Around the Lake in 80 days

The stories at the breakfast table were full of impossibilities and childish wordplay with two witty and intelligent adversaries, Noah and Mason. I posted a little video on the site of us talking about “Cat Bacon.” We were very happy to have had a home to crash at with hospitable animals and humans alike. We got on the road a little late and since they had stopped ferry service only the day before, we were going to have to drive all the way around Lake Michigan to the other side to get to the Stacy Adams headquarters above Milwaukee. Mike started out driving while I uploaded pictures and charged batteries and ignored all of his requests to help navigate. With the time change to Central Standard we ended up getting to Milwaukee very early and we met Ben at Stacy Adams. Ben gave us the lowdown in the showroom and the warehouse operations. We got to take a look at next year’s models and some prototypes. They really know how to excite me with extravagant, two-tone magnificence.



We got a hold of my old Marine Buddy, Steve and I met his beautiful little daughter, Camille. Man, she is a firecracker and she’s probably going to be a UFC fighter by the time she turns seven! Steve’s Mom is exactly how I remembered her and she cooked up a Filipino feast for us. It was awesome and it was the first time Mike ever had Lumpia and rice noodles.



After dinner we decided to go into Chicago and catch the Swing Band at Green Mill. They were doing radio broadcast which is cool although I thought it was a The place looked like it was a regular hotspot and then it really got slammed since Bob Dylan was playing across the street. After it let out the place was unbearably packed so we split and decided to embark upon our journey on the Mother Road, Route 66.

The rain was cata doxis and we could barely see the lines in the road but we kept pluggin’ down Lake Shore Drive until it met Jackson and the tour began through south Chicago and past industry and slum and quarries until we finally got down to the outskirts and navigated the downpour into Joliet where we were turned away at Harrah’s and then found a Motel 6 and crashed for the night. There were floods everywhere and when we finally got into our room and into beds, I coughed steadily until about 5 am when I thing I determined that I am allergic to the pillow and I wrapped my face in a wet t-shirt and passed out on the other end of the bed. When will this sickness relent?


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

Storm Chasing

Route 66 one day away:

The storms are rolling in and what else is new. The cold front across the US seems to frame our route precisely. We'll be riding on the edge of the storms like a sailboat in reach position. Whenever the brothers get on the road, the skies get turbulent and the heavens weep, cleansing the path for our journey. I'm hoping we'll get a taste of the cold Chicago wind as we commence on the Mother Road.

We're traveling to Grand Rapids Michigan today and then we may take the ferry across Lake Michigan and join an old Marine Corps buddy and visit our sponsor, Stacy Adams to check out the shoe factory :) This morning we're taking Danielle, James and James' Mom to breakfast and then we're heading up north. With any luck we'll be in Milwaukee tonight and commencing to Route 66 on Thursday.. More details later...

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

New Adventure!

Jolted awake. My head kept sliding along the plastic window cover on the plane until I got to the place where the crick in my neck became intolerable. Normally a window seat was perfect for sleep but the sweat beading on my head from the fever was making it slippery and I couldn’t rest. I was trying not to exhibit signs of fever, coughing and general flu-like symptoms cause I know how that freaks people out on the plane. I could care less whether or not they caught swine flu; however, I was going home.

The five hour flight was a punishing ordeal of about a hundred false sleeps and overheard boring conversation. I bought a fruit tray for the equivalent of 2 gallons of gas. The yogurt exploded on my powder-blue pyjamas. Whatever…

The last 2 weeks has been a blur of Ski/snowboard training, double feature gigs and hoarse performances while simultaneously moving into an office from my house, getting the flu, no sleep and dealing with over-protective booking agents, inexperienced event coordinators and a club manager who can’t see the forest for the trees. All in a day’s work. Except of course for the flu. I can handle anything when I feel OK but I hate not feeling right inside.

The plane touches down in mid-thought and I’m glad I didn’t have ear-pressure problems. I have some heavy bags and my youngest brother Mike is picking me up at PHL. I haven’t been home since I came off the trail in August of ’08.

I’m feeling like dirt and I probably look like a mental patient wandering the halls of PHL with too many bags and a pale demeanor. We meet and greet, I pull out the HD and start filming cutaways as we drive past downtown Philly and the Ben Franklin Bridge. My stepmom is home and it’s great to see her. I take a nap and Doug comes over while I’m setting up the command center: adapters, chargers and computers so I can remotely administer my affairs.

We decide on bowling and of course I run out of tape before we actually get there. We had a blast and I somehow managed to roll a 194 with a plastic lane ball. Some guys from Uzbekistan were clapping and watching. IT was pretty cool.

We got back and I took over the couch and it was a rough night of flu lungs and crusty eyelids when I finally woke up to the East Coast sun which was up three hours too early.

We are now heading to Sam Ash to pick up some equipment before I play a surprise show at my Grandmother’s retirement home. She doesn’t even know I’m coming…

Tomorrow, Michael and I will be embarking on a journey across the United States. First to New York City to meet with the CEO of the Stetson Hat Company, our newest sponsor and then on to Pittsburg to meet with my best friends little sister. Eventually we will be in Chicago where we will travel along the old Route 66 and see what we can come up with. Adventure never comes planned so we’re not planning for much.

I’ll be posting here as we go along with video, blogs, pictures and other stuff so if yo’re along the way, join us!



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

The Longest Summer:

An account of the Appalachian Trail.

My cell buzzed on the table, next to an obnoxiously large carabiner-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:)

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

Standing Bear Gymnastic Facility and Rehabilitation Clinic

Cyclone preparing DiGiorno in the Standing Bear Kitchen


Standing Bear Gymnastic Facility and Rehabilitation Clinic
Davenport Gap Shelter, Standing Bear Farm, then to Groundhog Creek Shelter 10 miles

No bears came during the night and it stayed warm. I had a rough time sleeping on the hard wood floor of the shelter but at least I wasn't cold. A bunch of people showed up and it was no surprise that everyone stayed in the shelter. I had hung up my tent to dry in the night so it wouldn’t be so heavy. Everything is basically wet.

We got out on the trail a little late ‘cause me and Cyclone were sufferin' from the 20 the day before. The GPS said we did 24. We gave the GPS a trail name. His name is now "George." A few miles later, we finally got out of the Smokies. We passed under the I-40 after a few miles and passed over a river and back into the woods. At about 4 miles we saw a funny fluorescent bear paw on the rocks. Somewhere in the dark recesses of our memories we recalled someone talking about the Standing Bear Farm; so, we decided to take a little trip up there (it said 200 yards) and we knew they had some Internet and other stuff (like toilet paper, cokes and DiGiorno).

Standing Bear Farm is kind of like a rustic hostel with minimal amenities; but it’s clean and neat and they do have resupply food, laundry and internet so I guess it’s not that limited. Standing Bear was started a couple of years ago by this cat, Curtis Owen who is also a Former Marine. We got along great after I heard that. We spent an eternity there and figured we wouldn't have a chance at making the 17 miles to shelter. We would have to stop at Groundhog Creek Shelter. We ran into Daniel and his sister Brittany at Standing Bear and a few others came by like HaHa. We ate DiGiorno and frozen microwave barbecue sandwiches, blogged and I bought new Croc knock-offs. I guess you could call them Croc-offs.

We got back on the trail and Cyclone decided to turbo up the hill, passing even the hearty Daniel. I don’t know what got in to Cyclone but he went faster than I have ever seen anyone hike up a hill like that. The trip was fairly uneventful except for the fact that I sweat about two gallons going up this bastard of a hill. Cyclone got in to the shelter about an hour and a half before me and Rolex; but my calf was all messed up and my kneecap was still acting funny.

I set up my hammock and we got some Internet service so I'm updating blogs. The sun is totally down and I can’t see the keyboard. I'm sitting at this picnic table as Cyclone tends the fire and Dixie Dawg is playin my guitar. Kansas brought marshmallows and we're roastin’ some s’mores and playing songs with Daniel, Brittany, Rolex, Cyclone, Me, Dixie Dawg, Kansas, a former Marine, his buddy, and two cats that just rolled in who will probably sleep on the floor. I have a headache from staring at this screen and I'm signing off...

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

20 miles and almost out of the Smokies

Not Davenport; but, an example of a fenced-in Shelter

Peck's Shelter to Davenport Gap Shelter 20 miles

We decided that we would make it a long one today. I had a great night's sleep for once and although I got a little wet, I was really warm and woke up completely refreshed. I took this opportunity to get out of bed at 6:00 and harass my brothers. We got out on the trail early and hauled ass. It was overcast almost all of the day and we started out wearing nothing but our rain gear and underwear. After the first climb, the rain gear came off. I hiked the rest of the day in my underwear and it was great. I'm going to climb every day like that. At the end of the day you just take them off and put on your regular clothes and you are totally dry. It was great!

We got in to the shelter and it had fencing and a gate door to keep the bears out or the humans in, one. There wasn't a bear hang and someone had a fire going already when we got there. We supped and I changed, washed my legs with a bottle of water and decided to stay in the shelter for once. Dan and Brittany were there, they don’t have trail names yet but we’ll think of something. They are brother and sister and they are doing the trail. That’s gotta be even tougher than three brothers. Then again, I’ve only just gotten to know what it’s like to have sisters so maybe it’s easier. Just kidding buys, I know how much you love that one…

It was a killer long day and my knee was doing this thing where it would randomly feel like someone chopped it right in the middle with an axe. I’m not sure if it’s really a problem or if it’s just a random pain but it doesn’t seem to have a reason. I can’t duplicate it by moving my knee in a certain way, it just randomly does it.

I left my Crocs at the former shelter and I'm really pissed about it. First of all, they were completely unique Crocs that I got when the company first came to San Diego. No one had Crocs like this, they were boat-shoe style Crocs with leather uppers and they kept all the pebbles out. Regular Crocs have low backs and whenever you’re walking to go get water, the pebbles and sticks and dirt get in. If one of you is reading this and you find my Crocs back at the Peck Shelter, please mail them to me at PO Box 12070 San Diego 92112. I want those bastards back, bad! Secondly, I don't want to have to run around in camp in my soaking wet, sweaty boots. I need to give my aching feet a rest.

I was pretty worried about bears as I crept out to hang the bear bag with Rolex. It was after dark and I know there are bears around; otherwise, they wouldn’t have a damn, chain-link fence covering the opening of the shelter! We eventually found a tree and I hung the line while Rolex kept his eyes open for Ursas Major, sweeping the dark landscape with his headlamp like a Stalag 13 guard on crack. I thought we were in a disco or something. It was like the grand opening of a downtown restaurant, Hey Rolex, there aren’t any bears up the trees, already!!! Just kidding, he was as emotionally steady as usual; blithe and unconcerned, except for the availability of cell reception so he could call his lady. I hope the bag is high enough...

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

Rain in the Smokies, as usual.

Rain in the Smokies, as usual.
Coming out of Gatlinburg to Peck's Shelter, 11 miles

Last night we Karoke’d and ate the Feast of Kings at Peddler restaurant in G-Burg. We changed hotels when we decided to stay another night and ended up staying at the Microtel which was cool; they gave us a double room for $40. We got up early and ate all of the muffins and bagels that they had in the little complimentary lounge thing there. Blue Blaze was going to give us a ride to the trailhead in his truck. This is why we called him Blue Blaze, since he was helping us take side trips on the trail.

It was raining; of course. We stayed in Gatlinburg an extra day to avoid the imminent rain and then it held off and waited for us. We piled in to the back of Blue Blaze’s Pickup truck and headed up the mountain to Newfound Gap to resume our quest. It was a nasty hike and the shelter was full when we got there. That didn’t really affect me anyway because I always stay in the Hammock. Tonight would be the first night I would test it in very rainy conditions though.

I wanted to get water and the brothers wanted to sit around in the shelter (not to mention I wanted to keep going and get to the next shelter, but they didn't) so I started to get cranky and a little bitchy. I began to chastise them a little unfairly. I decided I would go get the water by myself. I was having a little tantrum and getting the water is really a three man operation. You can get by with two; but one guy, well it was going to be a real pain in the ass purifying 12 liters of water in the rain, from a little stream, holding and filling and purifying. Being stubborn and angry, I didn’t care. In front of all the people huddled in the shelter I stingingly quipped, "This is great, I always wanted to know what it would be like to have sisters!" Cyclone was not pleased. I later found out he was so ticked off, he was planning on leaving the trail right there. Rolex said, “You don’t have to be such a dick!” That was the strongest language he’s used with me in his life.

I huffed off to get the water and it took a while but I didn’t care; in fact, the harder it was, the better I felt that I was getting it done alone. I was lost in a full, grumpy crank fest. The exertion gets me a little salty at the end of the day and I sometimes take it out on the boys. We keep having little spats but all in all we've been having an amazing adventure. It's a grueling experience though. These hills are no joke; and we're still packing heavier than 99% of the people out here. I’m kind of proud of that; but, people keep advising us to lighten up. You can imagine how I feel about that. My body will adjust. I’ll be stronger than all of them soon.

Cyclone came down just as I was finishing and we kind of made up. He helped carry the stuff back up. I washed off my muddy legs near the stream and put on all my clothes to go to bed. It's been cold in that hammock so I'm trying to get as warm as possible. I keep going through periods of sweaty freeze and then hot mugginess in my sleeping bag. I haven’t figured out how to do it correctly yet. Not having good sleep really takes its toll on you and it’s affecting our ability to get in the miles.

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

Fire Tower Climb and Glowing eyes in the Night

View from the Shuckstack fire tower


Fontana Dam, enter the Smoky Mountain National Park 2200 ft up to rickety fire tower and on to Mollie's Ridge. 12.5 miles

We woke up in the hotel room and packed up. We had to get out of there quick or we were at risk for taking another Zero Day. We headed up to check out and get a big buffet breakfast at the lodge. As we were coming in for breakfast, all of our erstwhile cronies showed up from the trail to check in to the hotel (or at least get some breakfast). We all ate together and then we of the Brotherproof crew headed off to the post office to mail out some more extraneous gear and pick up a few last minute items from the general store before we caught a shuttle back to where we came off of the trail the day before. There should be a name for this. I’d like to call it the Punch Point or the Resumption. That’s it, I like it; “The Resumption.” I’m going to call it that from now on. “Let’s get back to the Resumption, Fellas!”

It didn’t rain yesterday in accordance with The Prophesy as ordained by our Lord and Savior, The National Weather Service and texted to our cell phones by the Father, our Dad; but, it felt like it might today. It was muggy as we hiked over the Fontana Dam and into the Smokies. It’s a huge dam and we got a lot of pictures and wasted a lot of time at the visitor center where they had an enormous relief map of The Smoky Mountain National Forest as well as the projects accomplished by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). We finally got out of the air-conditioned visitor center and someone pointed off to a barely visible fire tower on a distant mountaintop and informed us that we would be there in only 3 or 4 miles. It looked like an eternity both away and up. That’s what matters out here in case you hadn’t figured it out yet: Distance and Elevation. I couldn't believe we were supposed to be there in just over an hour. We were about to embark on a journey on the life-sized relief map of the Smokies. Scale of one foot = one foot.

In two day's we'll be at the highest point on the Appalachian Trail. At Fontana Dam we stood at 1700 feet, going to 4000 feet in just over three miles, then up and down several times over the famous “Rocky Top” and “thunderhead” to 6600 feet in a couple of days at Klingman’s Dome. Then we planned to resupply again in some town called Gatlinburg Tennessee. Today we would cross into the third state on our journey of 14 states. We hoped to reach the Tennessee/North Carolina Border today and follow it all the way through “The Smokies,” which also boasts the highest concentration of Black Bears in the World.

We made it up the legendary Shuckstack climb to the fire tower and precariously negotiated its rickety, rotten steps. We were there with the Walkens, parents of one of the thru-hikers we'd been seeing occasionally. After taking some pictures from what seemed to be a very unsafe perch, we then moved on. We had intended to get past Mollie's Ridge shelter; but by starting so late, it looked like we would have to settle there for the night.

When we got to Mollie's Ridge Shelter, it was pretty full and the ridge runner, Jim, was waiting on some reservations to show up. You have to make reservations to stay in the shelter in the Smokies. We planted our stakes out in the field and set up camp. I met some cool guys from Tennessee and we continued to see some of the same folks we’ve been running into for the past several days. We ate our usual meal and after dark, as I was going to my hammock, I saw a pair of eyes shining yellow out there in the dark. They were tracking me and I didn't like it one bit. I couldn't tell, from my headlamp, how big or just what the creature was but it moved like a cat and I shuffled out loudly toward it and yelled a little to get it to run away. It kept moving a little and then hunkering down. I thought I heard it hiss before it finally took off, I hoped for good. Later that night some thru-hikers came in and said they heard something running toward them and growling at them; which, would explain why the bastards were singing so damn loudly as they strolled in at 2AM.

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

Orchestral Snoring and lots of marshmallows

Throne with a View


A.Rufus Shelter to Brown Fork Shelter Stopping for breakfast and showers at the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) 17 miles

It was a tough day. Sleep was jacked up too. Everyone in the shelter was snoring loudly. This normally wouldn't phase me one damn bit; however, I happened to be sleeping next to MadMtMike who kept poking me all night to try and get me to stop snoring. Actually, he was trying to get everyone to stop but I was the one next to him. I need to get him some earplugs or something. All night I'd be awakened by his poking finger, even when Longtoe, who was on the other side of me, was snoring, Mike would poke me. I finally grumbled, "Mike, it isn't me!" At one point, I heard him yell out, "OK! Everyone stop snoring!!" I think it was answered by Cubit letting out a long, gurgling blast. I was just laughing, except for the fact that I couldn't get any sleep while Mike's poking finger was at work. Shortly after that I heard Mike making a bunch of noise; a cacophony of zippers and rustles and grunts. Some time later I rolled over and he was gone. That cat split the shelter to go sleep in the grass and he didn't even have a tent! Wow! We shouldn't have fed him all those marshmallows. In the morning he was pissin’ and monain’. At least it wasn't just me, everyone was snoring. What do you expect? We're roughing it!

We got on the trail to go down the 0.8 mile to the NOC where we had breakfast and I tried to upload GPS logs, but they wouldn't work. I was getting really irritated at the situation. We packed up and went to go take some showers. I washed some of my clothes while I was in the shower and Cyclone was on a conference call. Our clothes dried in the sun and we got on the trail late, around noon. It was a mother of a hike too; the hottest day yet. I bonked hard on the Cheoah Bald climb. I hate it when that happens. You're chuggin' along and suddenly it seems like the world is about to end and your chest is exploding and you can't breathe and sweat is pouring out of you like you just jumped in a lake. We took a little break and I gathered my composure before the summit

Later that day we got the marvelous opportunity to climb a hill that was unbelievably steep. You could reach out and touch the ground in front of you as you climbed. Cyclone and Rolex kept calling out for switchbacks. Cyclone was trying to analyze at what steepness of grade the trail maintainers thought it was appropriate to start using switchbacks.

We finally got in to Brown Fork Shelter and it was packed. There must have been twenty tents around the shelter. We arrived after nightfall and I set up my hammock in the dark while Cyclone and Rolex cooked dinner; spaghetti again. We've really got this Spaghetti thing down pat. They have been sleeping in the shelter mostly and I have been out in my hammock tent. I don't have a nice, thick pad to put under my sleeping bag so I'd rather freeze in my tent than sleep on hard wood floor in the shelter, especially after the Snoring Incident last night.

We broke out the rest of the marshmallows and Cyclone and I had toasted, white dessert while Rolex talked to his girlfriend on his cell phone out by the privy; which, by the way, had no walls. All it had was a roof; just a throne in the middle of the woods with a great view of the mountains, the trees, the birds, oh yeah and all of the hikers cooking breakfast. Hey! Somebody pass me the paper will ya?

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

Day 3: Gooch Gap to Neels Gap

We hiked our asses off today. I mean literally, I was looking for my ass and it's gone; hiked off, all the way! We got in to Neels Gap Hiker Hostel just after dark. There were some orange sodium lights creating this strange glow over the stone-walled compound as some kind of bell or chime thing was “donging” in the gentle breeze. I felt like we were walking in to a monastery. We needed food pretty bad. Dances gave us some food last night but we knew we were going to have to go into a town so we tried to hitch into Suches. It didn't work. Doc came with us and we walked an extra two miles into town which brought our GPS total for the day up to 17-point-something miles. Thankfully we got (by “got” I mean paid for) a ride back to Woody Gap from this guy Wes. Just as I was turning to walk up the trail, someone from the general store came barreling down the highway with my water purifier charger thing. Thank God for that guy! We would have had to bite the bullet and drink straight from the dirty trail water. We quickly started up the path on our way to Neels Gap so we could stay in the famous "Hiker Hostel." We heard it would be pretty damn nice by our current standards of living. I let Cyclone and Rolex get up ahead ‘cause they were pissing me off already.

We would catch each other periodically and the hike was tough. Eventually we climbed Blood Mountain and met two guys who were section hiking. I was talking about our gear and I pulled out my guitar. One of the guys started playing it and then said, "who woulda thought I'd be pickin' a guitar up on Blood Mountain." it sounded so good I had to have him say it again from the film. The climb down Blood Mountain was worse than the climb up. (Note: We didn’t realize it at the time but five months earlier, a tough, young girl named Meredith Emerson had walked this same path and had been tragically abducted, brutally murdered, decapitated and abandoned nearby by some sick bastard who has since been implicated in several killings in the Southeast.) Doug’s knees were hurting him really badly and Michael stayed with him as they came down Blood Mountain at a snail’s pace. I kept waiting on them but they were taking forever. Doc kept counseling Cyclone on knee injuries and assuring him that if he just took a steady dose of Ibuprofen, he would be alright. It sounded like back when I was in the Marines. No matter what you had wrong with you, you walked out of sick call with a scrip for 800 milligrams of Motrin.

I filmed some of the night hiking as we came in to Neels Gap.There were a couple of people already there and Cyclone and Rolex caem downt he trail a short time after. There were hundreds of pictures of thru-hikers on the wall from this year alone. it seems we're probably the last of the thru-hikers trying to actually make it to Maine. Everyone keeps telling us we aren't going to make it to Maine by August 24. I have two words for them and I'll bet you can figure out what they are... Besides the dramatic décor, there were showers and a laundry room so we did our business and Mike cooked some Spags but we got the wrong kind so it took forever to cook

Mike got pissed at me; you see, he’s not much used to cooking for himself and he was asking me a question about the spaghetti sauce; only, I wasn't paying attention to where he was in the process, I was clipping my toenails or something like that. I thought the spaghetti was already finished and strained and so when he asked me what to do with the sauce, I absently told him to just pour it in; so he did. He poured it in to the boiling water with the spaghetti and everything. He got all pissed at me because I was the one who told him to do it. After we all tried to figure out how to handle that fiasco (imagine three brothers watching a pot of uncooked spaghetti, boiling over in a mixture of water and sauce that was foaming and getting all over our whisperlite stove). We finally came up with a solution and ate, grumpily conversed and slept on bunks while the two house cats (and I use the term “House Cats” loosley) lurked and protected our packs from the ravenous mice. Tomorrow we resupply at the outfitter they have here. Neels Gap Hostel is a very neat place where the Appalachian Trail actually rolls right through the middle of the compound while some archaic sounding wind chime tolls away. It doesn't chime, it TOLLS! When we came in tonight it was still dark and that thing was tolling and creating the weirdest atmosphere.

David AKA "Two-Tone"

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

Begin the Appalachian Trail

Sunday, May 11, 2008
Starting Out Appalachian Trail


We're off! We're sitting in the Amicalola Lodge and the fog is thick. It rained all last night and the lightning was close. I was awakened by an incredible thunderclap just outside our window at 4 or 5 am. We are hiking down to the bottom of the falls this morning and then back up to start the climb to the official beginning of the Appalachian Trail at Springer Mountain NC. Doug is having tooth issues but we'll try to find a dentist for him somewhere on the trail. I uploaded our first gps tracks from Philly to Atlanta including the flight (I left the GPS on while we were flying on accident) anyway, we ate breakfast at the lodge and we're off to begin the Adventure of a Lifetime; Three Brothers and the Appalachian Trail!

David
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