Date: 2006-04-27
To: Sue's Notes - On The Trail With Old Goat
Miles today: 0.0

4/27/06 ¢ Sue's notes from visit with Old Goat - On the trail¢¦We had made arrangements to call the Outfitter when we were leaving the hotel (at 9am) and a driver would meet us at our car at Massey Gap because it should take about the same amount of time for us to get there by going up Route 81 a couple exits as it would for the driver to get there from Damascus on the back country roads. It took us an hour to reach Massey Gap and park our car. The timing was perfect ¢ we parked the car and was making a minor adjustment to my pack when the driver pulled up.He said he saw a turkey with his feathers spread on the way to us. I had never seen that in the wild, so he made sure he found the turkey strutting for his ladies again so we could see. It was cool! I felt completely safe around the many hairpin curves as the driver took us to our destination, but that was because he was driving 30 mph,when all the other drivers were going maybe 50!! At one point he said he should have taken a certain road because it¢s so pretty ¢ that¢s when I realized he was giving us the scenic route to our destination. We didn¢t need the scenic route...we were going to be hiking in it for two days and would see plenty of the beautiful scenery (which we did). Plus, we live near the Adirondack Mountains and have plenty of our own mountain beauty near home, so we didn¢t need, nor want, the scenic tour! We finally, crawling, reached our destination (Dickey Gap) at 11:30am. As we neared Dickey Gap, the driver told us he didn¢t know where it is! Luckily, ¢Rambo¢ was at the roadside trying to hitch a ride to Troutdale to pick up his mail drop. As we were passing, Old Goat recognized Rambo - we backtracked and found the trail head. (Glad you were there, Rambo! Thanks!)We had planned a 10.2 mile day, and for an unseasoned hiker that was pretty aggressive. Getting on the trail at 11:30am was way later than we wanted to! We made it to our destination, though, and I was very proud of my accomplishment, even if I did go at a snail¢s pace up the hills! For the thru-hikers who let friends or family hike with you, I strongly suggest you consider going SOBO. It was a thrill for me to meet so many people Old Goat has met (because we started on the trail farther ahead of where they were). I loved all the comments about the trail magic ¢ ¢It was all the talk of the shelter last night,¢ ¢That was so nice!,¢ ¢Thank you so much for the note about taking the left trail on the other side of the road,¢ (because it stayed foggy there for hours). I was so surprised when someone said they were disappointed that they just missed us by only 20 minutes ¢ they knew we left at 2pm...how did they know that? We also learned that there were sodas and moon pies still there the next morning, so we heard the comments throughout the day...the comments dwindled off late in the afternoon.I tried to keep track of everyone we met as we hiked today ¢ Miss Parkay ¢ She carries a bottle of Parkay butter to spray on her food to make it taste better.Gotta Go and Little Engine ¢ A couple the same age as Old Goat and I. (Old Goat later found out that not only are they the same ages as we are, they were married on the exact same day we were ¢ even in the same year!!!! What are the odds of meeting complete strangers with so much in common!) They did Philmont, too ¢ like us! (I did a Philmont Trek in 1999 with Old Goat when a girl from Venture Scouts wanted to do a Trek but needed a female adult. It was hard, but so rewarding!)Posie Picker ¢ He¢s hiking the AT for the fourth time and told us he met his wife on his first AT thru-hike. He said his wife encourages him to do the AT ¢ she says he needs to ¢rediscover his muse.¢ I so enjoyed our visit with Posie!   We passed the group we saw at the trail magic yesterday ¢ 10 Speed, 0 2 Bee Hiking, Sputnik (I loved his comment that I looked better with a pack on!!), Long Haul, Coach K, and Diehard. A couple others we came across were Poles, Gray Fox, and Figgy.When we arrived at the Old Orchard Shelter a few hikers passed by. They were going another 1.5 miles because that¢s the 500 mile mark! We didn¢t realize it, but we were thrilled when we figured out that Old Goat was at mile 500.6 where we were. I was so glad to be with him when he reached that milestone! I loved watching Old Goat do his regular routine ¢ dinner, set up the tent, hang the bear bag, and then to bed. He was asleep pretty quickly ¢ I lay awake for a long time just relishing being there with him and thinking about all that I saw today, all the nice people I met so far, and that I did complete the 10.2 miles we set out to do today. The thru-hikers were so encouraging as I gasped and panted hiking VERY slowly uphill. Old Goat was wonderful with me ¢ he kept telling me that it didn¢t matter how fast or slow I go; he just loved having me there with him for a while. He did say that it was nice that he was having an easy day but still getting the exercise...hmmm...it was NOT an easy day for me, but it WAS extremely rewarding!