Date: 2006-03-29
From: Standing Bear Farm

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

The sign on the post worked. The boulder billboard filled the place.Two days ago I was sitting on the bunkhouse step thinking I probably wouldn't see any of the past hiking companions. I'd left messages in the registers in the mountains so folks would know what's up, but haven't seen any of the original crowd in at least a week. When I called Mark the other day he read my guest book entries. Was glad to get one from Milk Dud. He said they were stuck in Gatlinburg because of the storm and weren't sure if they'd catch up. I figured that being down, I'd miss them altogether. I joked that I should just put up a sign at the end of the road. Curtis asked seriously why don't I put up a sign. Do it on a big piece of cardboard and staple it up on a post.The sign says "boulder is down the road at Standing Bear Farm. I'll be there a while. Come visit. Set a spell. Take your shoes off." Curtis gave me the car to shuttle Gary to the ATM in Hartford. We stopped where the trail crosses the road and Underground jumped out and staple gunned it to a guide post. After last night's debauchery and late retiring, I slept until 9:30. I woke up instantly when I heard the word boulder spoken out on the porch. I jumped up and ran out. Great to find Monk standing there and talking to Underground. We shook hands and started in exchanging news.That's what you do out here, lame or able-bodied. As soon as you run in to people you start trading trail news. Who's where. Who's doing what. Who you've seen or haven't seen. What happened to so and so. They all figured I'd gone on to Hot Springs. They'd read about my injury in the register. I found out they'd been stuck in Gatlinburg for four days. The park closed the road up to the gap. I filled him in on my trail escape and recovering at Standing Bear. He'd have kept going up the trail but saw the sign. He'd slept one shelter ahead of the rest and figured they'd show up when they passed. He was impressed with the farm and decided to stay after just a seven mile day. We waited until afternoon for someone else to show up. Was happy to see Milk Dud come off the road and around the corner of the bunkhouse. He'd seen the sign too. You can't miss it. Monk had called Mountain Mommas and left a message that if Dud showed up to keep going.Dud and Monk the two from New Hampshire are friends who are more like brothers. Great hearts and very entertaining. Dud filled us in on the progress of the rest.Group dynamics change over time. We knew they would. I was the first to split off when I crossed the dam. The rest had stayed together but are not as tight. Hard for six to form a perfect union when people have different goals, philosophies, and constraints. All three pair sharing gear with each other had bought separate sutff allowing more flexibility for each. The trail coupling of two realigned hiking partners. Ajax is increasingly annoying the rest with his pontificating and living freely off Dad's credit card.Another good reunion with J.P. and Roadrunner. JP was really happy to see me. They grumbled at Ajax and Train who were taking up the rear. Different than when Ajax was usually setting a faster pace and arriving ahead of everyone. It now seemed less important to stick together and burn up the miles. Ajax and Train arrived last. Had a good time by the campfire. Sprocket called it the first party of the season. Stories, jokes, guitar playing, just like summer camp but not even close to G-rated.   Sprocket joke:What does a girl from Tennessee say when she wakes up in the morning?Roll over Daddy. You're crushing my cigarettes.Hate to say it, but it was also fun to watch Sprocket bust on Ajax who brags about being a classics major. Sprocket tried to get him to translate simple sentences to Latin without much success. Life on the trail ain't always pretty.