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| | Day 164- Mon, October 1, - 8.1/2659.6 miles -start-1010 end-1245 -sunny hi-80
-room at Manning Park Lodge -elevation-3900'
Up at 0700 and got the fire going.
Smokeless and I began talking which wakes up Puff. It looks like it will be a
nice day since there are very few clouds above. They eat breakfast & Puff
gives me some trail mix & 2 granola bars since I am completely out of food.
About 0845 Citrus hikes in. He, Marcus & Robin camped at Hopkins Lake last
nite. Citrus has already hiked 6.8 miles this morning. We say that we will go
back to the Monument 78 to take pics. At 0930 we go back to Monument 78 and find
Marcus & Robin there. We take pics for about 30 minutes before returning to
the campfire to warm ourselves. At 1010 I am the 1st to start the 8.1 miles to
the trailhead. At 1030 I met Robin's dad, Bob, hiking in to meet Marcus &
Robin. Of course, Puff passes me before I reach the road but it is an easy 4.7
miles up then 3.4 miles down. I make it to a paved road at 1245 and then go
right towards Hwy 3. After 1/2 mile I see a man walking & ask him where the
Manning Park Lodge is. He says, right behind me. I walk up the hill & I am
there. I walk across the parking lot to a payphone to sed e-mail but it fails.
Puff comes up. He says he wants to wait for Smokeless before starting to eat. I
told him I would get a table for 4 and he, Smokeless & Citrus could join.
Within 10 minutes Citrus & Smokeless arrived. We all had lunch then Citrus
& I went to the lodge to get a room. The room was only $50 (US) because off
season rates started today, Oct 1. I now plan to take a Greyhound bus from
Manning Park to Vancouver tomorrow at 1115, then a bus to Seattle at 2015
arriving in Seattle at 0100 on Wednesday. Then I will take a cab to Sea-Tac
airport for my 0745 flight. After Citrus & I get into the room Puff &
Smokeless come by. Puff's friends from Seattle is coming to give him &
Smokeless a ride. At 1630 as we were all leaving for the bar below the dining
room, Remy came in. Puff showed him to our room where he showered & will
stay the nite. At the bar everyone was playing pool. It seems that Smokeless
& Robin won the most games. I returned to our room to work on today's
journal and also get some R&R. BTW, I spoke to Marcus and I am now getting a
ride with Robin's parents, Marcus & Robin. We will leave about 0930 or 1000.
Well it is now 2330 and Puff & Smokeless and Citrus & I just finished
watching parts 1, 2 & 3 of "Band of Brothers" on HBO. See u in
Seattle. Definitely, this is "another day is paradise". Good nite.
Pics from 2001-10-01 Tue, October 2 - resting place: my brother's home in
Seattle
Up at 0445 working on the journal. This is
the 1st day since April 21 that I have not been thinking about where will hike
next. It does feel kinda odd to not be hiking or at least planning to hike. I
have learned any things on this journey, e.g., I must set goals, short &
long term, and always be able to adjust myself to accomplish these goals. Maybe
I should say I have had the high degree of importance of this idea that goal
setting reinforced rather than saying I "learned" how to set goals. We
(Robin's parents, Marcus & Robin, & I) left Manning Park at 1000 and we
are driving west on Hwy 3 and will go across the border & get on the US Rt
539. At the border crossing there are 5 cars in from of us & it only takes 5
minutes for them question us. They did no search any of our belongings. It is
now 1300 and we are riding on Rt 539 from Lynden, WA (near the US/Canada border)
to Bellingham, WA. We stop at a gas station & I just got an e-mail from Russ
giving me the following Webster's definition of a yurt: a circular domed tent of
skins or felt stretched over a collapsible lattice framework and used by
pastoral peoples of inner Asia; also : a structure that resembles a yurt usually
in size and design. Picture: http://www.m-w.com/mw/art/yurt.gif
. Thx, Russ. At 1400 we just stopped at McDonalds about 80 miles north of
Seattle. BTW, the last broadcast e-mail of my journal will be Wed, 10-3 and
after that the daily journal entries can be found on the website. At 1515
Robin's dad dropped me off at exit 168B on I-5 south. I said goodbye to Marcus
& Robin and headed across I-5 to my brother's home about 6 blocks away. I
arrived to find no one home so I called my brother at work to let him know I am
here & that I was going walking. My brother will me give a ride to Sea-Tac
airport at 0500 tomorrow for my 0745 flight. I decided to walk up 10th Ave
towards Seattle University. I hit the Ben & Jerry]s store for 2 scoops of
chocolate fudge brownie. I return to my brother's home & go to dinner with
him, his wife & child. We return to his home & crash at 2200. It has
been a long but very good day. Good nite. Pics from
2001-10-02 Wed, October 3, resting place: my parent's home in Highland Springs,
VA. Up at 0440 at my brother's home and hew
takes me to the airport arriving at 0530. I stood in line forever and finally
made it to the boarding area at 0700. There are still 30-40 people in line for
my flight. I boarded my flight to Pittsburgh about 0730 and we took off about
0805. It is now 1015 PDT and I just advanced my watch & camera forward 3 hrs
so I am now back on EDT. Tomorrow I plan to leave for Hanover, NH around 0600 to
0700 with several stops along the way. Stops: 1) Sears to rotate and balance my
tires 2) my old jobsite at Dulles Corner to visit friends 3) other stops TBD I
hope to meet a friend, Chomp aka Tim Scott, AT1999, somewhere in New England on
Thursday nite, tomorrow nite. We talked about meeting at the Long Trail Inn on
US 4 in VT. I would like to talk with Patrick McGrath, the owner of the Inn,
again. 1500, we are at Pittsburgh airport and I will take off for Richmond in
about an hour and arrive in Richmond at 1730. Remember all times are EDT times.
We left Pittsburgh airport at 1630 and arrived at Richmond airport (RIC) at
1730. My father picked me up at RIC and I was at my parents eating dinner by
1800. I am tired. I had gotten up the last 2 mornings at 0440 which is much
earlier than I arose on the trail. I am falling asleep and I am going to bed
about 2300. I plan to leave about 0630 tomorrow morning and return to Richmond
on Friday, Oct 12. I just got an e-mail from Earthsurfer and he injured his foot
in the Goat Rocks Wilderness and eventually limped out. He hitched to Yakima
bought a bike & is now riding to Canada. Earthsurfer,mailto:earthsurfer420@hotmail.com,
has a flight home from Spokane on Oct 15. Good nite. Thu, October 4, resting place: sleep in my truck in a parking lot on
Rt120 south of Hanover, NH
Up at 0500 at my parent's home and at 0635 I am on my
way to Tire America to get my tires balanced rotated. Well at 0840 I realize
that I don't have a special tool to remove a special lug nut on each wheel. My
father had cleaned everything out of the truck before taking it to be serviced.
Good thing he or I didn't have a flat tire. Anyway I decide to bag the balancing
& rotating and drive to my sister's to get mail & other items (note: my
sister, Mary Lee, has been my home person during my journey.). I need to return
to my parents to get this "special tool". I am finally on the road for
Hanover at 1015 or so. The route I take is the following: - I-95 north - just
after going into New Jersey, take Rt31 north towards Pennington - continue on
Rt31 north until u must go right to stay on Rt31 north (at this point Rt31 north
& Rt202 north are the same road) - take Rt202/206 north to I-287 north -
then take I-87 north past Albany to the Glen Falls exit - then I get on US4 east
towards Rutland, VT - about 2100 I stooped at the Inn at the Long Trail and
talked to 2 Long Trail hikers and they said Brian Robinson had just picked up a
package this afternoon at the Inn. - at 2230 I continued east on US4 &
somehow I got on I-89 south to I-91 north & I arrived at Hanover about 2130.
The trip from I-87 north on US4 to Hanover was slow and I would have made better
time by taking I-84 east from I-87 north, then take I-91north to Hanover, NH. Of
course, I wanted to stop at the Inn at the Long Trail so using US4 allowed me to
do this. After checking Murphys on the Green (a tavern) for hikers I went to EBA
(Everything But Anchovies) for a pizza. After eating 1/2 the 8" pizza I
doggy bagged the rest and left looking for a place to sleep. I ended up going on
Rt120 south of Hanover and pulled into a parking lot and fell asleep in the back
of the truck. Long, long day but I accomplished my objective which was to arrive
in Hanover today. Good nite Fri, October 5, resting place: tented at Storrs Pond Campground in
Hanover, NH
Up at 0550 in my truck and I drive to another parking lot and sleep
till 0800. I drove to Storrs Pond Campground where I found a lot of ALDHA, http://www.aldha.org,
members already tented. I went to breakfast at Lou's with Simply & Slider,
AT98. Before returning to Storrs Pond Campground we stopped at the Coop to pick
up some food & ice. At the campground saw Redneck Rye & Bag of Tricks
and they took me over to where Baltimore Jack is tented. Jack just completed his
5th thru-hike of the AT & his 6th hike of the whole trail (in 1995 Jack fell
& broke some ribs in the Whites & in 1996 he returned to finish the 1995
hike). I also ran into Jennette aka Nighingale aka Shady Girl. She said it took
her 4 hrs to drive up from NJ. We all rode to West Lebanon to get some more
groceries, lunch, & they got beer & Jim Beam. We returned to the
campground & I setup my tent. The prediction is for rain this w/e possibly
mixed with snow and a high temperature of the low 40s on Sunday. At 1800 Jennette
& I rode with Woodpecker, AT99, to get dinner. We had deli sandwiches at a
small deli on the way out of town. Woodpecker only lives 20 miles from Hanover
so he is very familiar with the town eating places. We went to Cook
auditorium fot the opening session of the 2001 ALDHA Gathering which began at
1900. BTW, I forgot to mention that when we registered for the Gathering this yr
we r'cd at little "wallet" that hangs around our neck on a string. A
very nice item that also has a place to put a card with your name on it. Thx
very much to Bill O"Brien for successfully organizing such a great event
here on the campus of Dartmouth University. After a few testimonials
entertainment is provided by a country singer. He is a good singer & a great
guitar player. I wish the auditorium was a bit cooler so more persons would have
stayed to enjoy this entertainment. I saw Dave Donaldson aka Spirit of "48
and he has lost 15 lbs during his hiking in Spain this summer. I saw &
talked with many AT friends. Woodpecker gave Jennette & I a ride back to our
campsite. I get into my tent to do my journal & promptly fall asleep. Good
nite. Sat, October 6, resting place: tented at Storrs Pond Campground in
Hanover, NH
Up at 0645 and started walking the 2+ miles to Dartmouth campus and
after a mile I got a ride as it started to sprinkle. Got AYCE breakfast at EBAs.
At 0900 I went to a workshop on "nutrition on the trail". Then I
attended a sideshow on the Wonderland Trail, a 93 mile trail around Mt Ranier.
At 1115 I went to lunch at the student cafeteria with George, Hagit, Chris &
Dave the Tourist. These 4 are PCT thru-hikers who flew from Seattle. They are:
Chris Knight who finished Sept 4th, George & Dave the Tourist who are at
Stehekin (89 miles to go), & Hagit (not sure where he is). I sat at lunch
with PA Mule, Redneck Rye & Woodpecker. As I left the dining hall I saw
Mitch aka Shady Tree and his friend from Maine. He is going to Unity College in
Unity, Me. I have seen Baltimore Jack several times & he has shared his
interpretation of the acronym PCT. Here are his interpretations of PCT: 1)
pampered children's traverse 2) piece of cake trail 3) positively casual trail
4) pansy candyass trail 5) pretend camping trip At 1315 I went over to the bldg
for the Colorado Trail slideshow. Here I saw AT 98ers Hawkeye & Landscape.
The slideshow included AT 98ers Model T, Enlightened Rogue & Long Distance
Man. After the slideshow a bunch of us went to the 5 Olde establishment (bar
& dining). I saw Chomp, AT99, who was still on his 2nd beer. At 21:30 we
finally made it to the middle school for the contra dancing. We stayed an hr or
so then headed for the campground. At 2345 at the campground, Hawkeye, Flutterby
and 2 of Hawkeye's friends all crash. I stopped by the bonfire (campfire) for a
moment before retiring. Good nite. Sun, October 7, resting place: sleep in my truck at Storrs
Pond Campground
After a few false starts I am finally up at 0900. I finally got
my 1st good, full nite's sleep since finishing the trail. I went by EBAs and saw
Hawkeye and Flutterby who were just finishing breakfast. I decided to drive to
West Leanon for breakfast at McDonalds. After breakfast I went to a Laundromat
to do a little laundry. It is a bright sunny day with a chill in the air and
good breeze blowing. There are plenty of clouds in the sky but as of now, 1200,
it remains sunny. The fall colors here in New Hampshire are very welcome after
being in the state of Washington with all of its evergreens. I plan to be here
in Hanover to see the last presentation which should end by 2100 and then I am
not sure where I will be resting for the night. I may stay in my truck since I
have already packed up my tent. I returned to Hanover & went to the 1300
presentation on "Hiker food database..." and I found that the
presenter has a website, http://trekfood.com,
and this site should be up in 6 wks or so. I plan to buy & read some books
on nutrition. It was suggested to me that I only buy nutrition books where the
author has R.D., registered dietician (sp?), after their name. Next I went to
Henry Edwards presentation on the Bartram Trail, http://www.bartramtrail.org
. This trail is in northern GA & western NC and is approx. 80 miles long. A
good presentation because it is informative, short and to the point. After this
presentation I see Hawkeye in the hallway and at 1700 we walk over to the 5 Olde
bar. Other hikers join us including a PCT2000 hiker from DC named Andrew.
Hawkeye and Andrew had a good time chatting about their PCT2000 hikes. Hawkeye
shared a trail story of how Twiddle, a PCT2000 thru-hiker, was kicked in the
head by a deer as he sleep. Hawkeye went 6 miles to Tuolemne Meadow for help.
Also he told us about another PCT2000er named Aussie Crawl who became
disoriented in the Sierras just south of Mt Whitney. Aussie Crawl had to carried
out by helicopter. I took time to eat a little vegetable stir fry for dinner. I
got my truck & drove to a spot in front of Dartmouth Hall. I want to see the
final 3 presentations starting at 1830. The 3 presentations are: 1) Will Richard
showing a slideshow from a visit to Antarctica 2) Cindy Ross showing a slideshow
of her husband, son & daughter on their 6 yr section hike of the CDT 3)
Warren Doyle commemorating the 20 yr of ALDHA Gatherings The Antarctica
slideshow was very professionally done & very informational. Cindy Ross's
show was very good & Cindy is very entertaining. Cindy's presentation
emphasized her kids on the hike. They used llamas. On the 1st yr on the CDT, her
son was 1 yr old and her daughter is 3 yrs old so they grew up on the CDT (each
summer they "hiked" 500 miles of the CDT). I didn't attend Warren's
presentation. I returned to the campfire for about 15 minutes and then went to
bed at about 2330. Good nite. Mon, October
8, traveling South, Home, back to Highland Springs, VA.
19:00, I am in Jessup, MD at a Super 8 Motel, 410-796-0401 room 210. I got tired
& decided to stop here and will visit the outfitter in Northern VA tomorrow
and also go by my old work site to visit. Hope to in Highland Springs by 15:00
tomorrow. ....more
to come |