Showing posts with label Massachusetts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Massachusetts. Show all posts

Thursday, July 17, 2008

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

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

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

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

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”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Monday, July 14, 2008

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”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Sunday, July 13, 2008

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”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Saturday, July 12, 2008

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”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Friday, July 11, 2008

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”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1

Thursday, July 10, 2008

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”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1