstown was steep but it wasn’t too bad, it was a climb with a lot of intersecting trails. You had to keep your eyes on the blazes. I took a pause at Eph’s Lookout, although I didn’t know that’s where I was at the time. It was named after the founder of Williams College, Ephraim Williams. Imagine that, we have the same taste in lookouts, it must run in the family. After that I got to the Vermont/Massachusetts Border and took a few pics and texted the event to a bunch of my pals since I had some good cell service. It ate up all of my battery. I realized I’m coming up on Bennington in one day and I was supposed to meet “Truckstop” there. I’ll shoot off an email but it’ll probably be too late notice to meet up. I met Truckstop with Oshwagonda down at Damascus and she said to email her when I got to Bennington to do some Karaoke. I forgot to email her earlier so I hope I have service at the shelter. I’ll be passing Bennington tomorrow in the middle of the day and it’s really to short of a distance to stop; however, there’s a steep descent into VT Route 9 and my knee might need the break. My knee really only hurts on Downhills. I got in to the shelter and took care of business early. I hung the bear-bag line right away, got a lot of water at a slow stream, set up my tent and got dinner started. I was on a roll. I didn’t light a fire until Indy rolled in and it was getting dark. lI had to go way out of camp to get an internet signal to email some folks and I saw that some more people have given donations on my Birthday. Thanks Guys! That makes me think I might be able to make it happen. My brother Doug dropped some dough on me now that he’s back at work and now I might be able to afford some new socks. The Guggenheim (Grant C.) dropped a C-note on me and that was very generous of you. Thanks buddy and Happy Birthday. He is exactly 3 days older than I am. That means that four days ago, when he donated that money, he was older than me; however, I’m now older than he was back when he donated it. The last few days have been really great for hiking and I know it will end soon. Then again, maybe I’ll get through the Greens without slippery rocks. That would be nice. It turned out that Indy and I were the only ones at the shelter so we slept in peace. I played guitar until 2330 and then I realized, I better get some sleep.

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

My kind of town, Williamstown is

Mark Noepel Lean-to to Williamstown The Mountain Goat: 10 miles

The shelter bunk was hard as nails and I slept in many positions without ever finding satisfaction. I need a pad if I plan on sleeping in shelters on a regular basis. I managed to get out of bed and get packed up before the Scarlet Seven (-3) left. Actually, they waited for me is more like it. We hustled up the mountain to Greylock and it was cool. Greylock is the highest mountain in Massachusetts and also the highest mountain anywhere around so the view was cool. There was an amazing War Memorial up there. I wanted to get in to town so I kept pushing. I got to Mt Williams and noticed that the numbers of the elevation, 2951, add up to 17, my lucky number! How cool is that? The climb down was steep and my feet felt fine. Maybe the Dr. Scholl’s things are actually working. My knees took a pounding though and they are still killing me now as I write. We finally got in to Williamstown and the Scarlet Seven (-3) headed to North Adams and me and Indy hitched a ride in to town to pick up stuff at the post office and the outfitter (new trekking pole parts, a USB cable so I can upload pics and my new pack) We hung out at the outfitters and Kimberly gave us a ride to the Laundromat. It was extra awesome for her to do that. I’m sure we didn’t smell the best. We laundered, fed and resupplied in the same parking lot and just when it looked like it would be really tough to hitch back, a bus came along and picked us up! It was awesome. They just pulled right over and picked us up! I found out that they do that sort of thing herein the Berkshires. NICE! We got back and went to the Williams Inn, a very nice place where we really didn’t belong; however, they offer showers and Jacuzzi for only 6 bucks for hikers! SWEET! The soap was Bayberry scented and I smelled wonderful for the first time in a long time; the Jacuzzi soothed my weary muscles and the pool refreshed my senses with a cool awakening. We walked out of there Kings in heart and mind. On the way back to the Outfitter, whose backyard we are camping in, we ran into a group of kids playing some bluegrass. It was reminiscent of Gatlinburg and we stopped to get a little ice cream and listen. It was cool. Some students from an academy on the other side of the mountain were singing multiple harmony tunes and concluded with the Old Crow Medicine Show Tune, “Rock Me.” Rolex would have loved it. I keep running into that song on this trip. We dropped our stuff at the outfitter and went across the street to hang out at the bar and blog and post. I finally have some connection!! I’m sleeping out in the middle of the grass and stuff tonight, no tent, just a sleeping bag and the stars. I hope it doesn’t rain! Tomorrow is my Birthday and I plan on Walking into Vermont as long as this knee doesn’t give me a problem. It started acting up when I was at the grocery store. It’s been giving me a lot of pain. I took two Tylenol and some ice cream; that ought to help J

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Escape from Dalton

Flag and the Blaze in Dalton

Dalton Massachusetts to Mark Noepel Lean-to: 14 miles

I slept on the floor in the basement again and I got up even later this time. I had some good dreams though. It was cold last night. I sleep so much better when it’s cold; as long as I have sufficient covers. By the time I got out of there the Scarlet Seven (-3) were already gone except for Croc Hunter who had to go to the library. I slid down to the breakfast place and got more breakfast sandwiches. God O love the East Coast for their sandwiches! They have Kaiser rolls and man they are the best roll for sandwiches on the planet. It’s so nice to go to a place and not get freaking Sourdough everywhere. The only reason people even eat sourdough is because they have never had a real Italian roll or a Kaiser Roll. Sourdough is great for hard pretzels; but as a bread, it sucks the big one! Two Sandwiches and an orange Juice later I went back to the house and took about two hours to pack up all my stuff. I’m feeling all depressed cause everyone is in front of me by at least a day. I really need to get going or I’ll never make it up that hill. I finally knuckled down and packed it up. I really need to do some laundry. The amenities in Dalton were very difficult to use due to the distances involved. It sucks to have to walk everywhere just to get laundry done at one place and a shower at another place and groceries somewhere else and a shower is here and the cell phone only works over there and the internet only works at the library and the Post office is on the other side of town, blah blah. I know it’s annoying to listen to me gripe but imagine having to go through it every time you run out of food an you have to come into a town. Every once in a while everything works and it’s all at the same place; but, that hasn’t happened since the Mayor’s house in Unionville. Hopefully everything will be closer in Williamstown. I’ll skip the laundry and the posting until then unless I can get some Internet while I’m at a shelter. I walked through town and there was this little guy on the sidewalk selling pink lemonade. His name was Jack and his dad was filming so I had to get some of course. It was a quarter a cup and he played the harmonica and this funky little spinny top toy thing while you drank your lemonade. It was pretty cool. I filmed it and then BSd with him and his parents for a while. Man I’m terrible at getting on the trail. We’re considering renaming my trail name to “Still Here.” I got on the trail about 1130 and my body was grumpy. It must be from the crappy food I ate; when am I going to learn? Movie Popcorn and McDonalds do not make for a good hiking day the next day/ It was all I could do to keep going. I felt like a slug but eventually my system cleared out and I got up to a good pace. I knew the Scarlet Seven (-3) were going to be at the shelter right before the summit and I figured I might stop there. You’re not supposed to camp at the summit right now but I wanted to pull a stealth camp up there and film the sunset. When I got the shelter I had other ideas and I decided to stay there. Those guys built the biggest fire I have ever seen in a three foot fire pit. They piled HUGE logs on it and it’ll still be burning in the morning I am sure. I’m typing right now and am the last one up and it’s still going strong. All coals though, no flames. It looks like I’ll get into Williamstown on schedule tomorrow. It’s going to be cool to be in a town with my name. Maybe they’ll let me take over for a while. Right before I get in to town I’ll be climbing over Mt. Williams. That ought to be cool. I’ll have to get a picture of me on my mountain. My back is starting to hurt from sleeping on the floor and typing at this picnic table. I gotta go to bed. Have a good one. It looks like I have some service here but I don’t think I’m going to post cause I need some sleep. Well, maybe…

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
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Why am I still in Dalton?

Still Hangin around

Still in Dalton at Tom’s House: 0 Miles

I rolled over a hundred times this morning, I did not want to get up. The floor was hardly comfortable but Tom had no trees in his yard to hang my hammock. My arms and legs and hip kept going to sleep and then I would roll over or something and they would hurt as they came back to life. You should have seen it; I forgot to take a picture, there were about 15 tents pitched in his backyard. A bunch of people Slack-Packed over Mt. Greylock but I just couldn’t get it going to even do that. Slack-Packing is when you leave your backpack at Tom’s house and he drives you 25 miles up the trail and you walk back to his house with just a water bottle and some trail mix. People like to do that over tough terrain like Mt. Greylock. I got out of bed and walked down to the local place for breakfast and it was great. There were a bunch of old guys in there just BSing and I felt like it must be a cool place to hang out. I just couldn’t get out of Dalton. I went out with Tom and Fire and Wing-it to do some errands and see if I could get some internet. When we got back I had planned to get off my ass and go to at least Cheshire but the Scarlet Seven (-3) sucked me in by telling me that Tom was going to take them to the movies. I was really disappointed when they said they were going to go see “Get Smart” and then I looked for the times for Hancock and it wasn’t going to work but I decided what the hell, just Zero and go see the movie, I needed to get an HDV Tape Head Cleaner at Radio Shack anyway. The movie was OK. It definitely had its moments; but, I’ll bet Hancock is better. I also managed to get my hands on a Double Quarter-Pounder with Cheese, Ahhh, I love those things! We got back and watched some weird paranormal crap on the TV and I played guitar for a while before going to the dungeon to sleep on the floor again. It sucked. I should have gotten back on the trail. I will say this; Tom is an awesome dude. He had so many people in his house and he drove everyone around and he asked for nothing. He puts a ton of miles on his car just helping people out and shuttling them to different parts of the trail so they can slack-pack and get to the post office and the mall or wherever. He’s a very cool dude and I’m glad I met him; however, I really wish I would have just walked right through Dalton. I keep getting sidetracked and I’m going to fall behind schedule. At least I managed not to spend hardly any money. Usually these towns suck up a bunch of dough as well as your time. Tomorrow I’m definitely getting the hell out of here and I’ll try to summit Mt. Greylock and get to Williamstown by Wednesday.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
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Tom takes care of everything

Don't eat this one!

Cookie Lady’s House to Dalton MA: 10 Miles - Total Miles: 735.2

Damn came and with it Rufus; barking at the dawn and rousing the Mosquitoes with it. Damn you Rufus and Damn the Dawn! Actually there was this really beautiful sunrise that came in through the bug net in my hammock. I would have taken a picture of it but that would have meant getting up and getting out of my haven and then getting back in and blah blah blah. I enjoyed it sans documentation. We only had about 10 miles to Dalton and planned on staying there so we were in no hurry to get out of there. Eventually we packed up and split and made our way into Dalton over a few mountains that seemed to just go by without notice. As I came in to Dalton there were some trail Magic Sodas in a box by the railroad and I grabbed an orange soda. I was walking down the street and suddenly there were all these trekking poles in this one lawn. I looked on the porch and about ten hikers were there: Snake; Whitefish, Top Hat, Papa Bear and the Preacher Boys, Bruhawk and Magnus; and a few others. The man whose house it was, Tom, was out taking some people to get hoagies but the Scarlet Seven (-3) showed up and Tom came by and he invited us to stay at his house I got a shower and more and more people showed up. I weighed myself and I was 170 with Boots on. That means I’m about 165. That means I have lost about 30 lbs since May! Holy Crap! I borrowed a bike and went down to get lunch and cruise around a little. Most of the guys were getting hammered. I wasn’t feelin’ it so I went o take care of some electronics. I should have blown through Dalton and gone on to Cheshire. Oh well, tomorrow I will go get some lunch in Cheshire and go through to Mt. Greylock. The Scarlet Seven (-3) is making a credible case for Zero and I’ll resist as well as I can but something tells me that the Movie Theatre with “Hancock” playing in it might have too strong an appeal. I heard there’s a mall too. Oh God, give me the strength to resist the Scarlet Seven (-3). I got back and everyone was wasted, well, not everyone but suddenly there were rumors of a trip to the Old Country Buffet. There were about twenty people that wanted to go. Tom was very accommodating and he was driving everyone everywhere and took two carloads of people to the buffet. I was full on about one and a half plates believe it or not. I ran to the supermarket across the street and tried to find instant coffee packets and Propel packets but they only had the Propel so I snatched it up and ran back before Tom took the last car back.. I tried to get internet access but to no avail. There was no cell phone access again. I went to the local bar and no dice there either but I did get to type out some blogs, I’ll post later. I slept in the basement on the floor and it was very dark in there. It’s strange to have a headlamp on you all the time. It really comes in handy.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
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The Cookie Lady’s House

Upper Goose Pond Cabin to The Cookie Lady’s House: 11 miles

Breakfast was pancakes and I had twelve, tying the record with Rabbit who had twelve and left immediately for the trail. I broke his record for staying at the lodge by staying there until about 10:30 with the Scarlet Seven (-3) and they invited me to join them for a roadside lunch of hoagies from their friend who was coming to visit them and bringing chow. I really wanted to move on but it just seemed like the right thing to do. I was having a hard time leaving the cabin because there was a trail crew who had come to chop down a HUGE tree that had been lightning struck last month and was leaning perilously over the cabin. The guys who came to cut it down were definitely not seasoned tree cutters and I REALLY wanted to film the whole thing; sure that there would be plenty of interesting content and possible devastation and YouTube-Worthy Drama. The tug of the trail was overpowering and eventually won out. I did go swimming in the morning though. It was great just to loaf around; alone in a huge pond that didn’t even have a ripple in it when I broke the surface. I filmed myself “logging in” which was basically crawling into the water and floating like a log for a minute or two. When we finally go ton the trail, it was a sluggish start. I think it was all the syrup or something but I just didn’t want to move. Luckily it was only a mile or two to the road where they were meeting us with the hoagies. We ate and got back on the trail. I like hiking with the Scarlet Seven(-3), they have a good vibe. They go about the same pace as I do too, except when they get near a town and then they fly down the trail like Massachusetts Mosquitoes. The trail was pretty easy with one good climb after we ate at US 20. We passed Finerty Pond and I really wanted to find a place to jump in but it was too swampy around the edges. I’m starting to really like the idea of jumping in ponds lately. It’s awesome to be all sweaty from hiking and just jump in for a couple minutes and then get back on the trail and keep hiking. We passed October Mountain Lean-to and there were some fellas there with a whole lot of character. I was glad we were stopping somewhere else. I did meet a cool Luthier who worked for Ovation and Guild Guitars and I hope we get a chance to talk after this expedition. We decided to push all the way to The Cookie Lady’s House which was on Pittsfield road. We didn’t know what to expect but we figured it had water from a spigot and camping in the back yard so it would be better than a shelter. When we got there, no one was there except for Rufus the dog who looked like a little golden retriever, maybe a chow mix. The only way we knew his name was Rufus was that there was a sign on the wall that said, “don’t feed any cookuies to Rufus.” He took forever to warm up to us and was really rude to us until Roy drove up. Then he was suddenly all lovey-dovey. I think he knew we were going to get some cookies. Roy was a very cool cat and we discovered that his back yard, which was a very long strip of grass, was actually a landing strip for his airplane. He had a blueberry farm and although they weren’t ripe yet, you could smell the berries brewing. At sundown the Mosquitoes came out and I know I have been talking a lot about the Mosquitoes lately but I absolutely cannot believe the tenacity of these guys! It was the worst yet. Out of nowhere they appeared like a swarm of killer bees, attacking any bare skin and hitting your face over and over again. Then they would attack you through your clothes. There would be ten or twenty of them on you at a time. We frantically hustled to get our stuff together and get in our tents where we might find a brief respite from the hive. I got in my tent as quickly as I could and I turned on the light. There were at least twelve of those bastards in there with me. It took me five or ten minutes to kill them all except for this one last bloodsucker who kept waiting for me to forget she was there. Obviously she didn’t know about me. Oh wait maybe she did. My memory sucks. Nevertheless, I got her stone cold against the netting and read a little (just to make sure another one didn’t appear) and got some sleep. It was cold so I kept my clothes on.

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
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Takin’ a short one for the Goose Pond

Upper Goose Pond

Shaker Campsite to Upper Goose Pond Cabin: 10 Miles

I got up late but so did Moses so I felt better about myself. It got really cold last night and I was naked in the hammock so I slept like crap. I don’t like sleeping naked in the hammock but it was hot when I went to bed. I just couldn’t get warm and I wasn;t about to get out of the hammock. I just kept rolling around in different positions, trying to find one that would miraculously warm me up. It’s so weird that I’ll be freezing but still be damp from sweat in the hammock which makes me colder. I gotta remember to always wear clothes from now on. Me and Moses BSd from about an hour and I took my time getting ready. Even HE beat me out of camp. I don’t think I got out of there until like 1030. I was going to have to hustle like crazy if I was going to get to the cookie lady’s house at about 21 miles. There were a couple of tough climbs too. If I could only get up the big hills I’d have it made for the rest of the day. There was a shelter at a big pond about 10 miles up where you could go swimming but it was a half a mile off trail and I didn’t feel like walking an extra mile on a 21 mile day. I wasn’t sure if the cookie lady was even going to be there but it would put me a short day into Dalton MA and I could get some laundry and re-supply there. If you are going to be in a town on a Saturday night you want to make sure you get in early enough to wash your clothes early enough to smell human and go to dinner. As I was getting near the top of the hills I ran into Pine Knot. I’ve been hearing about her for a while but I haven’t met her yet so I stopped to talk to her for a while. It was going to make it close time wise but I had a pretty easy hike. As I got near to the turn off to that pond. I nice dip started to sound great and then out of nowhere it started to drizzle and the Mosquitoes were coming out. I decided a half mile to the cabin might be nice to wait out the rain and cook a little lunch and see what’s what, maybe take a dip in the pond in the rain. I like swimming in the rain. It’s one of those things that Moms tell you never to do; which is usually my first requirement for liking something. Swimming in the rain has its hazards; like lightning for instance, and swimming in the rain in a pond at the top of a mountain is probably a really dumb idea but there were lots of tall trees around so I wasn’t really worried too much. I got to the cabin which was being caretaken by two really cool people; Mama Lipton and her husband whose name escapes me right now. Indy was here already and had stayed the night last night. The scarlet four showed up (yep, another one bit the dust) and a few more people showed up. There are 16 bunks here and this place is really cool. Mama Lipton makes pancakes in the morning and of course, after a dip in the pond and some ramen and tuna, I decided to stay the night. Oh well, 21 miles tomorrow to get to Dalton. Piece of cake JDavid AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
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Hiking for fun and enjoyment

Corn Crib / US7 to Shaker Campsite 17.7 Miles

I got up late as usual and didn’t get on the trail until about 9:30 or something like that. Corn Crib was cool; I got to take a shower and charge everything for free. The price of soda and ice cream was a little exorbitant; however, I got to take a shower, hitch into town, charge everything, refill with good water all for free so it was definitely worth it. The climb out was rough but it was very windy and dry so the bugs were not killing me (until later)Shakedown took off way early and by the time I got out of my hammock even the scarlet five were gone. Bruhawk and Magnus were there and a few other left their packs cause they went into town for breakfast or something. I climbed up to Tom Leonard Lean-to and decided to start a fire and cook some lunch for a change. I normally just eat trail mix all day but I figured what the hell. I got into my crocs and wennt down this huge ravine into “Ice Gulch” to get my water. I had also started a little fire to repel the mosquitoes that had been buggin’ me as the day went on. I like to make a nice smoky fire at first and let them know I mean business and they generally go away after that. Every once in a while you have to throw something wet or green on there to smoke it up some more and drive them away. When I got back from getting the water I noticed there were a bunch of people doing something in the woods near the shelter and it turned out to be a volunteer crew of 16 year olds who were working for the ATC for a week, just camping and fixing trails and stuff. I thought that was so cool! I was running a little late but the day was turning out to be a perfect day for hiking. Brisk wind and hot sun keep the bugs away and since you are mostly in the trees you stay pretty cool. I wish they were all like this. When I left in the morning I had two foot issues; my left big toe has something infected, probably from the pounding it takes when I don’t lift my foot high enough and kick boulders, so I squeezed it out and sanitized it. That was a little sore. My right foot had gotten a mosquito bite on the top of my foot and from it being raised and all of the rubbing from the boots, it had my whole top of my foot ripped open so I sanitized that too while I laid my socks in the sun to dry. My Gregory Pack has broken again; but I love this pack, even though it’s broken twice I have to say I would still get another one (and I am) because I figured out a way to keep it from breaking again and even broken, it still works and that is the essence of BrotherPROOF. If you can break something but it still works, then it’s still BrotherPROOF. Granted, it doesn’t work as well as it did before but it didn’t leave me stranded out there with no hips strap. I talked to the pro deal guy, George and offered a suggestion of how to keep this from happening and we’ll see if it works. The Whitney pack is a really well designed pack and it’s so comfortable for someone like me who is carrying a lot of weight. Part of the problem is that I have gotten a lot skinnier on this trip and I have to crank the hip belt way down, probably tighter than it is meant to go. Anyway, I got back on the trail and I was intending to do a bunch of miles but it looked like I was gong to run out of time. I decided on a campsite and I got there when it was still light out. There was a fire smoldering and a guy all wrapped in blankets on a tent platform and I though tit might be Windjammer so I said, “Hey Dave is that you?” There was no response from the pile of Mexican blanket and so I went about setting up and stoking the fire. You would not believe the kind of Kamikaze Mosquitoes they had there. I didn’t realize it but there was a lot of water nearby and these guys were hungry and not playing any games. They came flying right in and had their proboscises planted even before they had a foothold. They just came diving right in and even had the balls to bit my fingers! It was crazy, The bundle of blankets finally rustled and out came Moses, whose name was also Dave. He kind of looked like an old Indian with gray hair put up in two braids and a kind of handlebar mustache. You could tell he wasn’t a thru-hiker ‘cause he had a mixture of cumbersome gear like a regular school backpack and a jigsaw and a blanket instead of a sleeping bag. I was assuming he was a homeless guy on the trail. You see a few of those guys just eating stuff they find and hiking randomly from place to place, sometimes hitchhiking and sometimes walking. I was a little worried cause you never know what kind of people you will meet out here. It turned out that he was pretty cool; on sabbatical from a construction job, he decided he’d walk home… to Missouri. Wow! Anyway, he had a lot of questions about thru-hiking and we talked all night. I gave him my map because I would only have needed that section for another day anyway and he didn’t have anything for the southbound trip. I supped and set up and finally got to bed. I was hoping to get up early tomorrow and hike a long day but I think we all know what’s really going to happen. I’ll be in camp until noon probably.

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
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Corn Crib Plantation and Mosquito Farm

Laurel Ridge Campsite to Corn Crib US7 Massachusetts 13 miles

I got up late and t he preacher boys were already gone. They get up as some ungodly hour, actually they are very devout so I suppose it’s a Godly hour, I must get up at an ungodly hour cause I get up LATE. I managed to finally get out of the hammock at 0730 but I didn’t get on the trail until about 0930. As usual I had some 20 mile aspirations. The day started off slow but at least the Bugs seemed to have stayed in bed. There were a few big climbs on the docket for today, Race Mountain and Mt Everett. Both over 2000 feet, which isn’t that high except you start at 900 feet and they are rigyht after each other so there is definitely some sweating involved. I think I wrang my socks out four times today. God I need gaiters but I can never find an outfitter that has them and I just can’t convince my self to have them shipped to me. Race mountain had some great views and some even greater Blueberry patches. I ate a lot of Wild Blueberries today. They are EVERYWHERE and they are so blue. They are sitting ther just looking at you like a kid with little innocent blue eyes saying, “Pick me! Pick Me!” sometimes I can heaven hear them say, “We’re delicious Dave! Pick us and eat us all day long! What’s the use of walking 20 miles with a 55 pound pack if you don’t even stop to enjoy a delicious Blueberry once in a while?” They really say that, I hear them, really I do! After sampling blueberries above and below 2000 feet I have to say the ones above 2000 feet taste better. Especially on the climb up since I have to actually take a break to pick them. I ran into Riddler and the Scarlet 7 who are now the Scarlet 5 but I hadn’t seen them since the Day Doug got off trail so they told me about this place with ice cream and you can camp in their back yard called “Corn Crib” so that became my new destination. Just after they left me it decided to rain a little bit; just enough to bring out the bastards. They came out in full force and the slippery rocks and biting bastards were a hard pill to swallow, especially when I had just set my mind of ice cream and a refreshing night in a field. The rain stopped but the damage was already done. I was walking in puddles in my boots before long and at some point I lost my reference papers with the mileages on it so I had no idea when I was at the right road. It was very frustrating; not to mention the bastards were going crazy on my arms and legs. Horseflies, deer flies and mosquitoes reinforced by Kamikaze Gnats assaulted my position no matter how fast I moved. It was ridiculous and each time I came to a road I didn’t know if it was the right one. Finally I arrived at US7 and I could tell it was the right one. I saw some businesses in the distance and I took a chance in the right direction. Sure enough I was greeted by the Preacher Boys and Papa Bear along with the Scarlet 5 all eating pints of Ice Cream. It was like some kind of wonderful dream. I didn’t have to pinch myself though; soon a horsefly did the trick for me and my reverie was shattered. I put on some pants so as not to offend the proprietor and went in to get a pint of Peppermint Ice Cream and a Ginger Ale. Ahhhh the good life! Eventually I set up camp and washed off with a hose and hitched a ride into Great Barrington, MA from a guy names Chris; no, Brian. Shit! I can’t remember. Great Barrington is a really cool town. I needed some stuff from the outfitter and I got there 5 minutes after they had closed. The door was open a crack and I pushed in and asked if they would help out an AT Thru-Hiker who had to hitch in. They said yes but they didn’t have any gaiters, DAMN! Oh well, I got some fuel and some maps since I lost my papers I would need them. I let and went to get a burger at this really cool place whose name I can’t remember, Hang on I’ll look it up. Something with an “H” and they have jazz and Blues but not tonight, DAMN! Oh well, the burger was really good and the fries were Damn Good. Oh yeah Club Helsinki, I think… Then I cruised around town and almost watched a movie but I wanted to get back so I hitched a ride back to the Corn Crib from a guy I think his name was Dale. I got my hammock set up and Shaledown Cruise Showed up with my papers that he found on the trail SWEET! I went and used the shower and started blogging and charging stuff. Tons of hikers started showing up, I can’t remember their names but I’ll get hem tomorrow. Now I’m going to bed and I’ll talk to you later. I’m going to try to get to Dalton MA by this weekend but it’ll probably be more like Sunday or Monday. I’ll probably get to upload again at that time, in the meantime, thanks for reading and please don’t forget, if you’re digging the blog and the videos, please help to support it by making a donation at http://www.wbafinc.org/ Thanks guys and good night!

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
Website
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Library captivation and back on the trail

Salisbury to Laurel Ridge Campsite 10 miles

I got stuck in Salisbury all day and I almost didn’t make it out. I was at the library for about 4 hours posting blogs and checking email. Then I went down to the store and got a sandwich and kept running into people to talk to. I didn’t get on the trail until about 4PM and I had wanted to do a 20 mile day but that was definitely out. I’d be lucky to get 10, even if maria drove me to the trailhead. She offered to drive me up to another trailhead further on (I suppose she had done this for other people) but I’m a purist and I said I would have to go back to where I came off, even if it would avoid six miles and one hell of a mountain (Lion Head) that I would have to climb. I wasn’t sure how far I would get tonight; but I would at least get some miles in and be ON the trail. It’s so hard to get out of town but I think I won’t take any zeros until my birthday. I haven’t had a zero since Unionville back on June 27th or something like that. Bruhawk and Magnus passed me up and told me they were going to some campsite. When I got there I didn’t see anyone and it looked foreboding so I decided to get to the next campsite. There was no way I was going to make a shelter before nightfall; but, there was another campsite about 1.5 miles ahead. I would barely make the campsite before nightfall; but, at least I’d be up in the hills instead of down in Mosquitoville next to a brook. Besides, there were a lot of signs about bears and I think we all know how I feel about bears. I rushed up to the next place and it was wet and muggy and buggy and hard. I rolled in to the site just before dark and had to set up my stuff in the dark but Papa Bear and the Preacher boys were there along with about 10 YMCA girls from New York or something. The girls were there for a week or something, doing some really short sections. Three of them came by late with a huge bag of mini M&Ms for us and the boys sang them a cool song. Entertainment is at a premium out here. I finally got a place to hang my hammock and I crashed out. I didn’t even eat dinner. I know I’m going to be losing a lot of weight over the next few weeks. Without my bros to keep me on schedule, I like to roll in late and when I do I don’t get eats, I just crash and worry about it in the morning. I’m more concerned about deer ticks than I am starving.

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
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Maria Francesca Maier and her Husbands

Maria Francesca Maier and her Husbands
Pine Swamp Shelter to Maria’s House, Salisbury, CT 17 Miles

The night was great. The temperature was nice and I slept well. The Mosquitoes were so dense in the area that you could hear a hum emanating from everywhere. I woke up and there were several Mosquitoes sitting on my tent fly, presumably waiting for my exit to seize upon any bare skin or even clothed skin that they can fit their proboscises through. I have been bitten through two layers of clothing several times in the last few days but today took the cake. My back felt fine and I decided to try and go it without any acetaminophen. When I’m in camp I wear long clothing including an anti-mosquito sweatshirt that covers my hands too. It’s a pretty effective system but the Mosquitoes have been known to bite through the pants and my thick wool socks, believe it or not. I don it like a beekeeper’s suit as soon as I get washed up in camp and I don’t take it off except in my tent or just before I take off in the morning. I suit up before I slip out of my hammock and it’s pretty effective. The swarm was on me all morning; in fact, I thought it was because of my proximity to the swamp so I moved on without eating breakfast. I managed to get out of camp with only ten or twelve bites. I probably killed twenty of the bastards but for some reason they are very tough to kill even though they fly pretty slow. I got on the trail and it was damp everywhere. This rain has been causing a lot of problems. The Mosquitoes are absolutely unbelievable. I’m moving at an average of three miles an hour, that’s a pretty fast walk even without a pack and these guys are biting me at will. Right through my Under Armor, my hat, my legs are fair game even though they are always moving. There are deer flies and green head flies too which were landing on my hat and biting me through it. It makes me move faster up the hills and as soon as I’m out of breath and slow down, BAM! They’re on me again. It’s dangerous trying to hike up these crazy hills with poles attached to my hands and trying to slap my arms and legs as I walk over treacherous and slippery rocks. Every once in a while a pole will fly between my legs or catch on a tree and jerk me around because I was trying to defend myself against the hoards. It was a tough day with the bloodsuckers and the kamikaze gnats that seem to aim right for my eyeballs just as I’m about to go over a technical rock field or down some ridiculous decline. I’m going to have to start wearing my Natives again. Hopefully that will help. I was trying for Salisbury CT to get a few items and possibly stay in a real bed for the first time in over a week and although it was only 16 miles, it seemed pretty long. I had to use a Privy something fierce and there just weren’t any anywhere so I had to pull a stealth deposit off-trail and I got bit EVERYWHERE. It was horrible. I got in to Salisbury around 4PM and walked in to town to get a sandwich at the local deli. Thank God I’m in the Northeast. Sandwiches are marvelous here and the delis have great food. Oh how I have missed thee, fair East Coast of my Youth! I got a hold of Maria Francesca Maier, a woman who puts up hikers at her house and she’s a hoot. She’s an eighty-year-old woman, originally from Germany/Italy/Austria area, with two former husbands and lots of ex boyfriends in the local cemetery, she drove by her last husband’s grave just to show him she had three men in the car with her. Ha! She’s crazy and I have had a great time here. You have to hear her Austrian accent as she rants about this undt dat. She took us to the local Laundromat and rushed back to see her favorite TV Show, then she came to pick us up after we ate at the pizza place (Which had a great Calzone By the way…) and she rushed back because it was during a break in her show. She said, “Isn’t this crazy? I’m going crazy about some stupid TV show! I know she’s going to pick the one with the snow thing but she really should pick the one with the boy.” I haven’t seen “The Bachelorette.” I guess tonight was the finale and Maria wasn’t very happy with the Bachelorette’s choice. We sat up and hung out for a while and I sat down to blog. Hopefully I’ll get to the library or something tomorrow so I can post these. I also have to write a few articles about some things I have wanted to rant about: Pretzels and Mosquitoes. It is definitely more expensive in The North to stay in hostels and people’s houses. Maria’s wasn't bad but Down South you could stay in a hostel or someone’s house for 10 or 20 bucks while here I’ve seen signs for 75 bucks per person and it stipulates: “one load of laundry.” I’m staying in the woods as often as I can but tonight I was just plain tuckered out and I’ve been trying to get internet access so I can put up all these blogs. Tomorrow is the climb up to Mt Everett which we have been calling “Everest” since it’s one of the highest mountains around here. I haven’t had a 2000 foot climb in a while so tomorrow will be testing my mettle. On one hand I hope the sun dries up all the Mosquitoes and on the other hand I hope it’s overcast so I don’t lose a gallon of water sweating all over Connecticut. What do you do with one hot hand and one wet hand? Rub them together!

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Naked Mosquito Dance

Stewart Hollow Lean-to to Cornwall bridge to Pine Swamp Brook Lean-to: 11 miles

I slept OK considering my back. The hammock was probably the best alternative on the trail but I sure could have used a nice bed to lay belly down and let it just relax. I could have used some Tylenol or something too but I don’t carry any of that stuff. It was pretty sore all morning and I took a while to get my stuff together. It was about a 4 mile hike to get to a road which went into a little “town” called Cornwall Bridge, which consists basically of a package store (alcohol) a fishing outfitter, a general store and a few other weekday businesses like a chainsaw repair shop or something like that. I walked the 9/10 of a mile in to the general store and saw the Preacher boys with Papa Bear and Mama Bear; Shakedown Cruise was there; along with Cat, Indy and Zeke. They had a deli in the general store where I picked up a huge Hoagie (they call them “Grinders” here). We sat around for a couple of hours. I wanted to let my back get a rest and so I blogged a bunch but no signal so I couldn’t post them. I was only planning on doing a 6 mile hike in to the next shelter anyway. I picked up some Generic Acetaminophen and took a few. I couldn’t believe how much it helped. I very rarely take stuff like that but it fixed me all up. Later, while I was climbing I was cruising and didn’t feel a thing until the sun went down. Maybe it was laced with some other stuff… The climbs were definitely significant but I felt great and went right up them; plus, I had half a hoagie left that I was saving for dinner Yee haw! I couldn’t wait. The Mosquitoes are unbelievable. If you stop for a minute they are on you. They were part of the reason I was cruising so fast. I’ve never seen anything like it. Beset by Mosquitoes I moved on! From now on I’ll be talking about two types of mosquitoes. There are mosquitoes and there are Mosquitoes. Today I was marauded by Mosquitoes. When I got to the shelter it was even worse. The shelter is called Pine Swamp Brook Lean-to and anywhere there is a sign that says “Swamp” that’s basically short for “MOSQUITOES.” The water source was brown; full of tannic acid from the leaves in the water. At least, I think that’s why it’s brown. It almost looks like Iced Tea. It’s clear but it’s brown and I don’t like using it. I’ll have to figure out whether it’s safe or what. I went down to the brook and washed up. I wash standing in the middle of the swamp stark naked, dancing on the mossy bank, trying to swat Mosquitoes and get my pants on at the same time. Next time I’ll film it. Cat and Indy were up at the shelter and we all got in our tents at dusk just to get away from the marauders.

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Drunk Skunk and a Broken Back

Mt Algo Lean-to to Kent to Stewart Hollow Brook Lean-to. 8 miles

It rained like a mother last night again. My tent was great though and nothing got wet. There was a lot of tree cover but still there was a thundering cacophony on my rain fly. I got up early and tried to beat everyone in to the town. I didn’t want to miss any washer and dryer spaces on account of lassitude on my part. I caught up with Jukebox and Wet Sox and we all walked to the Laundromat. It was great, I washed up a little in the bathroom and rinsed my stuff out before I threw it in the washer. I also washed my sleeping bag. They had showers but you had to purchase a one day pass to the local gym sort of thing. Oh well. The outfitter had nothing I could use. I almost wish I had skipped Kent and just gone ahead and gotten to Salisbury. I had a great burger at Carolee’s restaurant and blogged a little but I couldn’t get online to post it. If you need anything in the town of Kent, you had better find Carolee. She’s got the Restaurant, she owns the Laundromat, the Curves fitness center and she’s also the Ambulance Driver. When I settle down in a small town, whatever happens, I want to be the ambulance driver. I got to see her do all of those things in one day. I saw her at the Laundromat, got a me4mbership from her at the shower, saw her when I got a burger and then as I was trying to make a call on the cell phone on my way out of town, the ambulance came screaming past and I was about to yell out an expletive to the driver when I saw that it was Carolee! I smiled and waved and got my 2 ounces of fuel at the outfitter. That outfitter was EXPENSIVE and didn’t really have practical stuff for a thru-hiker. Just weekend camper stuff and the really expensive camping attire. You know, fashionable stuff from Patagonia and North Face and stuff that looks great in the mall and on your speed walking trek around the neighbors’ windows but as far as thru-hiking, they didn’t have much I could use, except for fuel. The guy was nice enough though. I wish they had pack hooks outside though. That would have been nice. I look for them everywhere now: a place to hang my stinky pack. I ended up having to hustle out of town after they closed the restaurant where I was typing. I didn’t realize it had gotten so late! I had 7 miles to go to the next shelter and that doesn’t count the half a mile out of town to the trail. I didn’t manage to get out of town until about 5 something and the trail was rough in the beginning. Eventually it leveled out and followed the Housatonic River for a while. I ran into a skunk that was having some serious equilibrium problems. I thought maybe he had been bitten by a rattlesnake or ate a funky mushroom or maybe had some of those brain worms or something. Regardless; I was concerned for my olfactorial well-being and so I filmed it from a distance and scooted past when I could. The skunk was falling all over the place and sleeping and whatever. There was a good climb up to Caleb’s Mountain and shortly thereafter was a horrible descent from a place called St John’s Ledges. I’m so glad I didn’t have to climb UP that bastard. It was unbelievable! I was Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing the Halleluiah Chorus glad that I was going DOWN that bastard. The world was still damp from all the rain and it was very hard to maintain footing on the wet leaves and slick, mossy rocks. It was like some sick, twisted, rock staircase that took longer to go down than it would to go up. My pack shifted sickeningly as I went from foot to foot down the treacherous pointy rocks, slipping and reaching out for trees and stopping to figure out how I would navigate the next five-foot section. Near the bottom, it happened. I fell, and it was a bad one. I was on this smooth rock that was about the size of a Lincoln Continental on a 30 degree slant. Suddenly I started to slide. It wasn’t one of those kind of slip a little slides, it was an accelerating oh shit slide. I saw that there was about a five foot drop at the end and I prepared myself for the drop by promptly falling flat on my ass. This didn’t stop the acceleration like I thought it would, rather, just put me a little closer to the ground. I launched off the end and my feet hit the ground. My original idea was to stop; however, the hill and my boots had other plans. I launched out over the hill and bounded frantically from foot to foot, screaming as I landed each time. Like a beginner skier in a dense mogul field, I avoided disaster about five times before I realized I was inexorably heading toward a large tree. I couldn’t stop, in fact, I just kept falling faster down the hill. The pack was too heavy and I knew I was going to have to ditch or get smashed eventually by a tree or a rock or worse, tumble over the next rock field that was coming up. I took a dive in the least rocky section I accidentally saw and tumbled with a roar as I came to stop in a cascade of exploding dirt, leaves and rubble. The pack was on top of me and I was having trouble breathing. For a moment, even the chipmunks were silent in anticipation. I took a few breaths and contemplated my fate for a moment. Strangely enough, I heard a distant voice inquire, “Are you hurt? Do you need help?” I replied that I didn’t really know yet but I thought I was OK. I seemed to have all my parts and they seemed to be working in roughly the same way as they did before the fall. I had to get up though. My back felt funny and the pack was kind of holding me down, not to mention I was still on a steep slope, held aloft by the large divot my body made when I went down. I felt like an asteroid come to Earth, only more embarrassed. I wonder if asteroids would be embarrassed to land on earth instead of continuing on their way and hurtling through space? I let that thought go. It was tough to lift myself with the pack on and not go hurtling down the slope some more but I managed to get up with flotsam and jetsam all over my body. I did a little inventory and seemed to be ok except for a small raspberry on my left knee. My back seemed sore too. I hoped I didn’t break a rib and I shakily continued down. This Rock-Climber guy came up to me out of nowhere and asked about my welfare. He said they had some first aid stuff and I told him I thought I would be OK. He followed me down for a while and then disappeared off some side trail. As I walked my back began to ache more and more and I started to worry about it. Will the injuries never end? I got in to the camp late and it was dark. The blazes along the river were sporadic and sometimes non-existent. I backtracked a few times just to find out I was on the right trail in the first place. They need to get some more paint out here in Connecticut. Cat and her Dad, Zeke were at the shelter with Shakedown Cruise and Jukebox and Wet Sox. There were two young guys from Texas there too, just camping and stuff. I set up in the dark and ate some ramen and tuna. I hope to get some sleep and I hope when I wake up, my back isn’t worse. We’ll see

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Escape from New York

Telephone Shelter to Mt Algo Shelter 21 Miles

I got up and the world was wet. I decided to put on my rain pants so I would avoid all the wetness from passing brush and plants from dripping water straight into my boots. It was a damn good idea; although, it was sweaty and my socks got drenched anyway. I had no way to keep my feet dry and I was afraid they would start to blister again because they get vulnerable after they’ve been pruney for a couple of days. I would get six or seven miles and then have to wring the socks out and air my feet a little before I would get back on it for a while. Time was looking good for me to get in to Kent before Sundown but I figured everything would be closed and then I still had Schaghticoke (sheh-ti-ko) mountain to climb. It didn’t look to bad though, only a 1000 vertical climb and then the book said it went down again a thousand feet to Algo Shelter. It was going to be a long day but I might be able to get to see some fireworks and wash some clothes. This is what I thought but this is not what happened. The climb up to Shaghticoke was tough and I didn’t have the rest of the map all the way in to Kent. The guidebook gave elevations that only showed declining altitude into Algo but there were climbs in between that it didn’t show; Big Climbs and totally pointless ups and downs. You would follow a ridge line and instead of hiking up on top of it you would go up and down and up and down along it. I was getting so pissed off. Then there was this heart thundering climb to nowhere and an agonizing descent. The Appalachian Trail Council says they blaze the trail to be scenic but these guys had pain in mind. You could tell it was for no other reason than to make it a challenging hike. This wasn’t helping me to get in to Kent on time. I would have to stop at the shelter. I was really hoping to spend the 4th, telling war stories and hanging out with a bunch of folks from town. I was also hoping for a little gratuitous hot dog and hamburger action from a passing picnic or two. When I got to the shelter Papa Bear and the Preacher boys were there with their wife/mom. He said, “I got the best trail magic: My Wife!” They gave me some of their dinner which was delicious and it looked like some serious rain was coming. I set up in the dark and didn’t bother to hang a bear bag. I just stuffed it in my pack and prayed for the best. My feet are soggy and pruney and they won’t get any drier tonight that’s for sure. I’ll get in to Kent in the morning and finish as much as I can before trying to hike some more in the afternoon. It’s interesting how holidays don’t seem to matter much while I’m on the trail. There’s too much stuff that has to be done and all the rest of the time is spent sleeping or playing the guitar before bed. Wet Sox and Jukebox went in to town and then came back. They said there were no fireworks so at least I didn’t miss that. I was wondering what people back home would be doing, what I was missing out on, and it occurred to me that I really didn’t care. Maybe all this rain is just depressing me. I’m either soaked from sweat or soaked from the rain so it really shouldn’t matter to me either way. I just really need to find a way to keep my feet dry so I can walk further.

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

New York Wandering

Train to NYC

RPH Shelter to Telephone Shelter 17.5 miles

I got up early and headed out. I had a long day ahead. I wanted to get to the Appalachian Trail Station that goes in to NYC which was about 20 miles away. I was hoping to make it to Kent, Connecticut by Friday for the Fourth of July festivities and I have 43 miles to go in two days but it will be tough to get there in time to get anything done, especially because everything will probably close early for the holiday. Cat and Indy came through before I got out of there. I ran into them up the trail at Morgan Stwart Shelter and her father had joined them from one of the roads there. I got some water and rolled on. There are a lot of these old school metal pumps that you can pump for water but there are these little signs on them saying that “from time to time, samples from this well has shown trace amounts of Total Coliform Bacteria.” Now there is a vote of confidence for you! I sterilized the water and took off. New York has been pretty chill since Rt 301. The first half of the state had difficult terrain that was hard to maintain a good pace on. The blazes were all in weird places or too spaced out and sometimes they were so faded you had no idea if you were on the right trail. You can’t get up a good pace if you have to keep backtracking to make sure you didn’t miss a turn. The ground was very difficult to walk on and then the rain made it much worse. It gets pretty dangerous on some of these sections when the rocks get all slippery and you are in a boulder field. The first half of New York was pretty horrible. There was a lot of pointless terrain that they would send you up over some ridge just to send you back again. The second half is a little easier and I can start to look up at the scenery while I hike. Water has been pretty easy to find and there are little places to get food like delis or small shops just a short distance off of the trail. I’ve been avoiding those because it blows so much time and money. I’m quickly running out of money and I hope I can make it to the end of the trail. It would suck to have to stop; not because of endurance issues, but because of money issues. I almost jumped in Nuclear Lake as I passed it but the mosquitoes are killer here. They must train these guys at West Point. They are some scout-sniper mosquitoes that follow you relentlessly as you hike. The second you pause, they are on you. They bite through my shirt, through pants and even through my hat. I’ve been getting this prickly heat kind of feeling as I hike too. I’m not sure what it is but it’s definitely annoying, actually it hurts, every once in a while I’ll get this prickly pain all over my skin. I was trying to push for the Appalachian Trail Station when it started to rain. I put on all the gear and of course I was sweating like crazy ‘cause the rain had stopped by the time I got all th gear on. I kept it on and the rain started again just as I got to the Telephone Pioneer Shelter. I decided to stop in there and Cat, her Dad, Indy, Site, and this school teacher from Trenton were there. The rain decide to pour like crazy and I decided to stay there for the night. During a lull in the downpour I set up my tent. I realized that I had lost my left croc so I was going to have to wear these soaking wet shoes around camp too. My feet would get no break or chance to get dry. As you can imagine I was pissed. Through the night it rained sporadically and I woke up at 2 am; my rainfly had a huge puddle in it. I had to go outside and release the puddle before it pulled my rain fly off completely. I tied my fly up too high on a tree. Now I know better, it could have been a flash-flood disaster but it was averted. Whew!

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Annoying Bird Alarm Clock

The Rare Appalachian Flamingo

Greymoor Friary to RPH Shelter 19 miles

The annoying birds were at it again this morning. Who needs an alarm clock when you have some freaky bird doing some weird interval that you can’t quite get and then he changes it each time just a little bit so that you have to get up out of your tent and throw a rock at it? Who needs an alarm clock when you have birds like that around at 5AM squawkin’ and makin’ a racket just outside your damn tent? Anyway, my foot felt like I might be able to walk on it pretty far today so I ate my cheese and Abruzzo Sausage with a croissant and packed up and got the heck out of there. New York has horrible blazes. Half of them are so faded you can’t tell whether or not you are actually on the trail and then the other half of the time there aren’t any blazes and you end up backtracking of rno reason just to make sure you didn’t miss a turn somewhere. Especially the section I was on today. North of Rt 301 it got a hell of a lot better but before that NY has been a real pain in the ass. My foot held up today and around 1430 I got to Canopus Lake and I walked about a mile and a half out of my way just to get a hamburger and swim in the lake. Then I met this fella by the name of Nick Beilenson who offered to give me a lift back to the trailhead. I was so happy! He also bought me a Gatorade , two frozen snickers bars and an Italian Water Ice (Lemon of course). What a guy! Thanks Nick you’re officially a “Trail Angel.” I’ll get your picture up as soon as I find a USB cable. I got back on the trail and while I was sitting on the side of the road some guy puilled up in a bus and came over to talk to me. He was pretty cool. He’s going to try the trail one of these days. His name was Rick I think. I got back on the trail by 5 with a few more hours to go to get to the RPH shelter and I was feeling good. My socks have been staying dry; I’ve been taking it easy. I ran up on Sluthammer on the trail who is finishing up a few sections. We talked so much I hardly noticed we were cruising along at like 3.5 MPH and I got to the shelter in no time. I have great cell signal and I’m going to be bale to post my blog tonight so I’m pretty happy. I’m hoping I can get into Kent by tomorrow night and catch some festivities for the 4th of July. Ahhhh! My feet are swelling up and they are killing me. I gotta go get some sleep. See you later!
Sluthammer, Nick B, Rick, Jukebox, Wet Sox,

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Zero or Hero?

Greymoor Friary to Greymoor Friary 0 miles
Zero or Hero?

I think I’m going to zero. My foot is in a lot of pain. I can barely walk on the bastard; although, I’ve been blogging and walking around a little and it gets better so I may just throw three pairs of socks on and go for 10 miles today. There’s a campsite but I’d like to make Kent, CT as soon as possible because there is an outfitter there and I need those gaiters to keep my feet dry. They make some neoprene ones that wick off of your legs so when the sweat pours down it doesn’t go into your boots. I also think I’m going to get a kilt. Walking around everywhere in my underwear is getting a lot of crazy looks. It think people are beginning to figure it out. A bunch of guys have rolled in here this morning, Mangy Mo, Goodfella, Shakedown Cruise as well as Papa Bear and the Preacher boys who I was calling The Christian Brothers and Dad and it turns out there are only three brothers and all this time I thought there were four. Hmmm. I’ll post all these blogs and see if I can get on the road. It’s supposed to rain today after 2PM: 50% chance of thunderstorms. We’ll see what three pairs of socks feels like and maybe I can get back on the trail. 1400

Ok that was at 1400, now it's 1837. It rained a little and I didn’t want to go out, then I finally said, "I'm going!" I packed up and spilled a Camelbak of water all over me and then the wind really kicked up and it looked like it was going to be bad. remembering the wondrous pizza the night before, I contemplated the possible difficulties I might encounter with a bum foot leaving at 4PM and none of the scenarios really seemed very appetizing. I decided to stick it out and get some more pizza. I popped the blister and sterilized the area. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll be god to do 18 to the next shelter. Pizza and early bed. Yeah man! Some cool people showed up:

Cat, Leggz, Indy, Windjammer

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Saint Francis of the Injured Feet

Stealth Camp to Greymoor Friary 19.6 Miles
I just wanted to sit there and wait until whatever it was outside my tent went away but then I heard another one farther down the hill from me. I was hoping they might go chase each other around so I could pack up and get the hell out of there while they battled each other in territorial combat, claws and fangs locked in mortal struggle so that they never notice the lone hiker skirt their blueberry-covered arena. I eventually mustered the emotional strength to get out of the tent to look around and a deer went bounding away. I hate being scared of a deer. Here I am all wide awake at 6AM and even out of my tent! I packed it up and got out of there by 7. Some guys passing me before I got on the trail found my headlamp on the trail, right where I pulled out my sleeping bag to look for it. Oh well, at least I got it back. There were blueberries everywhere. Only a few of them were ripe but I decided to start eating them. I could use the vitamins and stuff. Ramen and tuna and Vitamins aren’t going to cut it I think. The trail was nasty as usual. New York’s trail system seems to have been blazed by someone who really had something to prove; like, “I’ll show you guys we have tough terrain in New York even though the altitude doesn’t go over 1300 feet, I use all 1300 feet, over and over again.” The terrain was wearing on my still-wet feet and I’m getting this pain in my pad of my right foot that’s starting to feel serious. I got new boots and I don’t think they are working well with my feet. I don’t have the money to get more new boots so I’ll just deal with it until something falls off. As I was climbing Bear Mountain the automatic gunfire began. I wasn’t expecting to hear .50 cal fire and an M249 SAW going off in the woods below but it was unmistakable. Then I heard the claymores and a few grenades. I was having visions of a takeover, a coup d’etat where the Marines finally take back the country and ask me to join back up. OF COURSE! Later someone informed me that West Point is over there and I guess they were exercising their right to automatic weapons. I love that! I ate blueberries all the way up Bear mountain and the downhill into Bear Mountain The Town was extreme and the foot was really going crazy. By the time I got to the town I was limping. Fortunately there was a kid there selling Italian Ice on the promenade next to Hessian lake and I sat myself down a spell to enjoy it, paying with two of the dollar coins I got from the Soda machine in Lake Tiorati, briefly wondering once again if they were real before the kid took them, without a word to their authenticity. I got a burger and “Blue” Doritos as they call the Cool Ranch style here in New York, Ostensibly because they come in a Blue Bag VS the Red of the Nacho Cheese. Briefly I wondered if this was a regional bastardization or a freak occurrence. There is a Zoo here that the Appalachian Trail passes through. They have the blazes right there on the path that runs through the zoo, which is stocked with animals who are injured to the pint that they wouldn’t be able to make it in the wild. The bears had been put to bed and I had to sneak past the closed gate to get through but there were still people walking around so I figured it was OK. I made it through the zoo without getting stuck for too long. I’m interested in identifying the types of plants I’ve been passing, especially edible ones J The path let out at the Hudson River Bridge and I crossed it instead of staying in town there. I wanted to get toe the Friary. Greymoor Friary is an old Franciscan worship center that has housed AT Thru Hikers since 1972. They used to feed people here but at some point they discontinued that and now they offer a shelter at the ballfield that you can stay, recharge cellphones and take a cold shower, all for free. It was nice; but, a lot further from the trail than they let on and by the time I walked the 7 miles from the zoo to the Friary, I was limping badly. I hope I don’t have to zero here. I would love to see the Friary though. They have services for hikers at 7:30 PM I just couldn’t get up the oomph to go tonight but it would be something I’d like to see. In the guide book it says you can order food from a local pizza place here and we tried but their driver was absent tonight. I had already gotten it in my head to eat pizza so Magnus and I searched the internet until we found something. I got a big pepperoni pizza, wings, a salad and two bottles of Coke. We feasted like kings and the pizza was a really good East Coast Pizza. I haven’t had really good East Coast Pizza in a long time. I wish my foot wasn’t so jacked up, I’d be a lot happier right now if I didn’t think I was going to have to Zero tomorrow. The keyboard for this computer hasn’t been working very well. The USB port rarely recognizes it and I’ve been forced to wait until I can figure it out. Well, off to bed and I’ll see how the foot feels in the morning.Windjammer, Brühawk and Magnus stayed here with Toad and a couple of other guys I didn’t know

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

New York, Stealth Camping, Bathroom Laundering, and Fear Based Bear Bagging.

Wildcat Shelter NY to NY17 Arden Valley Rd 10 miles
NY17 to Stealth Campsite 8 miles
18 miles total

New York is starting to irritate me. The trails here are tough to get up to any kind of good speed because of the rocks and the constant ups and downs. The terrain is steep both up and down and you can’t really get a pace going. Whoever blazed New York had an evil sense of humor. There are many places where there’s no particular reason to go up and down, you could just follow a line just below the ridge; but no, up and down and up and down. Bastards! There were quite a few places where we were scrambling up and over rocks, foregoing our poles for handholds and clambering down backwards in some places. In one section there was a ladder to get you up the rock face. I bailed over a log in the morning and rolled to the outside on some rocks. I thought I had broken my guitar (and a few other things) but I got up and all my parts seemed to be working properly. The final plunge into NY17 was so steep I was having trouble slowing down at times. They call that section “Agony Grind” and I’m grateful to the hiking gods that I didn’t have to go up the bastard. When we go down to the gap, Rolex was there with his girlfriend Barb to pick us up. Oh yeah, I forgot, it was raining too. Cyclone and I changed in the middle of the road under the canopy of Rolex’s hatchback door. Rolex was taking us in to get a last meal together until I get finished in September. We went to TGI Friday’s and I had one of everything. I was hoping to pick up gaiters but they didn’t have any outfitter nearby and Rolex had to get back home. I picked up a nex Under Armor shirt at Modell’s and I’ll be wearing Purple until September now. I needed a long sleeve UA so I wouldn’t get sunburn on my arms. I don’t like putting sunscreen on my skin and I do need to protect my tattoo. I grabbed the rest of the gear I would need from Cyclone and my pack was about 60 pounds. I don’t know that for sure but I’ll find out the next place I go. That sucker is REALLY HEAVY. The two of them did interviews for the film and I loaded up and got out of there. The next rise was tough with the new weight but I can go at my own pace and stop when I want now. Hiking solo is much simpler logistically; however, you can’t have a real conversation about anything with people you don’t really know. I like meeting new folks though so I’m not worried about the loneliness factor, in fact, I’m kind of relieved they split because now I can do the sort of things that I did tonight:
It was rough going but I wanted to make sure I got a bunch of miles in. There was this thing in the trail book that said “Lemon Squeezer” and me and Cyclone were wondering what it was; well, I found out. I filmed a clip of me trying to get through there with a pack on. It’s these two huge boulders and a narrow chute between them where you and a pack can hardly get through. It looks like you can’t get through but it had been raining a little so I slid through it. Them there was this wall thing right afterwards that you have to actually climb. It was hard to find the handholds. It looks easy in the video but that’s because it was the second time I had done it. It rained pretty heavy on and off all day after that and I was getting soaked. I was walking in squishy boots for hours. There was nothing I could do. I really need to get a pair of gaiters. When I got to fingerboard shelter there was no water and I was bone dry. I would have to walk to a lake about a mile away. I was pretty tired but they told me that if I walked down the trail a little further it was close to the lake and I could just camp somewhere. I decided to take off, it would be getting dark soon though. The Christian Brothers and Dad (as I’m calling them) graced me with a blessed (two syllables) liter of untreated water. I wondered, briefly, if you have to treat water that has been blessed or if it’s just given as a blessing then maybe it still needs to be treated. Since it came from a still pond, I figured to go with the God helping those that help themselves and I treated it, threw in some flavoring and gulped it down. The Christian Brothers and Dad are a family of four brothers and their Father is the principal of a religious school. They are very nice and say cool things like “God bless you” and cook pizza in a funky contraption with a computer CPU fan and a No. 10 can. They probably saved my life. I got to the road and hung a right to go to Tiorati Lake. They said there were showers there too but by the time I got there they were closed. Everything was closed except the soda machine which charged me two dollars for a one-dollar, orange soda. I had put a five in the dollar slot hoping it would work and then they only gave me three of those dollar coins back; although, it was neat because I have never seen those particular dollar coins before. I wondered, briefly, if they were real. I eventually found a legitimate bathroom that was open and it had a hand dryer! I was there until well after nightfall trying to dry my socks and underwear after washing them with fresh water in the sink. The socks never dry because they are so full of salt so I rinse them out when I can and then try to let them dry. Dry socks are more puffy and it makes a big difference on your feet in the rocks. I’m wearing two pair at a time now. By the time I got out of there it was really dark and I had nowhere to camp so I hoofed back up the road to the trail and just started walking in the night. I can’t find my headlamp so I just kind of felt it out until I couldn’t be sure whether or not I was on the trail. I pulled out my sleeping bad to see if my headlamp was in there but I couldn’t find it. It probably fell out and is on the trail right in front of my face and I can’t see it. I still have to hang a bear bag and set up camp somewhere with no light. This is going to be interesting. Thunder was booming off in the distance and I could see by occasional lightning flashes, expecting to see a bear appear in front of me at any moment. I put on all my rain gear and covered my pack and realized I have a light on my camera, although it’s really bright and I wasn’t supposed to be camping here. I managed to find a tree to hang my bear bag and I was searching for a rock to tie to the rope when I hear this crazy noise about 50 yards away. It almost sounded like one of those impact drills that a pit crew uses to bolt on the tires. Then it happened again. I was hoping it wasn’t a bear telling me I was too close to its cubs. And then I heard the next worse thing I could have heard: Beep Beep Beep just as my battery died on my camera, enveloping me in a thick cloak of darkness, pregnant with fear and the occasional lightning burst, oh yeah; and the sound again. Suddenly that last shelter seemed like a really nice place to be. Too bad I would have a hell of a time finding my pack with no light and no idea where I was.
I found my pack after a few minutes of stumbling around in the wet blueberry bushes as my night vision slowly came back. I took off the cover, fished around until I found another battery, loaded the camera and went back out to find a better tree, presumably better because it was not in the vicinity of the sound of the pneumatic lug driver. At least, I was hoping it was just a pneumatic lug driver, or a deer. If I remember correctly, deer make this funky sound like that when they want you to skedaddle-most-prompt or clearing their nostrils or something. . I was clinging to the deer theory while I hung my bear bag and made it back to my hammock. I never really got my socks to full dry and my feet have been pickled now for a couple of days. I got in my hammock just as the rain started pouring again. Good timing. I hope the rain dampens the smell of the bag of GORP that I forgot was in my pack, DAMN! Sleep eventually came until I was awakened again by that pit crew just outside my tent!

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Squishy Boots and Ice Cream Hiatus

Wawayanda Shelter to Wildcat Shelter 12 miles

Last night I managed to clean up a little bit in the bathroom at the nearby ranger station and we haven’t needed to use our water purifier much because there have been spigots or restrooms around us. We got up and left just behind the Scarlet Seven Crew and spent some hours trying to figure out the “what fits under the Umbrella” game. I’m still not sure what fits under the umbrella but I know the umbrella always fits under the umbrella. That’s all I know. We were cruising right along and then the trail started to get interesting. We traversed long ridges of smooth rock and lots of ups and downs. We finally crossed over into New York for good, goodbye to New Jersey and signed the Logbook with lots of sweat drops blurring the ink. I thought this section was supposed to be easy but I started sweating a lot and my socks kept getting really wet. I have to wring them out and change them while I hang the old ones on the back of my pack although they never really get dry. I’m completely out of dry socks, or dry anything for that matter. We got to NY17A and someone hipped us to the Bellvale Farms Creamery. We got some ice cream of course; it was about 300 yards west of the trail so we just had to, twice. It was hot and sunny and I rinsed out my socks and left them on the hot concrete to dry from a spigot that was on the side of the building. Cyclone and I eventually stayed there for several hours as lots of people we knew kept rolling in and getting ice cream, then moving on. Not us! Birch beer in a bottle and vanilla ice cream… Ahhhhhhhhhhh, satisfaction! It rained for a little bit and we eventually got back on the trail; wet socks and wet boots. Hiking with a heavy pack and pruney feet is not a good idea. Every couple of hours they start squish squishing and I have to take them off and wring them out. I feel like I’m getting blisters under my feet in a weird place in the middle of my foot but under the pads next to the ball of my foot. I’ve never had that happen before. I need gaiters desperately. Maybe I’ll get some tomorrow when Mike picks Cyclone up. Since we spent so much time at the Ice Cream place, we didn’t think we could make the next shelter so we just packed it in at Wildcat. It was only 12 miles but I could use a rest with my feet acting up. The Scarlet crew was with us as we came in to the shelter and so were some of the other guys we have met. I met a couple of new hikers: Baggins and Mr Burns (who looks just like Mr Burns from The Simpsons). We ate and I played guitar and so did one of the Scarlet Seven, his name escapes me, and another of them sang. I’m writing this like four days later so please forgive me for not being able to recall your names, email me and I’ll fix the blog. Tomorrow Cyclone goes home.

David AKA “Mister Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Wawayanda Watermelon Haul

The Mayor’s House to Wawayanda Shelter 19 Miles

We got out of there and the Mayor dropped us off at the trailhead. Breakfast was wonderful and we said goodbye to the Mayor, Butch and Bill. We had a long one in front of us but we knew we were going to run into a bunch of people that had been at the Mayor’s. We were going for a 20 mile day and we’re going to try to make the Hudson River by Sunday evening. It’s going to be a long haul but we want to make it as far as possible before Cyclone heads home. We really took our time today. We stopped and ate a bunch of berries, filmed a bunch of stuff including another bear that was hanging out on the trail ahead of us. We stopped at a cool produce place called Heaven Hill Farms where they had great ice cream and fruit and stuff. We got a little to eat; it was only a tenth of a mile off the trail. Then I got the wacky iodea to carry a watermelon up the 1000 foot vertical climb to the next shelter. I knew I had to do it as soon as I thought of it. No one would believe I would do something like that which is exactly why I had to do it. Defining moments come along pretty often on this trail and I like to take advantage of all of them. We got a seven pound watermelon and I found a way to stuff it in the pack. I carried that bastard all the way up the hill but I wasn’t sorry I did it. It was so cool to pull that thing out when we got to the shelter after a 20 mile day and give it to the Ohio State crew. Riddler and the Scarlet Seven are a group of people who are hiking for six weeks as far as they can go. We knew they would be able to appreciate the true value of a watermelon on the trail after climbing that hill themselves. It’s weird without Rolex. We had too much spaghetti but man was it good! We finally killed the bottle of parmesan cheese. I’m a little concerned about all of the food smells tonight. There is a ton of stuff in the bear boxes and I can guarantee a bear comes by tonight and tries to get into that thing. I’m just trying to get this blog out before that happens. It’s been dark for about an hour now and this is the time they come by. A group of six girls came up to the shelter late and cooked this amazing mud pie, peanut butter, jello thing and there’s no way five bears can’t smell it from all over the state. I better get this posted and get in my tent before I become dinner.

David AKA “Mr. F'n Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Hangin' with the Mayor

The Mayor’s place to the Mayor’s place
We stayed another night. It was weird after Rolex split and we had a bunch of stuff to get done so we did it. Post office, re-supply, pizza etc… A few more hikers showed up at the Mayor’s House and we hung out and ate dinner and went to bed after watching Million dollar baby.

David AKA “Mr. F'n Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

The Mayor of Unionville and sad parting.

Gren Anderson Shelter to The Mayor Of Unionville’s House

That’s right baby! Hanging out in style at the Mayoral Residence in Unionville NY. We had dinner with about 20 other thru-hikers, it seems the Mayor, Dick Ludwig, has a thing for thru-hikers and he really offers a wonderful service here. He fed us and let us wash our bodies and clothing. We’re all camped out in his back yard. I’m not kidding! Anyway, bad news today… Rolex has decided to split the trail. We’ve been having some head butting moments and I’ve been pretty antagonistic toward him lately. I’ve been a jerk for the last couple days and he’s finally sick of it. I have some issues, mostly Ego issues, and I have a tendency to try to squash him when it’s really me I’m disappointed in. We talked about it and we’re cool with each other but he’s pulling off to spend the summer working on the shore house with my Dad. He was going to pull off soon anyway and that’s another reason I’ve been a real ass lately. I need to work on that. For now we’re cool but he’s splitting. I don’t blame him. We had a long hike today. Tempers were flaring and things came to a head. We stopped at a park where one of Rolex’s buddies from his swim team works as a lifeguard. The concession stand was closed but we got a quick swim in and Rolex’s buddy Anthony gave us some grub which we immediately stuffed (except for the granola bars which we eventually ate). We got back on the trail and headed for Unionville NY. When we got down to the road we called one of the numbers on the trail book and believe it or not we got the Mayor. He picked us up in his silver Prius and took us to his house where we ran into all of the hikers we’ve met so far in Jersey. CRAZY. We met a bunch of new ones too. There was no room in the house so most of us are sleeping in our tents in the back yard. We sat around eating and talking and then me and Rolex and Cyclone had a long discussion and talked about the situation. I think we cleared a lot of things up. I have been resentful because those guys can go so fast and are so young and strong and it really fractured my pride. I end up being a real jerk in an effort to make myself feel better about who I am and what I can and can’t accomplish. It’s much easier to recognize it after the fact than when I’m all wrapped up but sometimes that’s too late. The damage has been done. There don’t seem to be any hard feelings, we got showers and then we went to the local bar to get more grub. We met some more interesting peeps there and after dinner went back up to the Mayor’s house and BSed with the hikers who were still awake and I hit the blog and we are going to bed. I feel pretty crappy about the whole situation. My Dad is coming to pick up Rolex at 10 in the morning (it’s a three hour drive from home) and I guess me and Cyclone will try to get along for a while until he gets off the trail in July. It’ll be weird without Rolex but in the long run I know he’ll have a better summer helping Dad out with the new house down the shore. There’s lots of work to be done and Dad hasn’t had a chance to show him how to do carpentry and plumbing and stuff so it will be cool for him to learn those things. I’m going to miss you Rolex. You would have gone a lot further if you didn’t have to wait on my slow ass all the time. I’m sorry I can be such an asshole.

David AKA “Mr. F'n Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Watch out for that COPPERHEAD!

Long Pine Pond to Gren Anderson Shelter 15 miles

We got up to a steamy pond and it was beautiful. There were frogs chirping and birds croaking and caterpillars shitting on the tent fly so that it sounded like rain; but, not to be confused with the actual rain that fell in the night. It was awesome. I love the rain in my hammock. The patter of the raindrops on my tent fly is soothing and hypnotic. I love falling asleep in therain while in a tent. I used to love sleeping in my jeep in the rain, down by the beach with the heater and the radio on. I miss ‘ole Lucille, my trusty four-wheeled friend. Anyweay, we got up and packed up and I had to go back around the lake to make sure I did all of the Appalachian Trail while the other guys went around the back of the pond. Much to my chagrin I found a note that Dad had decided to pull off of the trail because he lost feeling in his legs. Dad had a back injury a few weeks ago and he was feeling weird on the trail. When he started up he was worried he would get worse and get stranded way out in the bush so he decided to head on back to the ranch. I didn’t find out until a few hours later ‘cause I was hiking a few extra miles and I was about a half an hour back. While I was hiking I almost stepped on a Copperhead that was basking across the trail. I don’t know how I saw it, I was just about to step on the little bastard and he didn’t move at all. I was like, “WHOAH!” and I pulled back and took a few pictured than tried to get him off of the trail. Copperheads are supposed to be pretty aggressive so I was worried about lifting him with my stick but it looked like he might have just gotten a chipmunk for breakfast so he was pretty docile. I poked him a little and he finally went away into the brush. Needless to say I was a little nervous walking from then on and my eyes were glued to the trail. I met up with Cyclone and Rolex at the Brinks Road Shelter and then we moved on. We got to Culvers Gap and snuck down the road to Gyp’s tavern and got some burgers and pierogies and pizza and stuff. The folks were cool and then we sat there fro like 3 hours. The fellas were starting to talk about getting a motel and I had to put the Veto down. The next shelter was only 3 miles and I wanted to be able to get out of the town. I’m really sick of towns. “They are a trap,” Rolex says and he is right. The terrain here is really leave for the most part although it’s difficult to hike on the rocks with any confidence. You have to watch your step although you can still cruise. I packed up and decided to carry an extra 3 liters of water up to the shelter so we wouldn’t have to purify any when we got here. I left as they were filling their water so they couldn’t change their minds and get a hotel. I pulled in to the shelter a little more than an hour later and met Booger and her dog Buddy. Singer and Land Surfer. We ate dinner and I’m going to retire early. We have great internet service so I’m going to blog and post tonight.

David AKA “Mr. F'n Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Jersey Bears and Long Pine Pond

Mohican Outdoor Center to Long Pine Pond campsite

We got up earlier than I like to and hung out at the Lodge and ate breakfast. We got out on the trail and it was cool but Dad was having a really tough time. It’s easy to forget how painful it was for us on our first week and we’re kind of champing at the bit and I can see it in the guys’ walks that they want to take off but it’s cool to be hiking with our Dad. I’m a little worried about him cause he is stopping a lot but about halfway through we relieved him of some extraneous gear. I added a lot of weight to my pack and I hardly noticed it. That’s encouraging because when Cyclone and Rolex split in July I’m going to be carrying a bunch more weight. Just after midday we were walking and Mongoose told us to stop and back up. I thought there was a Rattlesnake and I started to pull out my camera but it was a Black Bear. He didn’t seem to interested in us but he was right on the trail. At first we were all pretty worried he was coming towards us and I think he was but we made a lot of noise and he didn’t seem to notice but then he eventually crossed the trail and kind of ambled and meandered off into the brush. I got some footage and that was cool. New Jersey has the highest percentage of bears. They say they have an average of 1 bear per square mile. Our first Bear Experience was pretty good, I hope they are all like that. We were going to do 14 miles today but it became apparent around 1 o’clock that we were going to have to find another option. We decided to pull off and go to this campsite about a mile off the trail and I’m really glad we did. It’s beautiful! Rolex and Mongoose jumped in to the lake and then Mongoose spotted another bear on the bank on the other side of the lake/pond. They call it a pond but it’s pretty big, you could probably land a pontoon plane in here. We set up our tents and then all these thru-hikers came in. This guy Toad is a botanist and he’s been catching all these snakes and toads and stuff. There are non-hikers camping here and we’re supposed to leave them alone and not use the facilities here so we’re all watching them swim around. It’s crazy all the caterpillars here. There is a ridiculous infestation of gypsy moths and they are EVERYWHERE. We’re stabbing them, slicing them, stepping on them and every other way of destroying them. They are killing all of the trees around here. Sometimes the trees like they are wearing a fur coat of these caterpillars. It’s horrible. When I was a kid they had a big thing about it and they were destroying our local woods so we try to kill them whenever we can. They supposedly introduced some crazy beetle to eat them but it obviously isn’t working around here. I’m playing some guitar and going to bed soon. We are going to have a campfire and sing some songs I guess. I think Mongoose will do better tomorrow, we’re going to take as much of his gear as he’ll let us but I know how he is, he’ won’t want us to do that so we’re going to have to be subtle J
Trail names of the guys here: Stripe, Shadowcast, Toad, Tangent, Daddy-O, Peacock, and Jack Frost

David AKA “Mr. F'n Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Back out on the trail; but, with Dad

Delaware Water Gap to Mohican Outdoor Center 11 miles

The family got up at 6AM and got everything together. We were supposed to all leave at 6:30 but it was apparent that that wasn’t about to happen. So we got it together eventually, threw everything together and sat in the driveway while we kept remembering things and running back into the house to get them. When we finally got on the road we had a couple of hours to drive up tot the Delaware Water Gap and I passed out on the way. It was raining a little and we stopped in some crazy place to get gas. JESUS GAS IS EXPENSIVE. I’ve been on the trail so long I haven’t notice but you guys are paying WAY TOO MUCH for gas. It’s time to blow up another one of those OPEC countries again. Where’s George Bush when you need him. Let’s take out Saudi Arabia this time! We really need to take those bastards out after Iran. Anyway, we got on the trail by 11 or so and headed up the trail with Dad leading the way. His trail name is Pennsylvania Mongoose. That’s been his CB handle since forever so we’ll take that until we give him one. We had a short incline and then a really rocky flat. The elevations are not really changing at all but the rocky grounds are making it tough to go at any good speed. Dad’s on his first day too so we’re taking it easy. We got in to the Mohican Outdoor Center and got some sandwiches from Dave at the center and then I played some instruments. They had a piano and a guitar and bongos so we all fooled around after we set up our tents and we hung out with Sara from Hungary. Sleep was wonderful. The skies threatened hail and thunderstorms but it never came to pass.

David AKA “Mr. F'n Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Damascus to Philly

We got a ride back to Philly from Gregg AKA "Blue Blaze" and we regrouped, got our equipment fixed and exchanged. I had already blown out a pair of Vasque boots in just one month and REI did a wonderful thing by replacing them. Gregory Mountain Products' customer service also gets the Oscar nod for prompt replacement of a broken hip strap on my pack which I love. We're going back out on the trail in a few hours, resuming at the Delaware Water gap on the border of PA and NJ. Our Dad will be joining us for a few weeks on the trail so we'll have to get you some pics of that and some updates. I am exhausted right now, I met a few cool peeps tonight while we were having our second going away party and I'm really itchin' to get back on that trail. I'll be right here, on the trail, hope you are having a great summer.

David AKA “Mr. F'n Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Damascus in Record Time

Going through Damascus Gate


Iron Mountain shelter to Damascus Hiker Inn 25 miles

It rained last night. I didn’t sleep steadily and I was up all morning. Normally I sleep until the birds start waking me up but I was uncomfortable all night. We made the decision to skip ahead to New Jersey yesterday and we weren’t sure how we were going to get up there but this morning Doug got a text from our old pal “Blue Blaze” who said he’d meet us anywhere, anytime; so, we told him tomorrow, 9AM and that meant we had to do a 25 miler to get in to Damascus today. We looked at the map and the terrain didn’t look too tough. We shouldn’t have too much trouble getting in. Along the way, we met two girls named “Truckstop” and “Ashwaghanda” (chosen because it’s some weird tea or plant or something that helps her fall asleep). We paused at the last shelter before Damascus and BS’ed with the girls and some Boys Scouts training for Philmont next year. We ate a bunch of our remaining food to lighten our packs more than from hunger since we weren’t going to have to stay that extra day in the woods.

We hoofed it in to town and got in around 5:45 PM. We FLEW! It was like a 3.5 MPH pace over the whole day. We were very proud of ourselves. When we crossed the Virginia Border, we ran into the two girls again and we took some pictures. There was a little archway in Damascus where they hold the “Trail Days” festival and we walked along the trail, following the blazes through town.

In town we looked at a few of the hostels and settled on the Hiker Inn. After showers, changes and shaves, we headed out to Dot’s for a burger or two and all she had playing on the TV was the “Stars In Black” movie channel. I thought that was a little weird. I was surprised it wasn’t NASCAR, that’s for sure. We had our customary in-town stipend of greasy food and stopped over at this place where they were sitting outside playing guitars and singin’ tunes.

We joined in a little and I brought out my harmonica and backpacker guitar. Finally, we came back and decided against Monopoly. I blogged and Cyclone decided to go out to the store. He couldn’t sleep because we had the lights on and were talking and stuff. It’s so strange how attitude plays such a big part in your fatigue level. Here we just pulled a 25 mile day and we couldn’t go to sleep with the anticipation of traveling back to Philly tomorrow. I have this crazy looking burn or something on my leg and I’m trying not to pick at it. I can’t figure out whether I got it from a bug or a plant but it’s this narrow bubble about two inches long and it’s all yellow and juicy underneath. I’m waiting ‘til I get back home so I can ask my stepmother what it is, she’s an RN and so I’m sure she’ll know what to do with it. I’ll get some sleep soon and “Blue Blaze” will be here in the morning. We’ve decided to give him the trail name “Blue Blaze” because blue blazed trails are side-trails; usually to water or a shortcut to town or something. Since he’s always taking us somewhere or helping us get to and from the trail, we’re naming him after the Blue Blazes of the Appalachian Trail. He’ll be here at 9 AM. We’ll go to breakfast, the post office and drive the 8 hours home to Philly where we will prepare to go back on the trail with our Father, restarting in New Jersey at the Delaware Water Gap, a place where we’ve all hiked together many times before. It seems like we’ve come soooo Far and yet, we still have sooooo far left to go.

David AKA "Mister F. Gentle Spirit"


Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Changing Plans: Going to New York

Butterfly on Poison Hemlock


Watauga lake Shelter to Iron Mountain Shelter 14 Miles

One thing I’ve noticed out here is that people keep saying, “The next section is pretty easy, you’ve gotten over the hard part,” and they are always LYING BASTARDS!

We woke up late and in the morning everyone left us. Rolex got up earliest and left without me and Cyclone. We took off last and crossed the Watauga Dam. Two huge brown Eagles were on the dam and unfortunately they took off before we could get good pictures of them. It was a tough day and Cyclone and I had a lot of discussion about what we are going to do about our schedule. If we are going to get off the trail by August 24th, we are not going to make Maine, it’s just not possible. I want to skip ahead to New York and at least finish out to Maine but Rolex doesn’t want to do that. Cyclone seems cool with the idea but I just found out he has to get off the trail the first week in July. I wasn’t aware of this; I thought we were all clear to go all the way to August 24th.

When we got to the shelter we had decided we would talk to Rolex and try to convince him to skip ahead. This way we can start again next year at Damascus VA during what they call “Trail Days” which is a festival for Thru Hikers in the second week of May. That way if we decided to finish the trail next year, we can start then at Damascus and just finish up through PA. After talking to Rolex we discovered he’s planning on leaving the trail when Doug does so I guess I’ll be the only one on the trail. I’m not sure how I feel about that. That’s not true; I’m sure how it makes me feel, it pisses me off. I’m cool with hiking the trail alone; but I wasn’t planning on it, and I have trepidations about the situation. I really don’t have a problem with hiking alone, we’ve been having such a hard time getting along I would prefer it at this point. I’m planning on making it to Katahdin before I have to be back in San Diego in September. I’m not sure how it will affect the film but whatever happens is part of the story.

We met some folks at the shelter here tonight and they are marveling over the computer and we are showing them some of the videos that we’ve taken. Four are from Miami, their trail names are Sunshine Bee (who spotted a mossy gorilla at Laurel Fork Falls); Piecemeal (67) (It’s taken him 7 years to get from Springer to here); Burninator (who burns things); Sweat Heifer (who shot one of her ex-husbands) and a large group of young fellows from Greensboro who roasted tortillas over a custom Spit and Grille thing made out of wood.. Right now they are throwing knives. I may go over later and give them some lessons. For now, I’m going to post blogs since we have a good internet connection from this shelter out here in the middle of nowhere.

David AKA "Mister F. Gentle Spirit"


Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Night Hiking to the Lake

Turtle Crossing in the Dark

The Castle to Vanderventer Shelter 15 Miles

We get up and argue about what to do for breakfast; eventually deciding upon the walk down to McDonald’s. It’s already burning hot at 8AM. At some point we decide to chill out and brave the heat by lying on the porch for a few hours. We’re contemplating a night hike instead of getting murdered in today’s humid heat. We have extra miles to do because of the way we side-hiked to get into town yesterday. The consensus is to head out of town before dark so we can follow the blue blazes back to the AT. It will be too hard to see the difference between blue and white blazes in the dark; so we need to get that first section done before the sun goes down.

We cook dinner in the little kitchen at the Castle before we head out on to the road in the late afternoon. I opted for Pepperoni and Tortillas for my breakfasts and my pack feels heaver than I remember it. The boys are antsy. The longer we sit around, the worse it gets. It feels strange not to be leaving when we have nothing to do.

Eventually we get on the road and hike out of town on the shoulder of Route 321. This will be our first, real night hike and we’re thick with anticipation and trepidation. I can already feel us ready to snap; we don’t know what to expect. We leave the road to take the side trail knowing that we have a painful six miles to go, straight up and straight back down, before we cross this same road again only a mile away from where we are now. It is tempting to just walk a mile up the road and skip the rough section, especially when we want to make up time. There was some discussion about it a few times in the past 24 hours and I can feel them thinking hard behind me as I pull right on to the blue blaze trail. I just couldn’t skip a section. I’m looking out for my future well-being.

Once we get back to the main trail, the first climb is straight up and with each step; I can’t help but think of how pointless this section is. I have to keep reminding myself that I would have tortured myself forever if we had skipped this section. Night hiking is tougher than I thought. I don’t have the best headlamp for it and the shadows cast by my two brothers’ headlamps behind me are confusing. Several times we scare up something in the brush beside us and it scares the living hell out of us. It’s probably just a small deer or a raccoon but it sounds like a herd of elephants as it tramples up the hill just outside of our light radius. I feel like the little kid in “Where The Wild Things Are” with inconceivable monsters lurking, only their eyes visible, just outside of lamp shine. As the sky gets completely dark, it’s difficult to navigate and the Mosquitoes are relentless razors of distraction.

We get to the road and cross over into a park at Watauga Lake. It’s a huge lake and the shelter we’re trying for is about ten miles away on the other side of it. We’re not having a good time in the dark. We lose the trail in the open park and can’t figure out which way to go. After a frustrating hour of searching and map referencing, we find it. The stars are bright and it’s beautiful looking over the lake at night. The moon isn’t full yet but it gives us some light while we are in the open. We re-enter the woods and trudge thorough a swampy section that slows us down tremendously.

I thought I would love hiking in the dark but it really sucks. It’s tough to find your footing and although it’s great not to have to hike in the heat, you’re still sweating from all the exertion and frustration of keeping on the trail and trying to make sure you don’t miss the blazes. We’re in a park so there are side trails all over the place. We’ve come up with a system of yelling out “Blaze” whenever we see one so that we don’t miss them but it’s frustrating and confusing and I’d give anything for God to just turn on the lights.

Sometime just before midnight we come across a bright sign that indicates the side trail to a shelter. The shelter we want is still another six or seven miles away. We had expected to go much further tonight; but, noone complains when I take the turn and head for the shelter. We’re all in silent compliance. Cubit and HaHa, who had left out earlier from the castle were there; we woke them up. We needed to talk to humans and shake off the night terrors. I set up my hammock in the dark and sought solace from the flying razors. Night Hiking sucks, and that’s all I have to say about that!

David AKA "Mister F. Gentle Spirit"


Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

The Castle

Jones Falls the day before


Moreland Gap Shelter to Hampton TN 10 Miles

Dawn came, and with it birds of a cacophonous chirping nature. I’ve been listening to the chirps of the birds and figuring I could write lots of songs by stealing their tunes. Some of these birds come up with some crazy intervals. I can’t stay asleep once they start; my brain is trying to figure out the tune and then they unexpectedly change it. I thought birds didn’t change their tunes? I stayed up late reading “Catch 22.” This book keeps getting stranger; but I like it. I ate my customary breakfast bar; more like forced it down, and then packed up as everyone roused and got ready. We only had 6 miles to go to the Kincora hostel where we are planning on stopping today. There should be a shuttle there to take us in to town to resupply. The forecast predicts a 70% chance of rain in the afternoon so we figured we had plenty of time to get to the hostel. Dad has been sending us texts from the National Weather Service to help us plan our days.

When we got to the hostel some guy was handing out cheeseburgers and they were GOOD! We didn’t dig the accommodations so we split. It was only a few more miles up to a road where we could just walk in to town. We hiked the 3 miles to a side trail that took us to Route 321 and then we hiked a couple of miles in to town and another hostel called Braemer Castle. It’s a huge house and there are so many rooms here, you can see why they call it a “castle.” It reminds me of the house I grew up in but bigger. We walked a mile or two to McDonalds to eat, Dollar General to re-supply, Meme’s Café to do laundry and get some caffeinated beverages then eventually went to dinner at Hillbilly Bob’s Barbecue and Catfish. We heard the Baked Potato With Everything was amazing but of course they were out of those by the time we got there; DAMN! Every bastard in this state has thousands of potatoes growing in their backyard and this place is out of them? We had some BBQ and then I went over to the local bar to check out the home-grown entertainment.

The band was cool: two guys on guitar and bass with a drum machine. They did that Wagon Wheel song from Old Crow Medicine Show. I wasn’t expecting that; Rolex has been playing that song nearly every night that we break out the guitar. The bar was interesting, I met a relocatee named Angela and we talked about the practice of starting businesses and the nuances of a Philly Cheesesteak. Cubit, HaHa, Cyclone and Rolex were back at the Castle, so I came back to post blogs and read my book.

I’m tired, and my legs are still doing this crazy thing where they seize up when I’m walking. I look like some kind of invalid walking down the street. When I left the bar to walk home my legs weren’t working right and I’m sure I looked really drunk, hobbling down the street like some moonshined, old bastard. I’m surprised the local sheriff didn’t swing by with a “Hey Boy! Where you goin’ to tonight?” I got back to the hostel and I’ve been loading up my blogs from this past week. Hopefully we’ll be in Damascus, Virginia in a few days. We just passed 400 Miles!

David AKA "Mister F. Gentle Spirit"


Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Mister F. Gentle Spirit

Mountain Harbor Breakfast!


Mountain Harbor B&B to Moreland Gap Shelter 18 Miles

Got up and had an awesome breakfast. The house at the B&B was beautiful and the food was incredible! Terry and Mary cooked the most delicious food. I watched some news on this huge TV while I sipped my coffee and we were surrounded by amazing people in an amazing place. It was painful to leave but we had to. We got out on the road and up the hill a thousand feet. It was rough going.

Along the way we passed a cemetery and some people were hangin’ out, paying their respects and they gave us a “hey!” as we walked by. It was kind of weird just rolling by a cemetery like that in the middle of the mountains. It was a good sized one too, just sitting right there in the middle of nowhere. We passed a road with some horse and buggies. Someone had told HaHa about a cool waterfall named “Jones Falls” and when we saw the sign we took the side trail. It was awesome! We climbed up the falls and Mike slid down, hurting himself, but not too bad. He got a nice sized gash just above his right ass cheek. They decided to find an alternate way up. I stood under the frigid rain of the falls and we got some footage of that. The footing was very treacherous under the falls and I eventually came down before I hurt myself too.

Refreshed, we moved on and the trail got really boring. Cyclone and Rolex took off as usual and I kind of hung back with Haha for a while. The trail was so boring after the excitement of the falls. I eventually got to Laurel Fork and there was a strong, cool stream. The book said it was contaminated; but, I jumped in anyway and rinsed off my aching feet. I needed something to break the monotony of the last section. If the stream wasn’t contaminated before, it sure is now! My feet were putrid! The next climb up to the shelter was long and just kept going and going and going. Finally I got in to the shelter and besides my brothers; there were some people already here. A young girl and her father (can’t remember their names) with their dog, “Maddie” were there along with two other women. I can’t remember any of their names; I have to take better notes… Haha rolled in later and tented up but we didn’t really hear from him tonight, he just kind of disappeared.

There was cell service here so I logged in with the computer and decided to check my bank accounts. Yesterday I had tried to get some money out and it was telling me I had no money. I checked the account and it was horrible! I’m way overdrawn and there are a ton of bounced check fees! I started to look at the charges and got really pissed. I called Jeff to find out what happened and the situation isn’t looking good. As if I need more stuff to worry about, there are hundreds of dollars in overdraft fees. DAMN! How am I supposed to stay focused on the trail with all of this other crap going on? Tomorrow, we’re going to try to get in to the Kincora Shelter and get a re-supply in Hampton, TN. I’ll have to get on the horn then and figure out what we’re going to do…

David AKA "Mister F. Gentle Spirit"


Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Dehydration into Paradise

Looks easy doesn't it?


Ash Gap Campsite to Mountain Harbor B&B 17 Miles

My brothers left out of the camp early. They knew it would be a long day. We had a thousand-foot climb in a short distance up Roan Mountain and I had heard it was going to be rough. It wasn’t that bad; but while I was running down the hill from Roan Mountain to Carver Gap, my GPS fell off. We had taken a break at the Carver Gap Sign and that’s when I noticed my GPS was missing from it’s clip on my shoulder strap. I hiked all the way back up Roan Mountain looking for it because I had remembered glancing at it just as I passed the turn off for the Roan Mountain Shelter. I scoured the trailsides and never found the bastard. It seems sadly ironic to lose a GPS. This is the second one in as many months. I am so PISSED at myself! Now we aren’t going to be able to track our progress unless I can find a way to buy another GPS. We don’t have the funds to be able to do that right now so I guess we won’t be GPS logging anymore. It really hurt to lose that thing. I’m pretty upset we can’t track our trip on the website anymore. Oh well, I just gotta forget about it; find Acceptance… UGH! DAMNIT!

Earlier in the week, everyone was talking about how tough Roan Mountain was going to be and although it wasn’t easy, it really wasn’t all that bad. That’s probably because we did it in the morning. I’ll bet most people try to do it at the end of a long day so they can stay in Roan Mountain Shelter. I’m kind of pissed because nobody mentioned “The Humps.” Little Hump Mountain and Hump Mountain NEARLY KILLED ME! Little Hump came first, I was bonking as I climbed the sunny slope and I knew I was getting low on water; then, I saw Hump Mountain and I was just not ready, not worthy. I was bolstered temporarily by the sight of Rolex and Cyclone climbing through the long, waving grasses of Hump Mountain, about a half of a mile ahead of me. I thought they might stop at the top and wait for me.

Hump and Little Hump are both balds, so there is no cover from the sun, no trees anywhere and on this day, lots of sun and wind. The wind kept knocking me off balance and the sun was beating down. It was some of the toughest hiking yet. I bonked near the top of Hump Mountain but kept pushing. As I crested the top, I saw to my horror that my brothers had kept going and were still out of vocal range. Discouraged, I had to collapse for a while. I took off all of my clothes except for my underwear and I just lay there at the top of the grassy peak. Some SoBo came cruising past in the skimpiest shorts I have ever seen a man wear. Through my delirium, I began to get uncomfortable that I was laying there in my underwear and I’m glad he didn’t stop to talk. Maybe he was feeling the same way about some guy lying spread-eagle with unfocused eyes, in his sweat-soaked undies.

I managed to get back up and continue on. Shortly thereafter, I completely ran out of water with no water sources for six miles. I tried everything, I blew into the Camelbak to try and get a few drops more. I didn’t have the SteriPen, so I couldn’t purify any ground water even if I had found a good source. It was looking bad. I knew that Cyclone and Rolex were getting further and further ahead of me and I had no way to communicate with them that I needed water. I was having visions of dying of thirst and passing out and rolling down some cliff to my final resting place.

In my daze, I missed a turn and went about a mile in the wrong direction down a steep trail. Finally realizing my mistake as there weren’t any blazes, I balked at having to climb back up the hill I had just come down. My throat was sandpaper and my stomach was quivering from exhaustion. I found where I had missed the turn and in retrospect it seemed so obvious. I was angry at myself for making such a stupid mistake at such a critical time.

I kept trudging along. I wanted to kill my brothers for not waiting. As I finally got down to the end of my endurance, there was a stream alongside the trail. It didn’t look very clean and I almost tripped over an unfamiliar nalgene bottle (it was Levi’s Bottle that Cyclone had found earlier) in the middle of the trail with a note on it. It was from my brothers and it was full of clean water that Cyclone and Rolex had left for me since they had the purification equipment. I gulped the whole liter of water down in about three seconds and then I almost threw it back up. The note said that they were going in to the hostel and I dragged my sorry, dehydrated ass down to the road. I wasn’t sure where to find the Mountain Harbor Bed & Breakfast and Hostel. I took a guess and went left down the road. It was there, about a half mile down the road and it was wonderful! I collapsed on the grass next to Rolex and he informed me I had to jump up and get a shower if I was going to make the shuttle for dinner.

There were a few other hikers there: “Never the Same”, “Always Changing” and “Haha” had come in with Cyclone and Rolex. I met Tyler, a young boy who is living there with his Aunt and Uncle who own the place. They took us to some restaurant for dinner and then we came back to the barn, played some guitar, had a meeting, pet the horses and I set up my hammock nearby. It’s a really cool place and I hear the breakfast is amazing. I can’t wait. I really needed that meeting too. We talked about page 86. I didn’t realize how much I had needed that! Life is good again!

My trail name has changed as well. It turns out there is already a Jukebox on the trail. Someone flamed me in an email that I have been confusing people by posting as Jukebox on Trailjournals.com so I mentioned that I would have to change my trail name. Later, I was discussing my negative demeanor toward my brothers on the trail and I said something like, “If I wasn’t in so much pain all the time, I’d be Mister F***ing Gentle Spirit!” Always Changing said, “that’s your new trail name, Mr. F***ing Gentle Spirit.” I think it’s going to stick. It describes me pretty well.

David AKA "Mister F. Gentle Spirit"


Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Roan Mountain Ramblin'

Cyclone overlooking the Fields


Fire road Campsite to Ash Gap Campsite 18 Miles

I stayed in the hammock and let the fellas leave early this morning, I’m sick of being rushed so I just suggested they take off without me. I have enough water so I’ll just meet them way up the road. We had a cool camp last night despite the imminent threat of thunderstorms and crazy winds and lightning, I lit a fire. It turned out to be a good idea. We had a nice fire.

Water sources haven’t been very good and I haven’t been able to wash the mud off of my legs. I hate sleeping in my bag with dirty legs. My feet have a wet dog smell after a while and I don’t like transferring it to my sleeping bag along with the dried dirt crumbs and possible varmints living in them. I got out of camp about 45 minutes after Cyclone and Rolex. I am starting to really like hiking alone. You wouldn’t believe the things that go through my mind as I hike, especially when I’m in pain. I have been writing a novel in my head as we walk. I also go through all of these fantastic scenarios.

We got in to Ash Gap campsite and the water was way down the hill and hard to fill up. We only stopped here so we wouldn’t have to hike all the way up Roan Mountain on a 23 Mile day. They say that it’s beautiful to stay at the top of Roan Mountain but I was chafing so badly when I got in to the campsite that I just couldn’t go anymore. The space between my leg and scrotum looks just like seared ahi. I know that sounds disgusting but it’s true. I’m not exactly bleeding but the skin is bright read and rubbed off. There’s a kind of foam of dead skin collected down there and not only does it smell awful but it looks really dangerous bacterially. I asked Cyclone if we had any Neosporin and he threw me the tube. I’m really worried it might get seriously infected since I can’t really clean it. I’m not about to try and wash it. It’s excruciating to touch. I’d hate to have to get off the trail from something as stupid as Jock Rot.

I’m definitely not looking forward to the climb up Roan Mountain tomorrow but as long as I just put one foot in front of the other I eventually get up the hills in time. Continuing up Roan Mountain at the end of this day would have been a bad idea. I went and got some wood and started a fire while my brothers were down trying to get some water from the trickling stream. I’m starting to dig these nightly campfires. I have an idea they scare the bears away. It’s probably not true but I like the idea of it and it helps me get to sleep. We filmed our setup of the tents and I want to do a time lapse thing with it. I’m too tired to continue typing and it’s really uncomfortable sitting on this log. Tomorrow...

David AKA "Jukebox"


Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Thunder, Lighting and Tripping on the trail

Grandma's Room


Uncle Johnny’s Hostel to Fire road Campsite 14 Miles

We left Erwin after breakfast and climbed pretty fast. My swollen legs were giving me trouble and I imagined I was a bloated slug trying to climb the trail. It felt like slow going but then I looked at the GPS and it said my average was over 3 miles an hour and that was mostly up hill. Cyclone and Rolex took off up the hills as usual and I ended up playing catch-up.

I got in to the Curley Maple Gap Shelter about 2PM and Cyclone and Rolex were sitting there waiting for me. It turns out, I got in just in time because about five minutes after I dropped my pack, the thunder started thunderin’ and the lightning started a-flashin’ and shortly thereafter, the rain and the hail and the cats and the dogs were all fallin’ all over the place. Cyclone prognosticated the thunder with a comment like, “Is that thunder?” just as it went BOOM! And Rolex laughed uncontrollably until the hail started playin’ “This Old Man” on the tin roof. In the plastic bag where the hiker log is, Cubit left me a tube of Icy Hot and I applied some to the backs of my legs. I recommend you don’t do this in the rain. It just kept getting hotter and hotter! It felt good though, my legs have been cramping up or something. It feels like a cramp but also like a strained tendon on the back of my legs. It’s weird though, because it’s intermittent. Lots of rest and thick, juicy steaks seem to help it though. There were some potassium pills in the bag that someone had left behind and I put some of them in with my vitamins. This is a weird coincidence since I’ve never seen potassium pills before and I was just thinking yesterday that lack of Potassium might be part of my leg problem.

The rain eventually let up and we donned some wet weather gear and took off. Within 100 yards all of us had taken off our rain gear while we were walking. Removing your raingear while you are walking with a pack on is an art form that is unfairly overlooked in Modern Civilization. It requires a mélange of skills, combined with the severe consequence of failure; a delicate balance of daring and dexterity where death or disfigurement can come as quickly as it takes to tangle rain pants and Leki pole. This is not an endeavor for the faint of heart or the uncoordinated to be sure. I was having a rough time of it and finally stopped moving so I could stuff my jacket under my pack cover. Rain loomed and threatened all day but held off until we found a place to hole up for the night. It was just a small campsite off the side of the US Forest Service Road that was near a weak water source. We lit a fire and ate. The wind was strong and it rained a little; the fire stayed lit and we slept. Paraphrasing Billy S: “To sleep, perchance to heal…”

David AKA "Jukebox"


Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Uncle Johnny's Hostel 4

Barbarossa Gongs at the All You Can Eat Chinese place

Monday, June 9, 2008
Uncle Johnny's Hostel 4

We got up and my feet are even more swollen. I can't figure it out. We went out to get Cyclone's tooth fixed at the dentist and I was definitely glad for another day's reprieve. I have to keep elevating my feet. I can't figure out why they are still swelling. I guess I'll just pack them in my boots tomorrow and start walking, we don’t have time to keep sitting at Uncle Johnny’s; not to mention, it’s costing us a ton of money to keep staying here. We keep going out to the buffets and Pizza Hut to eat. It costs a hell of a lot more to eat at places like that than it does to eat our trail provisions. It only costs us about $80 for four days of food for the three of us. We’ll have to stay on the trail just to stretch our budget out enough for us to survive financially! I hate being so budget-conscious but we really didn’t factor in the amount of money it was going to cost us to be out here. The websites say you can do it for about a dollar a mile but they must be talking about the people who never go off trail. It’s more like 2 or 3 dollars a mile. I thought we’d be getting more donations and that my company would be booking more gigs while I was away; but, Midnight Productions hasn’t been getting any future bookings and the donations have been slow. Staying at hostels and eating in cafes has been disastrous on our budget.

Around noon, we watched a wicked storm come up out of nowhere. We were riding the bikes when the wind came up and the sky got crazy dark. Lightning was blowin' up everywhere; it was sweet! We holed up in the Huddle House until the storm blew through and then all these cop cars started flyin' past. Later we learned that a church’s steeple got struck by lightning and there was a big accident on the interstate at the same time. Hell, I'll bet the newspaper will be twice as thick as normal tomorrow! Rolex rolled home on the bike while Cyclone and I went o go see the Kung-Fu Panda movie.

We got back to the hostel and read I “Catch 22”, elevated my feet, took vitamins and passed out. I think we're finally leaving Uncle Johnny's tomorrow. This “Catch 22” book is probably not the right book to be reading on the trail. You really have to concentrate on what’s going on because things don’t happen in chronological order. I like the book tremendously; but, it sure isn’t a casual read. I can identify with a lot of what is going on because of my time in the Marines. There is a lot of truth to the way it is written even though some of it is completely ridiculous. I’m sure it’s going to affect my dreams in ways I can’t even begin to imagine… I hope it helps with the swelling.

David AKA "Jukebox"


Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Uncle Johnny's Hostel 3

Ride To Dinner

Uncle Johnny's Hostel 3

I got up and my legs are killing me! Normally I feel stiff in the morning, but it goes away after I walk around for a little bit. Not today! I think it's been all of the bicycling on single-gear mountain bikes, stuck in either the highest gear or the lowest gear; or, slipping between two inappropriate gears every three or four strokes. If I ever get a chance to come back here, I’m bringing a bunch of tools and fixing all of his bikes! The backs of my legs are seizing up for no apparent reason and my ankles have turned into "cankles" which, for those of you who don't know, are the combination of a Calf and an Ankle. My ankles are very swollen and I generally feel like blah. I really didn’t feel like hiking out and I was getting worried when salvation came! Cyclone's tooth cracked and part of his filling came out! It looks like we need a dentist, so he's going to call one in Erwin tomorrow. I couldn't be more relieved that Cyclone's tooth was falling out.

I had picked up a copy of "Catch 22" from the library yesterday for 25 cents and I planned to read it but then Rolex finished his copy of "No Country For Old Men" so I sat around all day and read that book. I saw the movie when it came out and I’d have to say the book was better; especially how they explain that Moss is dead, oh sorry, I guess I just ruined it for ya :(). When I saw the movie I was wondering how it would go for the sequel but after reading the book, it’s pretty clear what's going to happen. Rolex has been reading this book for a while and he keeps asking me all these questions since I saw the move but I can’t remember all the details and it was getting annoying so now I read it and he’s not asking me any more questions.

I finished the book in one day and then started on Joseph Heller's "Catch 22." I've been meaning to read this book for a long, long time. I think I started it once but never finished it. If we keep staying at Uncle Johnny's I should be done by tomorrow. I took a bunch of Ibuprofen (Vitamin "I"), hoping to bring the swelling down and hopefully I'll get some sleep, I need to elevate my feet tonight to try to reduce some of the swelling. My ankles look like balloons. Sometime during the day just about everyone we know came in: Cubit, HaHa, Daniel (who may have just gotten the trail name Rasputin)and his sister Brittany, 3 others whose names escape me right now, the NC crew, and we met Hercules.

We moved into one of the cabins instead of the bunkhouse and it’s nice. It’s the place that Johnny’s Mom stays in when she’s here. It was comfortable and I’ll be bale to prop up my feet. Tomorrow, Cyclone should be getting his tooth fixed at the local dentist and then the next day we should be back on the trail. We’re losing a lot of ground by staying here so long but it’s probably a good thing for my legs as well. I can’t explain the pain that seizes up my legs at totally unpredictable times. I’ll be walking just fine and then all of a sudden BAM! They get like a cramp and it feels like my tendons are getting pulled behind my knee. Then, as soon as it hits, it’s gone and I’m limping gingerly, wondering if it will strike again. I wish I knew what was wrong. I’m thinking it’s a potassium deficiency or something like that. I looked it up on the Internet but I can’t find anything definitive; although, I have seen a bunch of other people’s complaints about the same condition. Maybe it will be gone in the morning…

David Patrone AKA "Jukebox"


Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Uncle Johnny's Hostel 2

Uncle Johnny's Porch

Uncle Johnny's Hostel 2

We had decided to take a "Zero day" on our way down the mountain but we ended up working harder on our zero day than we do hiking. We had to re-supply, we had to take a bunch of stuff back to the post office and of course we had to eat lunch. Seemingly normal tasks you might say; except, all we had were bicycles and town was none too close. We got some great footage of the landscape while riding and thankfully it was pretty flat all the way into town.

It was damn hot though; and as we got into town, the freight train almost messed everything up. They have a freight train that goes right through the middle of town here, and when I say Freight Train, I mean one of those two-mile long deals that has to back up every so often; which, usually happens when you're stuck on the wrong side of it, staring at the blinking red lights and you were on your way to a wedding or to pay your taxes (at 11:58 the night of April 15) or you ate some questionable Mexican dish at the lunch buffet at the Best Western and needed to get back RIGHT NOW MOTHER#$$%$!! Well, we had a bunch of stuff to mail back and the post office is on the other side of the railroad tracks. Cyclone and I came cruising up after the clackers had gone down and although the train was close, it was moving slowly; so we ran the clackers and rolled up on the Post Office. It was 11:30 or so and the post office would close at noon. Rolex was takin’ his sweet-ass time and he got caught since he was way behind us on a bike with only one gear (and the wrong "one gear" to have at that). What we didn't know was that he hadn't put his stuff to be mailed in Cyclone's Backpack. We figured it was OK, he could just sit there and wait, since he was being a slowpoke anyway. Then we got the call on our cell phone that he had stuff to mail out. DAMN! We got lucky though, he managed to get across the tracks at about 11:58 and came slidin' in sideways to the post office and we mailed out his stuff.

We took another loooong bike ride up to the supermarket, packed five days worth of food for three men in one school size backpack and hit every soft-serve ice cream shop on the way home! That's what 98 degree days are for!

Back at the ranch, we hung out and played guitar, read some books, ate some food and watched the guys get drunk again. More people we knew had rolled in and were staying at the Hostel so it was a fun time with old and new friends. Uncle Johnny is pretty cool, he has a ton of stories, as you might imagine a guy who has run a hostel like this for many years might have. I’m going to get in to bed and relax, my legs hurt and my ankles are swelling a little. They should be fine in the morning. I don’t think I’m going to feel like heading out tomorrow but we have to keep moving.

David AKA "Jukebox"


Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Uncle Johnny's Hostel

Road Calisthenics


Spivey Gap to Erwin TN (Uncle Johnny’s Hostel) 13 miles

As usual on a “getting into town day” I got up early; actually, Barbarossa bellowed out a wake up call at 6:15 to let us know we were over-sleeping. Nothing had tripped the raisin-baited deadfall in the night. The rock wasn’t heavy enough to really get anything but I didn’t tell Rolex that, well, maybe a mouse or something, but nothing bigger. I was hoping it would have at least been tripped; but alas, nada.

We got out and I really needed to use a privy. I did some pack calisthenics in the middle of the first road we crossed and Cyclone took some snapshots. I think they won’t be very flattering but what the hell, you can’t always look good right? We had a shelter coming up so I figured I’d have a place to drop my drawers; but of course, no Privy to be found. I got a little peeved at my brothers there and told them to go ahead, I’d catch up. I eventually caught up but the need for bathroom was becoming a major urge. I blasted past them to try and run down the trail in sufficient time so as to make a bathroom at the bottom but it was not to be. I had to do what the bears do and it was a close call to be sure. The hill into town was long and steep and there’s not much of a selection of defecation sites when you’re on a sleep slope. I didn’t want to go bushwacking up or down in this terrain. The foliage was thick and I was getting frustrated; not to mention the pain in my gut was mounting. The only sort of level part anywhere around is the actual trail and you can’t do it there; plus, it was Friday and there were a day hikers occasionally coming up the trail. I wasn’t about to be squatting just off trail when a couple of Girl Scouts came up (even if the thought of some Thin Mints was enticing) so I was going to have to get off trail some where. I’ll spare you the details except to say that it was rough. I found a spot that went off toward a cliff that overlooked the river about a thousand feet below. As soon as I got into place, Black ants were trying to eviscerate me and flies were not only precognizant but telepathic as well. I heard my brothers pass close by as I hadn’t realized how close the trail came to the site of my struggle. Soon I finished my business and got back on the trail a little lighter, hoping to catch them again.

I caught them as they were talking to a woman who was coming up the trail with her dog. We seem to be in better spirits today and we finally made it down together; although, I know the guys were confused when I came up from behind them after passing them earlier but I’m sure they got the picture quick. We got in to Uncle Johnny’s around 1PM and the hostel was right on the trial. He has his own outfitter and a cool porch that we hung out at until we got our accommodations. It has been really hot around here lately and refreshments were in order. We checked in, did laundry, got some bicycles and headed to the post office to get our brand new sunglasses from Native Eyewear http://www.nativeyewear.com (as well as a tent and some other things). We ate and went to the movies and saw both Zohan and Indiana Jones. We rode bikes back to the hostel in the dark with lightning about five miles out. It was a warm summer night and life was good. We stayed up telling stories and talking to the people we knew who had come in while we were in town. I played guitar while a bunch of people got drunk on the picnic tables. I don’t know how these guys can get drunk and then hike the next day. I couldn’t imagine trying to do these hills hung over. Oh well, I don’t ever have to worry about that again…

David AKA “Jukebox”

Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Keeping it together til town

Levi flying a kite while JB and Rolex look on

Hog Back Ridge Shelter to Spivey Gap campground 17 miles

I managed to get through another night without my hammock tent falling apart. Getting up this morning, I can feel the vibes from Cyclone and I think we're wearing each other thin. We took off this morning a little later than usual but we're trying to get to Spivey Gap so that we don’t have far the next day to get into Uncle Johnny's Hostel where we’ve decided to stay. We met “Rain Check” and “Wild Hair” last night and some other cat named “Lone Wolf;” only, Wild Hair was saying there's already a Lone Wolf who's been hiking the trail for a long time so I could feel the tension rising. Nothing came of it, “Lone Wolf “ seems like he might be one of those “Hiking Homeless” guys anyway.

After more breakfast bars, we started cruising along. From looking at the elevation profiles on the map, we knew we were going to have a few nice little climbs. There's been this bad vibe between me and Cyclone and it's starting to rub off on Rolex too. He really bugs me when he starts talking about time. It makes me feel like I'm going too slowly and it pisses me off. The fact that this bothers me is not what really bothers me. The fact that he knows this bothers me and still says it all the time is what really sets me off. I should try to stop talking about our spats on the blogs. Nobody benefits from it.

We stopped for a moment at one of the shelters before Spivey Gap and Cyclone commented on the time which led Rolex to say something about, “isn’t it nice to have gone 10 miles and it’s only noon?” or something like that. I got so pissed I told them to split. I don't even want to hike with them anymore. Cyclone says something that leads Rolex to say something and then I want to knock both of them out; however, I know if I got physical with either one of them, they'd both just go home. I think Cyclone's already half a step from leaving the trail anyway. His knees are in a lot of pain and his tooth is becoming a problem. All it would take is one thing to go wrong like me punching someone. I could be wrong; but, that's my impression right now. At some points in the day, I could care less whether they stay or get off. I'm going to go as far as I can on this trip and I may even stay on the trail after we reach our original time limit to try and finish if we don't make it.

On one of the balds I caught them again. They were watching Levi, who we’ve been running into since Fontana Dam, pull something out of his pack. He had a kite. It seems he’s been flying a kite on every bald he summits. It was cool watching him fly it. I filmed him as he crashed it into the ground once; but soon he was flying it in grand style, spinning and diving it like a pro. We were brothers again for a minute as we watched him play. We all like Levi, he’s a funny guy who wears a kilt when he hikes. I am thinking I would like to get a kilt too, I’ve been hiking in only my underwear for chafing reasons and I think a kilt would solve that. Not to mention, I wouldn’t have to worry about offending the Girl Scouts we pass on weekends.

We made the descent into Spivey Gap where we found a suitable campsite after the usual intellectualizing about location in the site selection process. We could argue about ANYTHING, I swear. I didn’t want to camp at the main campsites because they were very close to a stream and I thought that the Mosquitoes would eat us alive as soon as the sun went down. We moved uphill to another campsite but it was clear that they were just placating my “unjustified” concern. It felt to me like they thought I was just trying to be difficult.

We pitched the tents, I started a fire and Cyclone cooked. One of our recent trail buddies, Kevin (whom I like to call "Barbarossa" even though he hasn’t taken a shine to it) came rolling in while we were cooking and setting up. He decided to stay there with us. I showed Rolex how to make a figure 4 dead fall with sticks and some fishing line and it was pretty cool. We left it set up with some peanut butter to see if we might catch a mouse or something. We’re all edgy; one more anxious day until we get into a town and we can chill.

We've decided to take a "zero day" in Erwin so we can see Indiana Jones. The hammock is still holding up with my lashing but I asked my pops to send out one of the other ones. I'll pick it up in town tomorrow afternoon and mail the other one back. The fire was nice, we played some guitar and sang and made it to bed early. We want to get out early so we can get to town at a reasonable hour. Cyclone has a conference call to make by 2PM

David AKA "Jukebox"

Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Wait, no Weight...

Jerry’s Cabin to Hog Back Shelter GPS: 16 miles

The knot I tied in the ridgeline held up last night; but I’m really worried it won’t work and I’ll have to sleep in shelters with no pad or worse, have to sleep in the tent on the ground or something. I have an extra one at home so I’m going to ask dad to mail it to me when we get into the next town.

I dropped the bear bags and got out my breakfast: more breakfast bars; yuck! Cocoa Puffs and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I got them because I thought I would like the sweetness and they have real milk in them; but I’m so sick of these things. We got off to another slow start; Brotherproof Crew didn’t get out of there until 10AM. We only had 13.9 miles to do today though. We’re trying to make it to Ewing TN by Friday afternoon. We really want to see Indiana Jones haha! We also need to re-supply by then. We’ve been carrying a lot of food and I can feel every ounce of it. I’ve been hiking in the back lately. The first couple of weeks I went out front but I think Cyclone was getting pissed at me and he wanted to hike faster up the hills than I did; so he started taking the lead. I like to take my time doing a hill and work up to a steady speed. He likes to charge the hills. I’m carrying too much weight for that. When we came out of Hot Springs I weighed myself with my pack and together I’m at 247 pounds. I have to drag all that weight up every hill and I just can’t charge up. Although our packs weight similar weights, he’s a lot lighter than I am. His is pack is a little lighter than mine but he’s only about 200lbs “on the hoof.” Rolex is in great shape and never complains when he’s hurting. He could do 30 mile days I think, if his head was in it; but, it’s not. We both go too slow for him I think. That’s why we call him Rolex.

We took a break at Flint Mountain Shelter and I was dying to hit the privy. A Marine came up and we talked a bit. “Superman” has been on the trail two weeks and he’s come 300 miles. He’s cruising faster than anyone I’ve seen yet. He was an enlisted Marine and he just got his commission. He’ll probably make it to the finish before he has to be at his next duty station. Semper Fi baby! I sure couldn’t keep up with him; although, he is carrying a 25 pound pack. Sometimes I wish I didn’t have this camera or guitar or all the other junk; but, it’s worth it to be able to document it and of course to be able to play tunes out here.

We took some breaks at some waterfalls and rinsed our faces. The hills were long today and we made it in early and ate twice our daily dinner ration. We’re thinking we’ll probably get in a day early so why carry all the food? Let’s eat it! We met some people, sat around the fire and then, as everyone was going to bed, I pulled out the computer to blog. We’ve got a long one tomorrow and I’m not looking forward to it. As I type, the bugs are trying to eat me alive. I’ll see you guys later. We have some YouTube stuff up so check it out!!

David AKA “Jukebox”

Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Dappled sunshine is not enlightenment per se

Jukebox and Cyclone hanging the bag at Jerry Cabin Shelter

Tuesday June 3, 2008
Spring Mtn Shelter to Jerry’s Cabin 17 miles GPS

I got up and snacked on two breakfast bars. I’m trying these new cereal bars because I can’t stand the oatmeal anymore. I’m trying to figure out something I’d like to eat for breakfast cause so far everything sucks. I didn’t put on my sleeping pad because it was so warm; but, around 3 or 4AM it got pretty cold and I had to get up and put the pad thing on the underside of the hammock. I tried to just deal with it but I got wet from sweat and I was shivering my ass off. I woke up with a puffy face. That’s been happening lately and I can’t figure out what it is. Maybe I’m allergic to oatmeal.

I was feeling crappy and I didn’t want to climb fast so Doug and Mike took off. I spent the whole day kind of meditating as I walked; wondering when enlightenment was going to come. I know better than that but sometimes I like to think of it like I think of winning the lottery. I imagine of all the things I would buy and all of the things I would do. I was pondering the same way about enlightenment. What could I see, what would I know, would I even care? I’m sure that wondering about enlightenment is the total opposite of actual enlightenment but I like to wonder as I wander. I know The Answer is The Search anyway. I know the journey is the destination; hence, while I’m in the journey I’m at the destination and I’m wondering what I now must already know since I’m already there... Basically, nothing; which, is a kind of answer in and of itself. I was trying to imagine what everything would look like if I could see only in energy fields. The dappled sunshine through the sparse canopy had this shimmering effect on everything as I walked, which is what gave me the idea of seeing in energy fields in the first place. I wondered if I would be able to see the life forms around me like you would through heat-vision goggles. I figured that with enlightenment, I wouldn’t need to see things in the traditional sense; limited to the direction I was looking with my eyes, but more like being able to see in 360 degrees; Total Awareness without visual sight. I figured I would be able to sense everything as if I was looking at a scene with me in the middle of it like some kind of video game. That would be cool.


Later that day, we met up and took a side hike to hang out on this outcropping for a while. There was as sign that said scenic view or something like that and written on a piece of paper was a note that read, “worth a look.” We sat and enjoyed the scenery before hiking the "exposed ridge."

At some point I climbed up to this exposed ridge and it was a mother. [DAMN! I’m typing in the dark and I have this headlamp on and bugs are attacking me like crazy. I really need to learn to type in the dark. I’ll make this quick.] The ridge was tough to climb; all rocks, weird shaped and angled surfaces. My feet are killing me and I had to scramble all the time. My feet just couldn’t seem to get a stable purchase. The views were amazing though.

Eventually I got in to the next shelter which is called Jerry’s Cabin, which sounds nice but it’s just a shelter, not an actual cabin. When I got there, Mike told me the bad news; the water situation was bad. Just a little puddle dripping out of a little pipe. It would take hours to fill our water. I went down and got a Nalgene bottle’s worth to wash my legs and feet. I figured it would be plenty of time to refill before we needed water. A group of four ladies came in, Soaring, Rabbit and Owl and a dog named “Roo” (all Winnie the Poo characters). They were cool, one of them was a retired Marine and we talked for a bit.

The fire was started at some point and the swirling winds made it unbearable to sit by. They need to call this place Swirling Winds Gap Shelter instead of Jerry’s Cabin. I pulled out the guitar and was playing for a while. I handed over the guitar to Rolex and hit the rack. The last song he sang would be stuck in my head all next morning. Damn the Goo Goo Dolls! Oh yeah, and when I was setting up, my hammock’s ridgeline cord broke. The ridgeline busted while I was weight testing it before I tightened it. I tried about ten knots to fix it until a bowline finally did the trick. It seems they used lesser cord on the inside than they do on the outside. You can bet I’ll have some words for them on that one. I hope it doesn’t go down in the night. I’ll let you know…

David AKA “Jukebox”

Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com