Date: 2006-09-02
From: still home

To: thanks to heroes
Miles today: 0.0

(*NOTE: now would be a good time to click on the blue "FIRST" above (if you haven't already) and read about our earliest "beginnings"....don't worry...."chef dad" will still be here waiting for you when you get back!)======2006======   ¢the real heroes are at home!¢ I have always said¢¦¢¦¢¦and it¢s true¢¦.most ofthe hikers we know depend on support from friends or family who commit to the responsibility of maildrops, transportation, management of households, media updates, supplies, repairs and much needed encouragement¢¦¢¦..our daughter, carli, and her husband, Michael, volunteered all of this and more (for which we cannot thank them                                 enough!)¢¦¢¦..they performed these tasks perfectly on our first hike in ¢03 , and we knew we would have to ask for their help once more if, indeed, we were to hike in ¢06¢¦¢¦¢¦their agreeing to manage our hike would be the ¢weight¢ which would tip the scales for our decision¢¦¢¦..if they said ¢no¢ then so would we¢¦¢¦.if they agreed, then we were on our way¢¦¢¦it was a happy day for us when, without hesitation and demanding nothing in return, carli and michael shouldered our burden and said they¢d be glad to help us hike the trail again¢¦¢¦.it is no exaggeration to say that we could not have done it without them ¢¦¢¦all we did was put on a pack and walk!......======2003======   I promised in our first entry an amazing story about some very special folks who helped us make our dream of hiking the AT come true¢¦¢¦(and i must interject here that there were MANY ¢¦¢¦..from people who sent us neat stuff in our maildrops¢¦¢¦.to hostel owners and trail angels who went above and beyond the call of duty [ WHAT duty?....smelly hikers deserve NOTHING!] ¢¦.. yet they provided for all of our needs¢¦¢¦¢¦ even perfect strangers contributed, who prayed for us along the way!)But here's the story of two individuals in particular who nurtured the seeds of our dream as no one else¢¦.. if you have ever read robert rubin¢s book, ¢on the beaten path¢, then you have already met this amazing couple, ¢hat man¢ and ¢happy feet¢¢¦¢¦bill and diana ristom!...they hiked the trail in ¢97 and again in 2001, but remained a mystery to us for a long time since the tale rubin began never quite offered the ¢closure¢ we felt the ristom story deserved¢¦.¢what happened to them?¢ we wondered¢¦¢¦¢did they make it to katahdin?¢¢¦..we remained disappointed that we never got to know more about this intriguing couple who cooked gourmet meals and carried a portable shower with them as they happily hiked the trail!in march,( i believe), of ¢02 we were already doing shake-down hikes in places like the big frog wilderness which was only about 2 hours from our home¢¦.we were hungry to find out all we could about long distance hiking(which was new to us)¢¦¢¦as we lunched in the sun near the top of big frog on this chilly spring day, enjoying the view and chatting about the ins and outs of our future thru-hike ,we were interrupted by voices coming up the trail¢¦¢¦ it was odd since we had rarely ever met anyone on our hikes up that mountain¢¦¢¦¢¦soon the voices attached themselves to faces: a husband and wife out for a day hike appeared¢¦¢¦we mentioned that we were surprised to see them and they seemed surprised to encounter us as well, since hiking in that area was at that time a normal part of their weekly routine (they actually lived in the area)¢¦¢¦when, after introductions and a bit of conversation we realized they were avid hikers, we couldn¢t resist the obvious question:¢ do you all ever do any long distance hiking?¢      ¢well actually,¢they began very humbly,¢ we have¢¢¦..      ¢the AT?¢ we queried excitedly¢¦.      ¢uh¢¦.yes¢¦.well¢¦.twice to be exact¢¦¢And thus began an hour long ¢seminar¢ with two experts in the field who very patiently and amiably answered ALL of our silly questions¢¦¢¦.after a while we continued our separate hikes for the day, but the evening hours brought us together once more as we crossed paths on our way out of the wilderness¢¦¢¦..this couple( who incidentally shared our faith), sensing our curiosity (and probably our ineptitude) were extremely generous with their time and information, as if they had known us forever¢¦¢¦.indeed¢¦we felt as if we knew them, too¢¦..When the sun began to dip low and we finally thought to ask them what their AT trail names had been, you could have knocked us over with a feather when our unbelieving ears heard their reply :      ¢hat man¢ and ¢happy feet¢ they announced with warm smiles!I knew at that moment that Providence was at work in our lives!And THAT was only the beginning of MANY blessings that our Creator began to pour out on us along many different avenues¢¦¢¦but they often especially came through our new friends and mentors, the ristoms¢¦..good ol¢ hat man and happy feet! ¢¦.it would take pages to list ALL they accomplished for our good (us personally as well as our hike) , so i¢ll just say this:      ¢every hatchling hiker ought to have a ¢hat man¢ or a ¢happy feet¢ to fledge them out of the nest of uncertainty and into the skies of adventure!¢ *NOTES/OBSERVATIONS/COMPARISONS*thanks also to eric weisse who never ever even considered at ALL that us OLD folks could NOT hike the trail (and told us so at the outfitters)¢¦¢¦in ¢03 he helped us with tons of info concerning gear alternatives ,etc., and ( can you believe it!) actually hauled us back to harpers ferry after a month¢s interlude in april this year *lauds to lynn gilbert,too, who first believed us and shared with us our excitement and the book that most influenced our hike,¢beyond backpacking¢ by ray jardine *and, of course, to my mom and dad who stirred granola and helped us package everything¢¦¢¦¢¦who also gave me life so that i could ETERNALLY enjoy hiking with my Creator (as well as paw-ee, kids, grandkids, and all the rest He sends for us to meet along the way!)