SherpaKroto
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- Joined
- Sep 4, 2003
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I drove up from MA after a wacky stretch of misfortune. Thursday I was on a train that was turned away due to a "hostage crisis". Friday, the train broke down. On the way to NH, my brakes started giving me issues. I met Daxs and JayH at the airport, and we no sooner headed north than the sky blackened like I've not seen in a long time. We all just stared for a few moments, probably wondering why the heck we were doing this. We passed throngs of Motorcyclists huddled in the underpasses, like lemmings in St Patrick's original parade. Fortunately, as we drove on, a slight break happened, a rainbow shown through, and we relaxed a bit.
We got the car spots done (a tough thing with 14 people), stashed a bailout vehicle at the Ammo lot, had a quick brewski (or more), and hit the bags to the sounds of Moe and StrangeBrew (yes, Sean and the event tent were up!). I closed my eyes, and soon heard the insistent chirping reminding me that it was time: 2:30AM. I heard no one stirring, and figured I'd make the first move. About 30 seconds after I left the warm and comfortable tent, the rain started. Just a reminder of what lay ahead. Donna was there to help us shuttle, as promised (thanks Donna!). TMax was smiling and ready, a few of us bleary eyed, all determined to put boot to the trail. About 10 minutes after I was up, I thought "where is MichaelJ when I need him?" as I bolted into the nearest woods, trowel in hand. It would indeed be a long day
Getting groups ready always takes longer than expected. Throw in a bit of bad weather, and it gets worse. We got on the road at 4:00, hit Appalachia and the trail at 4:30, spirits high, dampened only by the rain itself. The rabbits soon were ahead, not to be outdone by the tortoises on this day. We settled into a good rhythm in our group of Guinness, Daxs, Meri, TMax, Marco, Yvonne and me. The pace was perfect, and things were going well. About 2 hours into the hike, I knew I'd better make the Valleyway tentsite soon. Mayo and me don't agree, and it was doing it's best to prove that. I barely made it, wisely remembering that the privy would have no paper. 20 minutes later , I was again headed to the Hut where I reached the others. We were on our way!
JayH headed off for Adams with Jean and Nat as our group started for Madison. As we climbed, SwampYankee and Giggy were returning. We made the summit in good pace, took pictures (ha!) and headed back. I slipped and looked down at my now broken pole! D*mn! Barely 5 miles into a traverse on a slick day with one pole! I've learned to rely on them... Oh well. We had more room to move than when we first arrived, but we still managed to upset a few of the folks sitting and reading. Dried off, said hey to Arm and SkiMom who were both smiling, and then Meri and I headed off toward the Airline. We soon ran into Jean and Nat coming toward us. Jean had fallen and had a lot of blood on his hand. He had done a great job of trailside first aid, but was wise to be heading to Madison Hut for some treatment (all is well). Jay had continued solo, and was about 30 minutes ahead of us at that point. Meri and I took "interesting" routes to the summit (I now call being off trail "doing a Meri"), and passed a few folks along the way. Just shy of the summit, I saw Giggy and TMax coming toward us, and I got a bit nervous. Just a slight navigational error. We met Guinness and Carol, who had come up via the Start Lake trail, on Adams summit. Summit time was short, and we quickly headed down Lowe's. It was easy to see why Jean had fallen - this section was slick and rough. We took the shortcut to the Gulfside on Israel Ridge Path (rougher and slicker yet!), and were happy when we reached it, ahead of schedule, wet, but smiling. Slogged through the ups and downs which are the Gulfside Trail, trying to remember which hump was Adams 5, we soon reached Edmands Col. I was hoping that the weather would improve as we waited for Guinness, Daxs and Meri to arrive. When they did, 5 minutes later, I knew I had to get moving, and headed up towards Jefferson. Staying warm became a theme, and I was again feeling good when I reached the Jefferson Loop trail. Daxs stopped, looked up and said "guys, I'm cold and need help". Gotta love a woman who knows what she wants! She dropped pack, got drier, did a dance when she found her warm hat and gloves, and was soon toasty and ready to rock! I headed off again, and she and Guinness followed about 100 feet later. I heard a yell to look up, and lo and behold - blue sky. Ok, a patch of blue sky (Disclaimer: it really wasn't me woo-hoo'ing on Jefferson around 11:30 on Saturday. Really, it wasn't). I reached the big cairn, and yelled up to Giggy "Is Donna there?". I heard Donna in reply "Nope, she went back to bed after dropping you guys off". There she was, #48 done! Well done, sweetie! We lucked out and got to spend a good 20 minutes on the summit. Only regrets - none of us brought her a beer! (we owe you and will make up for it on your 67th!) The skies welcomed her anyway, and we got our only break from the rain!
Off we went toward Sphinx col. The weather was still taking a break, but it was short lived. All we had to do to make it rain was take off our jackets. Which we did, and it did. I kept saying "Sphinx col is right over this next hump". I seem to have forgotten a few of those humps! I also seem to have forgotten where Monticello Lawn is (thank you Giggy!) I have NOT forgotten how beautiful it is there however. Giggy said he wanted to take a look at his feet as he felt some blisters working, and he was right. Ouch! Out came moleskin, and I suggested that he cover that with duct tape to keep it in place, which Meri provided. A quick repair job, Guinness, TMax and Daxs joined us, and off we went again. At Clay loop, Meri, Giggy and I headed up Clay, the rest stayed on the Gulfside. Clay is a nice spot to gaze into the Gulf, and very peaceful with the Cog in the distance, and I was still feeling good. Meri picked this opportunity to remind me the I was 50, and she was nowhere near that by flying up the loop. She burned up the trail as I kept my steady pace going. We met again at the summit, and then continued to meet the rest at the end of the loop.
As we reached the Westside trail, I was wondering about heading up George. The weather was awful, no wind, but cold steady rain. The kind where even the ducks stay inside. When we reached it, I was thankful when Meri said she was skipping Washington, heading to Lakes. I was happy to go, knowing the rock hop from Big George would not be much fun. About the time I was regretting my decision, it really started to rain. And I really started to slip. And slide. Regret faded, but with one pin fallen, the others were teetering. Lakes was looking like a great bailout (remember Giggy's truck?), though I did not relish heading down the Ammo after a day of rain. We reached the Cog, and I could not miss an opportunity to entertain the cattle. Our timing was perfect as 2 trains were passing, with one on the spur. With the rest of the crowd watching, down went the shorts, a few wiggles for effect, and the June mooning of the Cog was again accomplished. I got waves from the patrons. Even the conductor yelled something, but I couldn't quite catch it My apologies if that visual scarred you for life. I did notice that no one in our group took my picture.
The rain continued to get worse, and as we reached the upper lake, I soon found myself singing my version of McArthur's Park":
"Someone took a hike out in the rain -
I don't think that I can take it!
I'll fall on my a** and break it!
Then I'll never get to pass this way again!
Oh no!"
Lakes was a welcome site. We entered a full room of people, like the river rats that we had become. We managed to secure a table (who would sit next to us anyway?), and got real comfortable, real quick. Food was abundant, dry clothes found, and it became clear that we were heading down. Brief discussion of options ensued, relative merits of Ammo over Edmands, and it was decided that we would head down to Giggy's truck, despite a slick route. Down we went. I don't know about the rest of the group, but I had some close calls as this felt more like a log flume than a trail. It was really wet, and though disappointed, I knew that we had made the right choice. At 6:30, we were done. Hiking over 16 miles and 6,550 vertical a day like this felt pretty darn good to me!
We hopped in Giggy's truck and headed over to the Highland Center where we found JayH, our rabbit, all smiles having finished a full Presi traverse. Later that evening, SwampYankee made his entrance (after we had some nervous moments wondering where he was) after finishing his traverse, adding Jackson and Webster for effect (Guinness had inadvertently given this feat a name the night before when he announced that he'd like to add "Webster and Jackster", so this became the "'ster Traverse": Webster, Jackster, Piercester, Ikester, Frankster, Monster, Georgester, Clayster, Jeffster, Adster, and Madster. And then Swamp went out and did it in the rain! 24 miles, over 9,000 vertical feet! Of course, the VFTTer's weren't quite done yet. Arm and SkiMom were out behind us, taking in the sites, lounging in the heat on George's summit, eventually deciding to do a bit of hiking themselves, finishing their traverse shortly after Swamp.
So, the next time anyone asks if VFTT encourages us to get out there, remember this one. On a cold rainy day in June, 16 of us were together on the Presis (Jean and Nat drove up from Hiker's), one finished her 48, and everyone else hiked for over 16 miles! It's safe to say that those who find their way here love to hike!
BTW, Seema, Blue and MtnTop are the smart ones. They waited a day and did their successful traverse under sunny skies on Sunday!
We got the car spots done (a tough thing with 14 people), stashed a bailout vehicle at the Ammo lot, had a quick brewski (or more), and hit the bags to the sounds of Moe and StrangeBrew (yes, Sean and the event tent were up!). I closed my eyes, and soon heard the insistent chirping reminding me that it was time: 2:30AM. I heard no one stirring, and figured I'd make the first move. About 30 seconds after I left the warm and comfortable tent, the rain started. Just a reminder of what lay ahead. Donna was there to help us shuttle, as promised (thanks Donna!). TMax was smiling and ready, a few of us bleary eyed, all determined to put boot to the trail. About 10 minutes after I was up, I thought "where is MichaelJ when I need him?" as I bolted into the nearest woods, trowel in hand. It would indeed be a long day
Getting groups ready always takes longer than expected. Throw in a bit of bad weather, and it gets worse. We got on the road at 4:00, hit Appalachia and the trail at 4:30, spirits high, dampened only by the rain itself. The rabbits soon were ahead, not to be outdone by the tortoises on this day. We settled into a good rhythm in our group of Guinness, Daxs, Meri, TMax, Marco, Yvonne and me. The pace was perfect, and things were going well. About 2 hours into the hike, I knew I'd better make the Valleyway tentsite soon. Mayo and me don't agree, and it was doing it's best to prove that. I barely made it, wisely remembering that the privy would have no paper. 20 minutes later
, I was again headed to the Hut where I reached the others. We were on our way!JayH headed off for Adams with Jean and Nat as our group started for Madison. As we climbed, SwampYankee and Giggy were returning. We made the summit in good pace, took pictures (ha!) and headed back. I slipped and looked down at my now broken pole! D*mn! Barely 5 miles into a traverse on a slick day with one pole! I've learned to rely on them... Oh well. We had more room to move than when we first arrived, but we still managed to upset a few of the folks sitting and reading. Dried off, said hey to Arm and SkiMom who were both smiling, and then Meri and I headed off toward the Airline. We soon ran into Jean and Nat coming toward us. Jean had fallen and had a lot of blood on his hand. He had done a great job of trailside first aid, but was wise to be heading to Madison Hut for some treatment (all is well). Jay had continued solo, and was about 30 minutes ahead of us at that point. Meri and I took "interesting" routes to the summit (I now call being off trail "doing a Meri"), and passed a few folks along the way. Just shy of the summit, I saw Giggy and TMax coming toward us, and I got a bit nervous. Just a slight navigational error. We met Guinness and Carol, who had come up via the Start Lake trail, on Adams summit. Summit time was short, and we quickly headed down Lowe's. It was easy to see why Jean had fallen - this section was slick and rough. We took the shortcut to the Gulfside on Israel Ridge Path (rougher and slicker yet!), and were happy when we reached it, ahead of schedule, wet, but smiling. Slogged through the ups and downs which are the Gulfside Trail, trying to remember which hump was Adams 5, we soon reached Edmands Col. I was hoping that the weather would improve as we waited for Guinness, Daxs and Meri to arrive. When they did, 5 minutes later, I knew I had to get moving, and headed up towards Jefferson. Staying warm became a theme, and I was again feeling good when I reached the Jefferson Loop trail. Daxs stopped, looked up and said "guys, I'm cold and need help". Gotta love a woman who knows what she wants! She dropped pack, got drier, did a dance when she found her warm hat and gloves, and was soon toasty and ready to rock! I headed off again, and she and Guinness followed about 100 feet later. I heard a yell to look up, and lo and behold - blue sky. Ok, a patch of blue sky (Disclaimer: it really wasn't me woo-hoo'ing on Jefferson around 11:30 on Saturday. Really, it wasn't). I reached the big cairn, and yelled up to Giggy "Is Donna there?". I heard Donna in reply "Nope, she went back to bed after dropping you guys off". There she was, #48 done! Well done, sweetie! We lucked out and got to spend a good 20 minutes on the summit. Only regrets - none of us brought her a beer! (we owe you and will make up for it on your 67th!) The skies welcomed her anyway, and we got our only break from the rain!
Off we went toward Sphinx col. The weather was still taking a break, but it was short lived. All we had to do to make it rain was take off our jackets. Which we did, and it did. I kept saying "Sphinx col is right over this next hump". I seem to have forgotten a few of those humps! I also seem to have forgotten where Monticello Lawn is (thank you Giggy!) I have NOT forgotten how beautiful it is there however. Giggy said he wanted to take a look at his feet as he felt some blisters working, and he was right. Ouch! Out came moleskin, and I suggested that he cover that with duct tape to keep it in place, which Meri provided. A quick repair job, Guinness, TMax and Daxs joined us, and off we went again. At Clay loop, Meri, Giggy and I headed up Clay, the rest stayed on the Gulfside. Clay is a nice spot to gaze into the Gulf, and very peaceful with the Cog in the distance, and I was still feeling good. Meri picked this opportunity to remind me the I was 50, and she was nowhere near that by flying up the loop. She burned up the trail as I kept my steady pace going. We met again at the summit, and then continued to meet the rest at the end of the loop.
As we reached the Westside trail, I was wondering about heading up George. The weather was awful, no wind, but cold steady rain. The kind where even the ducks stay inside. When we reached it, I was thankful when Meri said she was skipping Washington, heading to Lakes. I was happy to go, knowing the rock hop from Big George would not be much fun. About the time I was regretting my decision, it really started to rain. And I really started to slip. And slide. Regret faded, but with one pin fallen, the others were teetering. Lakes was looking like a great bailout (remember Giggy's truck?), though I did not relish heading down the Ammo after a day of rain. We reached the Cog, and I could not miss an opportunity to entertain the cattle. Our timing was perfect as 2 trains were passing, with one on the spur. With the rest of the crowd watching, down went the shorts, a few wiggles for effect, and the June mooning of the Cog was again accomplished. I got waves from the patrons. Even the conductor yelled something, but I couldn't quite catch it
My apologies if that visual scarred you for life. I did notice that no one in our group took my picture.The rain continued to get worse, and as we reached the upper lake, I soon found myself singing my version of McArthur's Park":
"Someone took a hike out in the rain -
I don't think that I can take it!
I'll fall on my a** and break it!
Then I'll never get to pass this way again!
Oh no!"
Lakes was a welcome site. We entered a full room of people, like the river rats that we had become. We managed to secure a table (who would sit next to us anyway?), and got real comfortable, real quick. Food was abundant, dry clothes found, and it became clear that we were heading down. Brief discussion of options ensued, relative merits of Ammo over Edmands, and it was decided that we would head down to Giggy's truck, despite a slick route. Down we went. I don't know about the rest of the group, but I had some close calls as this felt more like a log flume than a trail. It was really wet, and though disappointed, I knew that we had made the right choice. At 6:30, we were done. Hiking over 16 miles and 6,550 vertical a day like this felt pretty darn good to me!
We hopped in Giggy's truck and headed over to the Highland Center where we found JayH, our rabbit, all smiles having finished a full Presi traverse. Later that evening, SwampYankee made his entrance (after we had some nervous moments wondering where he was) after finishing his traverse, adding Jackson and Webster for effect (Guinness had inadvertently given this feat a name the night before when he announced that he'd like to add "Webster and Jackster", so this became the "'ster Traverse": Webster, Jackster, Piercester, Ikester, Frankster, Monster, Georgester, Clayster, Jeffster, Adster, and Madster. And then Swamp went out and did it in the rain! 24 miles, over 9,000 vertical feet! Of course, the VFTTer's weren't quite done yet. Arm and SkiMom were out behind us, taking in the sites, lounging in the heat on George's summit, eventually deciding to do a bit of hiking themselves, finishing their traverse shortly after Swamp.
So, the next time anyone asks if VFTT encourages us to get out there, remember this one. On a cold rainy day in June, 16 of us were together on the Presis (Jean and Nat drove up from Hiker's), one finished her 48, and everyone else hiked for over 16 miles! It's safe to say that those who find their way here love to hike!
BTW, Seema, Blue and MtnTop are the smart ones. They waited a day and did their successful traverse under sunny skies on Sunday!
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