Date: 2003-10-16
To: The Gathering
Miles today: 0.0

(Note: I haven't forgotten my promise to do a gear review, those that are asking. Stay tuned.)What fun the Gathering was! A delightful trip down memory lane. It started when my '03 thru-hiking buddy "Notes" and SOBO friend "Cakewalk" drove up from Atlanta to join me for the trip to New Hampshire for the ALDHA Gathering. Man, was it great to hug hikers again! The stress of reentry immdediately dropped away, and we chattered a million miles an hour.Road trip! The car trip up to NH wove in and around and through the AT, and we were reminiscing about the places we had seen and the people we had met. Notes and I had walked together in the middle of our treks, leapfrogging each other from Hot Springs, NC to Wind Gap, PA. Cakewalk was forced to abort her '03 SOBO trek just before the Maine border, when her father died and she returned to Florida to settle his estate. So, she was looking ahead to Trail to be traveled. We three spent the first night camping at the NJ "secret shelter," with owner Jim Murray's blessing. It was great to be back in this lovely hillside meadow with the little cabins. The donkeys were jumping out of the fence at night, then jumping back in in the morning.We angled our car trip to shoot past Sherbourne Pass and the Inn at Long Trail, and then there we were, in Hanover ensconced at the Gathering. As I was setting up my tent, who should walk over than my old buddy Skeemer! We shrieked (at least I did),hugged and high-fived, shouting in each others' ear:"Can you believe it?!!! We DID it!!!" We realized we were tented right across from each other. Before long Slider and Leif and ZipDrive of Trailjournals.com wandered over to our encampment, and we made group dinner plans. My trail angel and '04 AT thr-hike dreamer Art "Gabby" Cloutman came over and gave me the mutual-friend news of recent '03 summits. I could hardly make it to the registration booth, first running into Hotdog, ATWanabe (Serena), Pog and Not To Worry, then, more shrieks, my buddy Hammer and his friend John. I sat on their truck tailgate for awhile and caught up. Hammer had been out of power for nine days during Hurricane Isabel, and I had not been able to tell him about my summit for quite awhile.Dinner was huge fun, with ZipDrive and Leif telling hysterical stories about their thru-hikes. They are great guys, and I reemphasized how valuable their site had been during my hike. Thanks, you two!Then, my '03 compadre Footslogger, somtimes known as FootSlobber and fresh off the summit of Katahdin, also camps in the same area as me and Skeemer. The merriment stage is set.And so went the weekend. I got more hugs than I'd had in the last six months, and it was absolutely great. So many old friends and a room full of hikers who UNDERSTOOD because they'd been there. I exhaled.A further surprise of the evening was running into Real Women Anna (Muddbutt), Bumpkin, Jerry (honorary) and Trail Angel Trish, who tried to connect with me on my hike The icing on the cake was when Suz Buchanan, my most fantastic transcriber, turned up for the evening's talk and slides by uber-hikers Spur and Ready from Atlanta. The output of energy was enormous, and I found myself exhausted on Saturday, craving sleep. I ran into so many dear folks: A-Train, Mrs. Gorp, Sunny and Sunset, Dimples, Woodelf, Chase, Felix and Pilot, B-Roc, TJ, Hopeful, Pilgrim and Walking Eagle, Skeeter, Stitches (Mara), Sly, Sloetoe, Rev. Marty Fors, Dee and Ken, Spur and Ready, Big John of Moonbow Gear and many, many, many more. It was overwhelming, and wonderful.The very best part of the evening was the AT roll call of the years. I'd been waiting a long, long time for the chance to hear "Will the AT thruhikers of 2003 please stand." We hollered and whooped, pointed and blew kisses to each other across the room. One special '03 AT hiker was the ever-cheerful Ready, who finished what she started on her honeymoon two years ago - she'd completed her AT hike in Hot Springs, NC this fall. I remember reading her trip reports in '01 and being envious. Now we shared "our class year." That was special. In the morning, Hammer, me, John and Skeemer found a seat in the local breakfast hangout, then an hour later I had a (smaller) breakfast again with Dee and Ken, who were recently engaged to be married. After, we all lit out for the programs. If you've never been to a Gathering, there are educational workshops out the wazoo. All for the incredibly cheap price of $17 ('04 dues included). And what a forum for reconnection with kindred spirits! Thanks to organizer Johnny O!We had a gang at supper with B-Roc, Suz, Hotdog, TJ, Skeemer, me and the playoffs. After, I was so utterly worn out by all the energy output that I crashed hard and slept through the contra dance, perhaps my very favorite part of a Gathering. But I awoke refreshed in the morning in time to breakfast with B-Roc and Skeemer, then attend a John Muir Trail workshop by Disco, and a wonderful hike-photo workshop by '02 hiker Radar, who had also helped me personally with valuable camera advice before my hike. You should check out his photos on trailjournals.com.The evening wound down all too early. Notes won the ALDHA photo contest for his remarkable, startling picture of a man carrying a double bass in the Whites (there was this wedding, see...) and before long I was back at camp too tired for the campfire. I have noticed that a bone-deep exhaution is still with me, a condition I attribute to the after-effects of the hike. But before I drifted totally away, Art came over and sat by my tent for a half hour, catching up and sharing his plans for next year's hike. These are such valuable times only a camp-out can offer.In the morning, surprise! - Cakewalk had succumbed to The Gathering's hiker fever and had decided to get back on the Trail despite the lateness of the year. So, with Notes' borrowed gear, her tennis shoes and $43 to her name, she set off with Suz to Andover, to finish Maine and tackle the Whites and travel all the way to Killington, VT where she would get off for the year.I was concerned, but she was an adult and knew the risks. Everyone up that way, be a guardian angel, will you? This young lady has had a rough year.Notes and I had one large treat left in store for us. We stopped in CT on the ride home to see dear, cranky Itchyfoot and his (long-suffering) wife Lupe. What great pleasure it was to see them again! I got the best hugs of the entire weekend, and couldn't stop smiling. I didn't think Lupe would ever let me go. That good old Itchy energy was right there, as if we had just been walking yesterday. It felt like a homecoming. I told Itchy about the planned John Muir Trail trek next fall, and he didn't say no. In fact, he said "I think Lupe could do that one." Excellent! Another adventure in the making?Over pizza (of course), I told Itchy that people were still asking about him. He replied "I guess that says something about grumpy old men." Ha! No, I corrected him, only for grumpy old men who let their hearts shine through a little bit."Yes," Lupe agreed helpfully. "Like the Grinch." Double Ha! Itchy won't stand a chance on the JMT!Notes and I had lively conversation on the way home, stopping at ATC's Bear's Den hostel for the night. There, we ran into Hammer's friend John, who had also stopped. John got Notes fired up on the idea of trail maintenance.Well, after nearly 20 hours of traveling one way, we crashed here in NC at Diane's. Notes kindly stayed a day to help me set up my computer desk and reconnect my electronic gear, a task that gives me a huge head-ache! All these reentry details! If I ever leave for a long hike again, I will own the place and leave my stuff in situ! This living out of a storage locker is the birds, even if my current living quarters (with friend Diane) are palatial. I just want my own stuff around. Where are my technical manuals? Where are my books? Where is all my underwear?That night, Notes helped me spin the tale of the Trail at my first post-AT speaking gig. Like a release, it was, to tell people about it. I wasn't a bit nervous, just spoke from the heart. I hope more people want to hear. I was grateful to be asked.Notes left this morning for Atlanta. Skeemer is hiking from Erwin to Kincorra. Lupe and Itchy were heading to California. Already, I am in hiker-withdrawal.