"And so with all things:...

...names were vital and important."
-Algernon H. Blackwood

July 7, 2001

I talked with Mom and Dad.  My bump box never arrived, so I'm trying to figure that out.

A bump box is a box you ship to yourself at the next town.  You can keep "town clothes" and shaving gear and other stuff you only need in town but do not want to carry along with you on the Trail.

Never finding it, I abandoned the idea and never used a bump box.

I slack-packed ten miles with Beth and Kramer from South Arm Road to East B Hill Road.  I met Sparrow and Kat, Moose Killer, and a northbounder named Old Dave.  I also saw the Tanker Twins again (now named Bob and Space Monkey).

Slack-packing is leaving your big pack back at the hostel your are staying at and taking a lighter day pack to hike a section.  It was the only time I would do it, and it was a delight to hike with Beth and Kramer.

My trail name is now Uncle Viking. Uncle because I'm an uncle and Viking because at THS [Tennessee High School] we were Vikings.

I would lose the "Uncle" part for some reason I can't remember, but the moniker "Viking" stuck.

I met Earl tonight.  He is a very charismatic man.  I really enjoyed meeting him.  His first greeting to me was a hug.

The Cabin - me, Mitch, Bear, Truly Blessed, Yoyo

Beth and I said bye to Mia at the trailhead.  She dropped us off on her way back home.  I got to give her a hug since she hugged me.  Two hugs in one day - they are rare these days!

Tomorrow to the Mahoosics!

"When I was young, I admired clever people...

...Now that I am old, I admire kind people."
-Abraham Joshua Heschel

July 6, 2001

Today I stayed at The Cabin, run by Earl and Marge (Honey and Bear).  Earl is away maintaining the Trail at White Cap and Wilson Valley.

Honey and Bear are the nicest people you will meet.  I needed to go into Andover to restock on food, and planned on taking an old pickup truck that made available for hikers to use.  Unfortunately, I flooded it.

Earl was back around this time, and he handed me the keys to his nice Ford F-350.  His one stipulation was that I wave to everyone I saw, because otherwise someone would be offended that "Earl" had not waved at them (seeing his truck).

There is a couple staying here named Ken and Beth (Ladder and Stuck Tiva) and also a friend of theirs named Mia.

Ken stayed here through a winter after his thruhike with their dog Kramer.  He met Beth on the Trail and they both lived in Manchester, NH and ended up married.

Mia worked with Beth at a college, did social work for awhile and is now headed for law school in Concord.  She is extremely beautiful and a very nice young woman.

The four of us played Pictionary 'til midnight and laughed like crazy.  I had so much fun.

My sides literally hurt from all the laughing we did.  It is always rewarding to have so much fun without beer or drugs or anything like that, because you can remember it all so fresh in the morning.

"It's great, it's grand! It's wonderland!...

...What soup, what fish!
That beef, what a dish!
That grouse, so rare!
That aged camembert!
That bab au rhum!
Will you please move over chum?"
-Cole Porter, What a Swell Party This Is

July 5, 2001

No journal entry today, but I did take this picture of a grouse in a tree.

Grouse in a tree.

The grouse really didn't want to move.

Not until I poked it with my walking stick.

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4,...

"...not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy and the flies die from happiness."
-Erma Bombeck

July 4, 2001


Took on Saddleback Mountain today and loved it.

The Saddlebacks

Saw a black bear on the way down.  I took a quick snapshot and then yelled and banged my poles together until it ran off. 


I wasn't too scared seeing the bear, as it was a ways off and rolling rocks and shaking trees.  Usually, this means the bear is trying to scare me off.  It went off into the woods.

I was more scared continuing on the Trail toward where it ran.  I was on pins and needles taking each corner in the Trail, waiting for the bear to appear out of nowhere.

Suddenly, I turned a corner to a black blob and jumped several feet!

And it was the local trail runner (they are like interns than keep the trail clean and help people out) wearing a black jacket.  I explained why I jumped so much, and he said he would warn others there was a bear around.

I would see the bear on the other side of this Saddleback peak.

I've seen my moose, bear, and a bonus fisher [the first day I entered the 100 Mile Wilderness].  I also saw a baby fox and heard an adult fox with it.


Josh and I got to the lean-to at noon so we headed down to Rangeley and got 7 pounds of hamburger with fixings!  


The other hikers that came in after us were thrilled with the Fourth of July fare!


Also, called home and got mom and dad.  It's nice to know they know where I am and that the number works.


My parents had just moved to their new home and their new home phone number.  We connected and all was good.

"Urban density allows half of humanity...

"...to live on 2.8 per cent of the land.  Demographers expect developing countries to stabilise at 80 per cent urban, as nearly all developed countries have.  On that basis, 80 per cent of humanity may live on 3 per cent of the land by 2050."
-Stewart Brand of Prospect Magazine


July 3, 2001


Hi.  14 people in one lean to at Poplar Ridge.

Found here

Shelters usually recommend 8-10 people.

Snug.

The reason for so many hikers in one spot?

The convergence of Southbound and Northbound hikers commences.