Date: 2004-12-08
To: stuff
Miles today: 0.0

a couple of sorta unconnected things for me to throw out.#1 SPIDERMAN (trail name) called yesterday!   That would be Jason, a SUCCESSFUL thru-hiker from the AT class of 2003. I met this kid on the very first day north of Springer, and I also woke him up to say goodbye at 6 am in the basement of the PANARCHY frat house in Hanover on my last real hiking day. Over the course of 4 months there were times when our paths didn't cross for weeks at a time , but they always would at some point. a LOT of good times. For you girls out there, Spiderman is a STUDMUFFIN. He would say hi to women and smile, and they would follow him around like starving kittens. I witnessed this personally. (look above for his picture, I will give you his cell number if you send me 20 bucks and a self-addressed, stamped envelope). I'd hook him up with my daughter but he would just break her heart and I'd have to kill him. 5 days out of graduating college he started the AT, a guy with a good degree who knew that he wanted to do a lot more growing up before making any serious choices. Instead of going back home and getting a safe job he took his credentials as a thru-hiker and got a job in Colorado as a rafting guide, and took all that cumulative resume with him to secure a job on the ski slopes for the winter. Look for him on the cover of OUTSIDE Magazine and remember... I could have hooked you up with him for bargain prices.   Anyway what he called about was to tell me he is JEALOUS that I'm hiking the trail again. I am just jealous that he is younger. And he FINISHED. and he gets all the hot women. AND... that he is so much smarter than I was at 24.#2 I also talked to Rob, another pre-AT friend whom I've shared some very excellent adventures over the years caving, climbing, and hiking. Rob has a great knack of selecting choice trips to go on and they are all special to me. Anyway Rob told me as a birthday present to HIMSELF, he would like to start off at Springer with me! I am considering it as his present to me. I am sure he is still clueless as to the extent of physical damage he is going to suffer if he has to walk with Eddie and I for 3 days to Neel's Gap#3   Brings us to Eddie. He is the guy who brought me into the caving and the climbing world. He is one of my best buds, one I rarely spend time with. In return, I've given him the Appalachain Trail Fever. In the past he's been the undisputed leader of whatever pack our small circle of friends gather in because he knows more about most of everything you have to know to stay alive in those environments. He and I have done 100 plus miles of the AT together and some of it were rough times because it turned into a competition.   He is also doing the Springer to Neels Gap leg with me, and then 2 weeks later the Smoky Mountains. I think this time him and I have agreed to walk side by side and talk a lot more. Ah! I almost forgot to mention this, if any of y'all meet him on the trail this year, his trail name is POTHOLDER!. He has a caving nickname which is Potholer. A pothole is a British term for a cave with a vertical rapel descent(Eddie is British). He does not like this which I think is great! I am a believer of getting stuck with whatever embarrassing trail name someone gives you.#4 17 packages of Esbit tablets arrived in the mail today! they are going on the over-stuffed table of Stuff I have to pack the rest of my mail drops. I have all of them boxed up until Rockfish Gap despite already deciding I didnt need to have so many maildrops. I am thinking, having maildrops will actually keep me from having an excuse to hang out in town. Trying to keep myself honest here.