[at-l] 12

[Felix J]

Two and ten years ago this morning some funny things happened. (Well, funny in
the 'odd' sense of the word. Not the knee-slappin' sense of the word.)
(Well, maybe not even in the 'odd' sense of the word.)  Raven and I
hiked to her car (at the first parking lot south of Tom Floyd). We then
went to Front Royal for breakfast. I'm not sure Front Royal was ready
for us. A long-haird, long-bearded thru-hiker with shorts and long-johns
and odor sitting with a cute little, purple-haired tattooed girl with
body-piercings just don't cut it. Now, at least three strange things
happened while in the restaurant. 1) Some guy comes up and says
something like "You were drivin' that truck pretty fast last night,
wasn't ya, John? Oh, you're not John." 2) Some woman comes up and says
something like "What's your mom gonna do with that...oh, you're not
Steve.  (I'm thinkin' "This town is in worse shape than I thought If I
look like at least two of 'em.") 3) Some woman is leavin'. She is
waiting on some other woman to get up from their booth. As the first
woman gets to our table, she turns around and says to the other woman
"Come on, pokey." (Remember, this was the day after Pokey left the
trail.)

So, Raven and I talk about how it looks like I'll be hiking alone for a
while. All of my friends were behind me now. A lite snow was falling as
we pulled back into the parking lot for Raven to let me out. We were
still talking about the hiking alone part as I was taking my pack out of
the trunk. I look up the Trail, to the north, from where I'd just come,
and here comes a tall skinny kid with a pack. Groovin' Moose, it was.
(Or, as I would call him at some point: Jake, Jack, The Kid, Moose Boy,
Green Ears) I hiked with him as well as an old man could hike with a
long-legged 19 year old kid. He said that Machuu Pichu and Huayna were
at Gravel Springs Hut. They had been hiking fast to try to catch me. So,
we had a shelter-full that night. 'twas me, Groovin' Moose, M&H and, for
the first time, Sundown. Funny how things happen on the trail.

(this is recycled from another time....)

-- 
Felix J. McGillicuddy
ME-->GA '98
"Your Move"
ALT '03 KT '03
http://Felixhikes.tripod.com/