[at-l] 12th of never

[hopeful_2003 at comcast.net]

It was 7 years ago tonight that I was stealth camping near Garfield Ridge. The Whites were such a mixed bag of blessing and injury. On this afternoon, 7 years back, a young woman offered to wrap my ankle because she saw me limping pretty bad. Had it not been for her, I might have quit but seeing that my poor, worn out joint could be helped, I was able to keep going. The next day I stumbled into Galehead and that croo leader told me to find a bunk and just rest. I must have really looked bad. 



I am sadden to hear of Walkin' Jim's passing. His song, "Friends Along The Way," took on special meaning after my hike. It seems that the rudeness of some of the "croo" members was always off-set by the impromptu kindness of others. At Mizpah Hut we were treated like lepers. That insult was nullified by a total stranger I had met about 15 minutes before reaching the hut. He was coming down and I was going up. He asked how I was doing, probably because it was so obvious that I wasn't doing good at all. I just looked at him and half laughed, then said, "I'll give you $500 for that knee support." After looking at me for a moment he pulled of the support, handed it to me and as he walked on down the mountain he said, "Send me a check." 



After my hike I set 42 summit photo-Christmas cards to folks I had never set eyes on  before the hike. These were more Thank You cards than seasonal greeting. I wish I had written down more names and sent more cards. It has been 7 years, but the memories are still fresh. Thanks, Knee Support Friend, Ankle Wrap Lady and Kind Croo Leader. For you Mizpah croo folks, I bear you no grudge, just take notice and learn. Jim, thanks for your music. You will be missed.   Hopeful GA>ME 03. 




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Felix J" <AThiker at smithville.net> 
Subject: [at-l] 12th of never 

  12 years ago about right now I was waiting for the little 
prick 'Croo' leader at Madison Hut to give us some work to 
do so we could leave. Nearly 3 hours later we were allowed 
to go.  After we did we crossed an incredibly crowded, 
breezy Mt. Washington. The Trail was jam-packed all day.   
'Waiting in line to hike' packed. It was the Sunday of Labor 
Day weekend.  I met Mountain Roamer and Outta Chocolate on 
the downhill side of Washington. We ended up with a nice 
little bandit site just north of Mizpah Hut for the night. 
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