Date: 2003-08-19
From: Trapper John Shelter

To: Ore Hill Shelter
Miles today: 0.0

total miles-1766.7today's miles-19.3start location-trapper john shelterdestination-ore hill sheltertue,19aug,855pm-tonite, here at the ore hill shelter are oopala, sean-o, tipperary, sassafrass, bump (?), pokey dot, and 2 others i dont know. just 3 of us IN the shelter. the others are tenting.i wanted to write about last thursday and where i was during the big power outage of '03.well, thursday afternoon of he 14th, around 3pm, i emerged out of the woods onto vt100, on my way to find groceries to carry me through the next few days. so im walking toward killington, vt, about a .7 mile walk. 5 minutes into the walk, i hear a vehicle slow down behind me and i jumped off the shoulder so i wouldnt get hit by it. it wasnt that close, but im not having my hike end because of getting hit by a truck. "thru-hiker's hike ended due to getting hit by truck". wouldnt be good.anyway, its a a big white van, with alaska plates. i only know 2 guys from alaska and theyre both out here hiking. its oopala and his dad! so i climb in and we go to the other road and see sean-o and get him too. we end up in rutland, vt, and get a hotel room at the same place as oopala and gene (his dad). what a great surprise. i was able to get food, eat dinner, get some stuff i needed at walmart, swim at the motel pool, do laundry, watch some tv and make some phone calls. thats how i found out about the power thing. i was on the phone with spunky. she's back home. she was coming home from work and told me about the shutdown. so i watched some news about it. then i called my dad to see what it was doing there. his power was on.next day, we ate breakfast at a diner. and did some outfitter shopping. oopala did an 18 mile slackpack. sean-o's son and his son's wife came to visit him and gene drove me back to the trail. and to MARTY, i didnt get a chance to go into the inn at long trail, but on the way back to the trail, gene waited while i took some pics of the sign and building. but everyone i know who went in there, they talked about big rock they built the building around.today was a good weather day. it started a bit foggy and 56 degrees in the shelter. i could see my breath. and then it just got better. puffy white clouds. blue sky. breezy. nice. and i got some great views too.tomorrow, off to glencliff. about 7 miles. i need food again. and the PO should have packages for me from mom and tina and spunky's mom too. i cant wait. i expect i'll be stuffed after i open them. (:405 miles to go. its been a long trip. and one of the best things i ever put myself into. i learned alot. not even really that much about myself. i already know me pretty well. no surprises. but i learned alot about people. how you never know who you'll meet, and how close you can become to them in such a short while. and how genuine it is. it was worth the trip to learn this.well, 405 miles doesnt walk itself. so til next time, goodnite.p.s.-i am right behind dred and nimble. ill probably catch them in glencliff tomorrow.------------------------------Local access to PocketMail mobilee-mail now available in Europe, NorthAmerica & Australia http://www.pocketmail.com