"Pound the Presis" - Presi travese to benefit TBTS

[Gris]

my first thought (after hearing he is OK) was of his numerous LP gas grilling tanks exploding, then the smell of bruning leaves in the aftermath...

 

[chomp]

That SUCKS!! Very glad to hear that Shizz is OK. Hopefully the a-hole that hit him has insurance, and after a long hassle, we can enjoy a new Shizzmobile completly outfitted by Mr Drunk Driver.

I have the Love Wagon loaded up, and I am planning on getting there between 4-5. I don't have any Moe (but I do have a Moe sticker!), but I have plenty of tunes on the iPod, a deep cycle battery, 2 grills, and plenty of other supplies.

We'll be thinking of ya, Shawn.

 

[mtnpa]

I don't know if anybody is still around or not, but posting anyway. We're not familiar with the Whites, so were wondering what is the route most people are taking? We have a book and maps, but there are a ton of trails.

Also, what time are people planning on starting tomorrow morning?

There are three of us coming and we have to work today, so won't be getting to CMR until later tonight. I hope to talk to people there to get an idea about the route, but just wanted to check in case most people are asleep when we get there.

We're psyched that the weather looks great and we're looking forward to the hike and meeting everybody!

Here is a link to Mohammed's site. Great info:



http://home.earthlink.net/~ellozy/presidential-traverse.html

 

[mtnmama]

Sean...I've been trying to reach you.
Glad your ok....what a bummer.
You will be greatly missed.
Call me!!!!!!

 

[pudgy_groundhog]

Thanks mtnpa. Very helpful!

 

[Mike P.]

My cell phone voice mail, That's funny I have no idea how to retrieve that but I've head about Sean's bad luck, & I'll pick you up SK. Now I left my map at home but I'll print another. Leaving Hartford at 12:15 & should arrive at your door around 2:00.

Tell MA's finest there is a lunatic driving towards the Cape so I've got clear sailing. WIfe had the dealer clean out my car Wednesday, lucky you.

 

[Mike P.]

Great event, great time, special thanks to Jay & Bubba & Sherpa K. who did the lion's share of the organizing & fund raising & Sherpa who after Sean's accident, took his time & drove himself up with some much needed supplies.

Nice seeing all of you & I wish I could have stayed a bit Saturday Night to wait for the rest of you to finish & partake in a couple of glasses from Paradox's donated keg but I had to get back for Father's Dy Breakfast (which as I type this is ready for me. ).

Special thanks to the trail angels who climbed up the ridge with goodies.

Giggy & Jay, I take back 1,000 times the comment I made that if Dave M. was hiking up with ice cream, he was going to eat it. Sorry Dave, sorry Dave, sorry Dave, Sorry Dave, sorry Dave, sorry Dave Sorry Dave, sorry Dave, sorry Dave (of course it was a funnier comment at the time than saying, Wow, what a nice thing for Dave to do.)

Thanks again everyone!

 

[bobandgeri]

Great job everyone! It was wonderfull to finally meet many of you we have known by name only. SherpaK - great to see you. Who would have thought you really could nurse 1 beer for an entire night!

It was a great day to be out in the mountains, second only to climbing up the final stretch to Peirce and seeing Chicken Little (Aka Dave Metsky) carrying a cooler of ice cream and treats!

Officially we only saw 10 members of VFTT on the trail, but we're donating $150 to The Brain Tumor Society on behalf of VFTT as soon as we get home tonight.

Hope tp see you on the trails again soon!

 

[Jay H]

OK, I just caught up to messages I missed (seemed like a lot of them) since thursday. I did not hear about Sean until Friday at CMR, but am glad the dude is OK, that is what is important.

Pudgy: Glad you got some beta on the trail... Nothing like waiting last minute I heard you ran into Chomp on the way up anyway...

MtnMa and MtnPa, Very nice to meet you two, even though I'm not a coffee drinker, I can tell that you two are awesome folks who would bend over backwards for others and that's nice to know. I know from talking to Guy and the others at CMR, your coffee at 3am on Saturday was much appreciated.

I've determined there is something wrong with the water in MA, it's just bad juice, that's 4 people I personally know that have been f'ed up from MA this year along. You guys better start filtering that tap better!

I am going to get a final list of folks that was hiking either part of the whole thing. I know Aaron (askus3) said he'd donate $$ for every hiker on the event so over the next few days, I will tie loose ends up.

I will email everybody and post here various things like

1)Where to snail mail the checks to TBS directly.
2)final hiker tally just to make sure I got everybody
3)a final tally of how much money I've raised...

In that end, if you do send a letter to TBTS, you can simply email me how much it is so I can get an idea before TBTS tells me how much we raised. I expect to beat both the events in the catskills which is great, all of your enthusiam and help certainly makes my job easier.

Thanks to all the support, especially to Wayne (skiguy) for the shuttle, snacks and donuts, Dave for the ice cream which I missed , MtnMa&MtnPa for the coffee, Woody48 and Allen for the huge bugtent which was very useful on Friday! Peakbagger for the snacks. Bob and Geri for hanging out at Lake of the Clouds, SherpaK for just being there, and of course, all of you for coming and making this a fun weekend. Bubba can keep the apron

Oh, also like to add, thanks to Lion's Head for the keg and also Paul the Explorer (& the gang there) for the food at the Highland Center!!!!

OK, here is a list of hikers at the event itself:

Pudgy_Groundhog
Half Moon
Double Bow
Tuco
daxs
Mike P.
giggy
MichaelJ
frytz
bubba
jade
Jay H
rocksnrolls
7summits
Abster
4000'er
skiguy
paradox
umsaskis
Woody48
-Alan
sknydppr
errapi
kea
mtnpa
mtnma
BobandGeri
David Metsky
-Gojeb (not on VfTT but at the event)
Chomp
Rols
SherpaKroto
Terwilleger
Peakbagger (one of the many)
Spongebob

Did I miss anybody, I need to get this to Askus3 once this is finallized. Surely we ran into other vftt members there but not specifically on this event so I couldn't justify them here. I know we ran into MountainMagic, SilentCal, Hikerfast, Hikeramiga, and perhaps others...


Jay

 

[pudgy_groundhog]

Jay, our friend Brad also completed the traverse. His username is terwilleger (as in sideshow bob ).

Thanks for organizing. We had a great time!

And also thanks to Chomp, SherpaK, Dave Metsky, MtnMagic, and one of the Peakbaggers (not sure which name -- the guy with the Snickers) for their generosity with rides and treats.

 

[MtnMagic]

I'm thankful to have met most of the participants in this super event! For the record, SilentCal, SonicBoom and I (with ghostdog) brought a lot of water and vitamin enhanced Propel. Skiguy brought the snickers (et al) and two boxes of Dunkin' Donuts. We enjoyed being the 'support team' that ensured that the runners and hikers had energy and hydration. A super day in the Presi's. My only regret was that I had to leave site #4 just before 8 pm on CMR 'cuz of another hike in the morning. See you in the mountains!!

 

[bubba]

Record staight!! It was good to meet you on the trail. Thanks for being there in the support role. (How's ghostdog's ear??) Too bad you couldn't stay around at camp... many of us were just getting back at the eight o'clock hour!!

Good job all of you!! Hope we see you on the trail soon!!

 

[Woody]

My brother Alan (not on VFTT) and I both had a wonderful time. I enjoyed meeting everyone and getting the chance to know the folks behind the screen names. What a great time for a great cause. Thanks to all!

Woody

 

[MtnMagic]

Ghostdog was fine in the morning. We did the Franconia Ridge loop.

Next time I must be free to socialize all night. It was great to meet many old and new friends!

 

[Tuco]

MtnMagic, were you near the Westside trail junction beyond the Mt Clay loop sitting down?? We passed right by and said hello and I think it was you- remember seeing the Cog and I think you mentioned something somebody told you about the pollution was less from the Cog than xxx cars

If it was you all- it was pretty early at the time, sorry we didn't stop by and chat

 

[MtnMagic]

Yes Tuco, that was us! And I remember saying to you about the pollution from the Cog. It sure was early!

 

[Jay H]

Oops, got to add 2 more to Askus3's list I forgot Alan and also Adrian (spongebob). I think the Adrian ommission was on purpose.

Jay

 

[Jay H]

For those who perhaps didn't get my email, I'm posting this here for those still wondering what to do with cash and checks you may have...

---
Anyway, checks and donations can be sent to the following address:

BTS c/o Pound the Pressies
124 Watertown Street, Suite 3H
Watertown, MA 02472

You might also want to put a note in it to mention it is for Pound the Pressies.

Cash, since the USPS always discourages cash sent through the mail, what I've done in the past is simply convert it to an online donation via the firstgiving site and then just send the checks in the mail.

Could you email me the $$ total of anything sent in the mail, anything on Firstgiving, I already get a tally, but the checks I don't so for me to get a total, I could use the amt.

Jay

 

[Jay H]

OK Folks, I'm going to snail mail in all the checks I got, and those from folks who gave me checks at CMR this past weekend.

I have about $165 in checks to mail out. I also got another donation from a trip report I emailed to coworkers so, sending them a trip report by email does work in getting those that may have forgotten or not gotten around to pledging you beforehand.

We've got over $2000 already and I know there are some still outstanding pledges to be gathered.. Good work guys and gals!

Jay

 

[bubba]

Jay, that's great news!! I've got a bunch of checks and cash from donations with pledges still coming in from the initial request. I've got to send out billing for all of the pledges, and I anticipate that to get done in the next day or two (I'm wicked busy at work... end of year this month, etc...).

I'll send in everything to TBTS and let you know the final tally. My task will be the collection process to some extent. (BTW, the spredsheet I thought I lost was recovered!!!) My final total should be at least $1200 with hopes of reaching $1400. This makes me really happy!!! Only problem was that I had pledge challenges for doing all of the peaks... I'll have to make it up!!

Daxs... let me know when you have some photos ready. I'll prbly like to use some.