- MacEntyre
"We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." - Ben Franklin
www.MollyMacGear.com
I wanted to be there soooo badly this year. Had planned on it all year. My job decided they would rather me attend a Windows 7 boot camp. Still there. Sux. Dont post pics.
- MacEntyre
"We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." - Ben Franklin
www.MollyMacGear.com
Trout!! Yea, now I remember! I'll get ya the mini cord locks if you get make a small tyvek recepticle for my 10 stakes!! (their Ti and tiny, not the fat aluminum ones!)
Get busy living, or get busy dying.
I have to say, "What a wonderful person Happy Camper, err Happy Pyro is to spend time backpacking!" Even though nobody else showed, we had a great hike into Damascus. It's the slowest I've ever hiked going at a 1.25 mile pace, but my new ortho footbed didn't mesh well with my old leather boots. The first day I didn't use my sock liner and suffered with multiple hot spots. We met several nice people on the trail - Happy Camper and I promoted hammocks along the trail. WrongTurn's generosity with giving me a map of the trail was real nice and appreciated.
After meeting WrongTurn at MRO and figuring I was going to be doing this trail solo, I'm glad I decided to take the shuttle up to White Top Mountain. The one and only...Damascus Dave drove me up and we had a great chat about Trail Days, the Trail, and the store. When we arrived at the top, eight NOB hikers wanted a drive down the weather was so bad. I jumped out and Damascus Dave made sure I was headed in the correct direction. The weather was so bad at the top I couldn't see more than 5-10 feet out and the wind/rain battered me from the side. What views! LOL After making my way past buzzards peak/pile of rocks, 45 minutes later I was in the protection of the trees and the weather started getting better. No more than 30 minutes later the weather had cleared up and soon it was simply cool. I made it to Lost Station Shelter in four hours and met some hiking buddies from another forum before they moved on. About 7 pm, Happy Camper strolled in to the shelter. Surprise - I discovered Happy Camper was a woman. LOL The next day, we both woke up earlier than expected and got on the trail at 8 AM. We made it to Saunders Shelter at 1 Pm (about 6 miles) 5 minutes before it started to rain. With some help, the water source was found and we filled up our water and left about 2:30 after the rain stopped. About 2 1/2 - 3 miles more, we decided to take the creeper trail and then debate over camping spots. We were both ready to be done and starting to get irritable. We decided to take a fifteen minute break at the edge of a bridge. After the break we crossed the bridge and there was our spot. After setting up the hammocks and soaking our feet in the cool water, I started a small camp fire to which Happy Camper (a.k.a Happy Pyro) kept the fire fueled. Ever seen a Boy Scout whose only mission in life was to play with fire... I'm sure that Traci was that Boy Scout! LOL Anyway, we had a wonderful fire and camped 15 feet from the water - what a wonderful way to end a long day! The next morning we enjoyed ourselves at camp and then eventually made our way with a short 5 mile hike to Damascus on the creeper trail.
As for Trail Days (as with the hike), it was much different than what I expected. I had a fantastic time and time seemed to disappear from one event to another. I spent more time at the vendors section than I thought was possible and walked away spending more money than I figured I didn't have! Of note, I purchased a Maripossa Mini and pad from gravity gear (a sub pound pack), another pad from Jacks R Better and received a few free pieces of gear. I met fewer people from the forum than I had expected, but was happy to shake hands with those that I did meet. Cuffs was certainly a character fun to talk with. I spent a little time with Storm Crow Fri. Saturday, MacEntyre and group of us ate breakfast together. The personalities of the vendors were quite distinct and it was nice to have a chance to put faces with the names. I spent a large chunk of my time on Friday learning to whittle and almost finished my gnome/dwarf figure. I met lots of people, had lots of conversations, and learned plenty. The baptist church in Damascus serviced everyone above and beyond what anyone could have expected or asked of them. They fed me something like three wonderful meals, had about about the only clean restrooms in town, and offered other great services. Overall, the trail and the town was a good experience.
My drive home was interesting. I somehow got lost in the hillbilly mountains and didn't get out of them until 5 PM Sunday. Getting lost included: a ramp festival (some sort of wild onion) next to a church and cemetery, Grayson Park, Troutdale, trying to find a Virginia map, and being chased from Virginia by the Rain until I made it to Indiana on Monday. Glad to be home!
Trout! We sure did have fun on our hike and Trail Days. Thanks buddy for showing up! Pleasure to hang with you. Hope to do it again someday. You're simply gonna have to come to the MAHHA!
Exercise, eat right, die anyway -- Country Roads bumper sticker
Fall seven times, standup eight. -- Japanese Proverb
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