[pct-l] 2007 Kickoff After Action Report – Part One

[Hiker97 at aol.com]

The Kickoff was a blast!  Well done to Strider the WagonMaster and all the 
others.  Great job.  It was great to see  Meadows Ed and all the others.  What a 
great community. 
This report picks up after the Warner Springs after Action Report and the  
successful; Warner Springs PCT Loop expedition, plus the significant discovery  
of the giant Sequoia type oak tree – The Clinton C. Clarke Tree.  This After 
Action Report will be in  several parts.  This is part  one. 
I check out of Warner Springs Resort on Thursday morning and drive  to Julian 
to do a little shopping.  I always buy some things for my wife when I go on a 
road trip.  Any smart husband does this.  I got her a Vera Bradley purse and  
accessories.  I also bought some  chocolate macaroons to distribute at 
Pioneer Mail Campground and to hikers at  Mt. Laguna.  I do not think they were as 
popular as  the pies I bought last year.  I  think next year I will just get 
pie tarts to pass out. 
I see Super Female Terminator Leadership Type (liquid metal model)  PCTA 
Executive Director Liz Bergeron as I drive into Lake Morena Park.  Every time I 
see her it makes me  uneasy.  We just quickly nod our  heads at each other as a 
sign of grudging recognition.  We did the same thing at the PCTA  TrailFest 
several years ago at Riverside, CA,  when I was on the program.  It is  like old 
rivals down at the pool hall, who are weary of each other.  The other one 
needs watching from a  distance.  I step on the gas pedal  to make distance 
between her and me.  She obliviously is not going to be a Pirate Lair customer. 
I get down to Lake Morena and am assigned to campsite number  22 with 
Lawrence, Chef Paul, La Zorra (from the February Grand Canyon  expedition), and her 
friend Luppie Lou.  My first impression is that this is a nice non threatening 
group, but had  potential for trouble.  I would have  to see what I can do to 
promote this.  Both La Zorra and Luppie Lou turn out to be a blast to party 
with.  Each has a great sense of  humor.  La Zorra is definitely an  expert 
hiker.  Chef Paul is a gear  manufacturer from back east and is great to talk to 
about the hiker  community. 
I go around and look at the vendors and their products.  I buy some neat new 
stuff, like a pack  cover, rain skirt, and new rain mitts made out of Frogg 
Togg material.  This is cool.  More gear and more weight for the old  pack. 
Later La Zorra and I try to convince Brian of ULA to take my old  ULA pack in 
on trade, so she can get a new pack.  We chase him around the campground, but 
 he always stays one step ahead of us.  So, we donated it to the Silent 
Auction and it brings $47.  Previously, when GotaGo saw that my old  ULA pack had 
the name "Switchback" sewed on it, she wanted her name on her ULA  pack too.  I 
also donate some books  to the Silent Auction. 
I go to Majors dinner in Pine Valley each morning for breakfast.  I like to 
relax and read the paper.  Very nice.  I can take my time and watch the locals  
come and go.  I do this every  year.  I either eat at  Pine Valley or get 
something from the market in Lake Morena for all my meals at the  Kickoff.  I 
figure the volunteers  have enough to do without feeding me too.  Besides I feed 
everyone with Pringles and hikers snacks at the Pirate  Table.  J 
Say, before I forget, the guy up at the Mt. Laguna store said that some 
hikers came  off the trail there and said they had enough of hiking.  A limo from 
LA came up to pick them up  and drive them back to LA.  Nice  service.  One of 
the guys had a  buddy who owned a limo service. 
StoneDancer uses my new Hubba tent Thursday night and I sleep in  my SUV.  
She is waiting for her tent  to arrive at the campground.  I  notice a tall 
person go over to my tent at night and attach something to  it.  In the morning it 
is a notice  to appear in the local court for pirate activity.  I tape this 
notice to my Pirate Table  for everyone to see.  Later in the  day I go over to 
the 2002 compound and attach a pirate flag to their  banner.  Harassment is 
fun (just ask  AsABat and Switchback).  GotaGo and  Yogi get on both sides of 
my face at the entry booth and have their picture  taken supposedly kissing my 
cheeks. 
Now understand this scene.  I am peacefully minding my own business in my 
lounge chair at the  Pirate's table under the cool shady trees.  Several others 
are there too as we relax and quietly goof off.  All at once Yogi is 
approaching the  Pirate's Lair.  She looks tentative  and almost like a bear does when 
circling your campsite.  She is carrying a short aluminum tent  pole, which she 
swings back and forth.  It is obvious she wants something, but has noting 
visible to barter.  Earlier, I had made her a  Switchback World Famous Handsfree 
Umbrella Holder, since she is carrying a  GoLite Chrome Dome umbrella on her 
hike. 
She opens with innocent conversation as she plays with the pole in  her 
hands.  I am now getting  scared.  Eventually she says, "Do  want to see something 
that only one other person in the world has seen?"  When a woman burst in on 
your peaceful  campsite and says something like that, then bells are going off 
in your head;  "Danger!", "Danger!", "Alert!", "Alert!".  And a man naturally 
also thinks, "How much is this going to cost  me?" 
Before I can respond, she rolls up the front of her blouse  exposing her 
belly area.  Luckily  she stops rolling at that point.  Then she does a belly type 
dance thing with her stomach.  It rolls around and around, up and  down.  We 
are all in silence after  what seems a long time, then she rolls her blouse 
down.  The only thing I can think of to say is,  "Why didn't you warn me, so I 
could have put my sun glasses on?  I could  have used some eye protection." 
(only kidding) 
Anyway, now that she figures that she as introduced herself to  everyone and 
has now paid for any services rendered from the Pirate table, she  asks me to 
do something to make her black tent pole reflective.  So, with trembling hands 
I put some  reflective tape in it and cover that with clear tape for a little 
 protection.  Then off she goes, I  guess, to barter somewhere else.  I  
think I understand now why she is so successful in getting hitchhikes along the  
trail to go to and from town.  All this and Yogi is a nice conservative  sweet 
hiker too. 
This the end of part one of the After Action Report. 
Respectfully submitted. 
Switchback the Trail Pirate



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