Heck,I'd rather tell it at a beer night,but I'll just have on while I tell it!
Back in 1998 Mrs KD and I signed up for one of those chalk board trips posted at EMS in Nashua. We rented packs,bought sleeping bags and packed all the wrong stuff. Can of Dinty Moore Beef Stew,big mutha 9v flashlight. My pack must have been 80lbs!
We showed up at the EMS parking lot on a drizzle Saturday morning. All the other 8 participants were no shows. Our EMS friend Dave April says" Well,we can blow off the trip if you want,since nobody showed up." " Hey!We showed up-let's go!" I said. So after a quick stop at the Tilton Diner,we we're off to Mt. Cabot. When we arrived,it was cold and drizzly,and Dave once again gave us opportunity to bail. No way-let's do this. We loaded up our mega packs,and trudged of on the Mt. Cabot trail(still open then). At about 2500 ft,it started to snow,which I mentioned to Dave. "Nah,it's not snowing" said Dave,as though that would make it stop.
About every quarter mile,Dave would look back at us and ask if we were ok. " Oh,sure,we're fine!" I said,slowly dying with every step,and hearing "What the hell are we doing this for" under her breath.
By the time we got to the cabin,the wind is blowing 30,ther'e about 10" of snow,and I'm still hiking in shorts,exhausted and squishing in my boots. We got into the cabin,met our room mates for the night and enjoyed the stove which brought the cabin to a balmy 65o.
Everyone loved the Dinty Moore,of course 'cause the got to eat it,not carry it!
Next morning,rested and dried out,we tagged our first 4k. It was a beautiful Sunny morning,and Mrs KD just danced down through the powder,back to the cabin. "We have to do this again...this was wonderful!!!" she says. Is this the woman who gave me the " I'd kill you for getting me into this,but you have the food" look the afternoon before?
Soooo,her we are 10 years later,trudging up the trail and camping in the snow. And of course I'e spent enough at EMS to buy a small foreign country. And we still see Dave now and then,and he looks at us and shakes his head. " I thought you guys would never hke again,but you get more trail time than me now!"
Of course I do miss the Dinty Moore beef stew.
