Date: 2003-10-12
To: The Gathering
Miles today: 0.0

Going to The Gathering on just a couple of days notice was one of the best decisions I have made lately.The last paragraph of Jan's (LiteShoe, www.trailjournals.com/liteshoe) last journal entry was 'Good-night, and see you all at The Gathering (www.ALDHA.org). You ARE going, aren't you?'. Somehow I felt this was her personal invitation to me. And when I followed the link to ALDHA and found that it was in Hanover, this weekend, there was no way I wasn't going to go, particularly when I found out that there was a session featuring the Class of 2003 on Saturday afternoon.The drive up on NH's 'other' Interstate (89) gave me a chance to see the fall colors in their full glory, even though the sun was replaced by a heavy fog as I neared Dartmouth. I hurried through registration and caught the tail end of a talk to the 'Dreamers' (the ALDHA term for people dreaming of hiking the AT, apparently. Somehow I liked that term better than the term 'Wannabe' that I have been using for myself.). I then came back to the registration area and bought a few things from the ATC (Appalachian Trail Conference, the umbrella Trail organization that coordinates the efforts of some dozen regional groups that actually maintain the Trail), then headed off to lunch at the Dartmouth cafeteria.At lunch I found myself sitting with some members of the organizing committee for The Gathering, so was treated to some inside information. But more importantly, sitting right across from me at the next table was Jan! My subconscious recognized her before my conscious mind did (which had to check out her nametag before believing it was actually she). Her face was much more weatherbeaten than I had expected (maybe from six months in the sun, do you think?), and she was shoveling down a salad at a rate which amazed me (I imagine her thru-hiker appetite had not yet completely subsided. Sorry Jan.)-: .When I finished lunch, I decided to go talk with her, in spite of the fact that I don't like to approach strangers, that I needed to leave in only 5 minutes for another session I wanted to attend, and that I had every expectation of being able to talk with her at the later gathering of the Class of 2003. I'm sure glad I did, though. She was immediately receptive, and up-close-and-personal the cragginess in her face was replaced with the warmth that we have seen coming out of her journal all year. In addition, in that 5 minutes (which stretched into more like 10) we covered a wide range of topics. The ones I remember most vividly now were her use of Pocketmail for her journal (I was amazed at how big and bulky it looked, but I am convinced that her having it with her all the time contributed to the freshness of her journal entries, and am determined to use it myself) and how she got together with the group that she started hiking with (known as 'Pack 31' because of their 3/1 start, and which had an amazingly high percentage of finishers).The first afternoon session that I attended was about lightweight backpacking by Mara Factor, friends.backcountry.net/m_factor, (not Ultralight backpacking, which had its own session later in the day, where you learn how to shave every fraction of an ounce by cutting the handle off your toothbrush and the like :-)). Mara¢s session was very informative, and I'm sure I will be able to save a few pounds in my pack from what I learned. It may also turn out to be fairly expensive, since many items in my gear list, which I considered nearly completely bought and done with, don't satisfy some basic tenets of lightweight backpacking, like my boots and pack :-((.Following the lightweight session was the Class of 2003 session I had come for. It was held in a classroom for maybe 50 people, stuffed to the gills. It felt almost like a private AT thru-hiking seminar for me, since the recent thru-hikers outnumbered the Dreamers by well over two to one. There were at least 4 people there whose journals I have read, or am currently reading (Jan, Dimples www.trailjournals.com/Jenny, HotDog www.trailjournals.com/hotdog and Footslogger www.trailjournals.com/Footslogger), and well over a dozen whose trailnames were familiar since I had seen them so much in those journals (like A Train, Mud Butt, Grizzly, etc). The legendary Baltimore Jack was there too. It seems like he has been on the Trail every year of the last dozen or so, and I remember hearing references to him in journals from my earliest reading of them back in 2000. Since he has been on the trail so long I had expected to see a grizzled veteran of my age or so, so was surprised to see that he was a mere youngster (probably in his 40s somewhere). I was even more impressed by his sage advice. And to top all of that, he was a scream. Once one of the other new thru-hikers was talking about how toilet paper could also be used for things like cleaning up cooking utensils and he immediately chimed in with a comment that you have to be careful about the order, bringing down the house (thru-hiker humor, you had to have been there I guess :-)).In that session I learned a lot about foot care, hiking poles, nutrition on the trail, hypothermia, handling the inevitable psychological and motivational issues, and the like. But most of all the theme was to 'hike your own hike'. I have heard that expression many times in journals, often as a defense, sometimes as a weapon. But coming from the mouths of the Class of 2003 who have had some time now to reflect, this old saying seemed to mean 'listen to your body while on the Trail, and above all, don't be wedded to plans made pre-Hike, since things change and you need to be flexible enough to adjust to them within your own context'.After that session I had time to spend talking with Jan, Hot Dog, A Train and Jan's transcriber, Suz (pronounced to rhyme with 'booze' not 'buzz'), learning more about Pocketmail, contacting others in the Class of 2004, and just generally about preparing for the Trail. After getting my picture taken with each of them, individually and in a group, I took my leave because of a previous commitment in Merrimack, a couple of hours away. You can imagine how surprised and tickled I was when Jan impulsively gave me a good-bye hug :-))).Heading out of town I noticed I needed gas, but didn't stop because I didn't pass any gas stations from that point until I got on I-89. I knew I had enough to make it to Merrimack, so just pushed on. Imagine my surprised when I reach for my credit card at the gas station and found it was not in my wallet. I then realized that I had not gotten it back when I purchased the ATC stuff earlier in the day. As of now I haven't been able to contact anyone there, but have hopes of doing so before the day gets too much older. But no matter how that turns out, I really did have a great day at The Gathering.[Note to Readers: This entry was originally part of an e-mail message to one of my oldest and dearest friends. Since I expect my hike to be a journey of the mind and spirit as well as of the body, I intend for this journal to reflect those aspects as well. However, the feedback from my daughter after her first reading of my journal, commenting on how logical and organized it was, made me realize that I was not quite realizing my intention. I do think of my journal as a note to close friends or even to myself, so thought it quite appropriate to share with you readers the content of that e-mail.In an attempt to retain the freshness of the original, I have resisted the temptation to ¢improve¢ on the original, and have only allowed myself to patch up spelling and grammar a bit. I hope you all have enjoyed it.One thing which I resisted adding, but which I think needs to be said is that the most impressive thing about the Class of 2003 session that I attended was the feeling of the Class being one big family, contentious at times like in any family, but ultimately supportive and full of love for each other. That was what made my time there worth whatever hassle or expense that will be caused by the loss of my credit card.]