Date: 2009-10-16
From: Orlando, FL

To: home in NH
Miles today: 0.0

ALDHA GATHERING 2009 We didn¢t expect to have another entry for our 2009 AT Journal, but the ALDHA Gathering of October 9 to 11 was worth sharing with our hiker friends. We not only attended some great sessions, but had a chance to get reacquainted with some of our Trail of Friends and Friends of the Trail. We left Florida on October 7th and spent our first night in Franklin NC with our 2005 AT friends, DOUBLE HEALER and his wife Susan (aka TINKER BELL). We met their house guest, PEREGRINE, from Australia. She had hiked on the AT in 2000 with her husband, GRUMBLEBUM. It made for a great evening of Trail stories. The next day we made our way to Kincora hostel in Tennessee, where we were fortunate enough to share a great dinner with BOB PEOPLES, GAIA, DRAGON SLAYER, and OTTO. We didn¢t know that Bob was such a great cook. He made a fine dinner for us of Shrimp Scampi and pasta. After dinner we listened to Bob, as he outlined his October 10th ALDHA presentation on the Camino de Santiago. We are little bit proud that Bob used our 2008 Camino de Santiago Trail Journal to prepare for his 2009 Camino pilgrimage with Gaia and Dragon Slayer. After a very pleasant night in the ¢Executive Suite¢ at Kincora, we were back on the road to Gettysburg, PA, for the Gathering. There was a great opening program at the Gathering on Friday night, the 9th of October. We got to meet PACER, with whom we hiked in April 2006, during his AT thru hike. Rocky gave him his Trail Name in 2006.   We hope Pacer will come visit us in Florida during this coming winter. We also got to talk with MISS JANET, with whom we stayed during our 2005 AT hike. We also hope she will also come visit us in Florida during this hiking ¢off season¢. It was great to see so many Trail Friends during the course of the weekend. We had a wonderful reunion with PROFESSOR, with whom we have such fond memories of hiking the Hundred Mile Wilderness and Katahdin in 2006. We got a chance to meet his gracious wife as well. We are also a little pleased that Professor used our 2007 John Muir Trail Journal to prepare for his recent JMT hike. Then, we finally got to meet STUMPKNOCKER. We followed his 2008 AT hike as part of our preparation for our 2009 thru hike attempt, which unfortunately ended after 386 miles.   It was great to talk with him in person. It was particularly inspiring to meet BAGGINS again. We met her in April 2006 at Gooch Gap shelter, during the start of her AT hike. Baggins in an older woman who we estimate is 4 foot 10 inches tall. She has been diligently hiking the AT every year at perhaps a pace of five miles a day. Her pack seems to be as big as she is. She made it to Hanover NH this year. We wish her the best of luck as she begins the last leg of the Trail in 2010. Finally we met WINKIE, with whom we have corresponded during our 2009 hiking. Unfortunately (for us) she moved to Georgia from Orlando, at about the same time as we moved to Florida. It was a thrill to meet LEIF (of Leif and Zip Drive of Trail Journals) and his wife. We are so appreciative of the work he and Zip Drive have done in creating the Trail Journals web site. It has provided us with a vehicle to record our hiking memories and share our experiences with our friends. We have also followed the hikes of some of our Trail friends.   We chatted with NOMAD during a break in the sessions. We were not able to catch up with his wife, JO JO SMILEY, as she was busy with her duties as ALDHA Coordinator. Quite by accident we met TRAIL BOSS, and his wife. Trail Boss and his PATC trail crew built the famous (or infamous) ¢Roller Coaster¢ on the Trail in northern Virginia. It was one of our more memorable days on the Trail in 2005. However, it is great piece of trail work and we were quite complimentary of his work. Along with KIP, we joined Bob Peoples for his presentation on the Camino de Santiago. Kip walked the Camino in the recent summer of 2009 with his students. Who knows; we might well do the Camino again in the fall of 2010. Rocky particularly likes to enthusiastically promote the Camino to everyone she meets. We attended sessions on the GR-5 Trail in Europe and the Shikoku Pilgrimage in Japan, both put on by LARRY RIDENOUR. Then we had a chance to talk with BART SMITH, during his informal session on the 11 National Scenic Trails. Bart has hiked and photographed on all the National Scenic Trails. We chatted with him about the Natchez Trace and the Florida Trail. As we will be in Florida this winter, we will no doubt do some miles on the Florida Trail. All in all, it was a great Gathering, with wonderful fall weather (except for perhaps an hour or so of drizzle on Saturday night). We highly recommend the annual ALDHA Gathering to all our hiker friends. But, unfortunately, we will not be at next year¢s Gathering in Athens, WV, as we expect to be hiking somewhere in Europe, next October.What a bargain for only $10 apiece for the entire weekend. Happy Trails and Buen Camino