[at-l] Rockies Ruck 2008 Report

[Paul Magnanti]

Sorry for the delay in the report. Between fighting a flu for thepast month and being busy at work, I haven't had a chance to upload thephotos.

Here they are. 




Another weekend in Leadville celebrating the lifestyle we call long distance hiking at the Rockies Ruck.


As before, Wild Bill and Cathy of the Leadville Hostel were our gracious hosts.

The weekend started off to go effect Friday night when old friends weregreeted, new friends were made and many stories were told.

Saturday proved to have fantastic weather. Quite a few went cross country skiing, others made use of the nearby resorts
and a few of us watched the annual skijoring event on Main st. Picturewater skiing with horses and alpine skis and you get the idea.Impressive and unique!

Saturday evening, Disco was nice enough to give a great demo on sewing (even a fat fingered klutz like me can do it! )  Garlic also gave a stove workshop.

Later on, we had a repeat of Friday night and again told stories, ateand generally enjoyed each others company. A special part of Satudaynight was Nira (aka 42)'s 30th birthday. There was a food fight tocelebrate [1] apparently. Happy Birthday 42!

The birthday girl debuted a wonderful sideshow of her AT thru-hike and we watched the Walkumentary and a few of us relived our CDT memories. 

Sunday morning, many of us departed after a hearty breakfast.  A few decided to play in the snow some more as well.

Later on, some of us had a bit of scare when Footslogger and BA Turtlegave us their after-ruck report. Footslogger had to be rushed to Denverdue to a hear attack. :O Luckily everything is A OK now. Our favoriteWyoming thru-hiker couple is now back in Laramie and recuperating. Phew!

Overall, what a wonderful weekend. I am already looking forward to 2009in Leadville and spending another weekend celebrating being hikertrash. 

Photos at http://snipurl.com/21yad 




************************************************************
The true harvest of my life is intangible.... a little stardust 
caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched
--Thoreau
http://www.pmags.com