[at-l] Three LT "End-to-Ender" Patches, please.....

[sloetoe@yahoo.com (Sloetoe)]

One dinosaur and two seven-year-olds are to be added to the rolls of
End-to-Enders on the LT, being Sloetoe and "the famous"* Pokey and Gumby.
(*Hearing words like this can go right to a seven-year-olds' head, I'll
tell ya.)

There WILL be a trip report. This year. Hell, this *quarter*. I'll go so
far as to say "Hey, sometime in August." I would go that far. I would.

Great great great trip. HARD walking, yes, but unlike last year, we were
so often rewarded with views and good weather when we'd climbed up and
earned them. Met big buckets of fun people, had many days of beautious
beautious weather. (Also roasted and (as the trip report will state) froze
some.)

Finished on Camel's Hump with a day very opposite from last year's
Mansfield hike -- it was clear and dry, with views of Killington (south),
Catskills (SSW), Adirondaks/Mt. Marcy (west), Jay Peak (Canadian border),
and the Whites/Mt. Washington (east). Way cool, to sit on a mountaintop
and pick out what you've walked over the previous weeks.... And the trip
up (1.9 miles, 1600') took Daddy exactly 60 minutes. It took the
SmallBoys(c) between 55 and 60 minutes -- I don't know because they blew
my doors off on the way up: I gave them a 5-minute head start, and never
caught up to them, despite my FLYING up the trail. One guy just laughed,
and said "Oh yeah, buddy, I seen 'em. And they were movin' a lot better'n
*you*." The summit was crowded with people when I arrived, each of whom
(it seemed) felt the need to comment on how cheerful and joyous and
full-of-life de Boysensberries were as they cleared treeline, and how much
time passed before their winded and dripping father trundled on up. One in
particular, AT'00's Hungry Howie, wagged his finger back at the boys as he
walked down to meet me, unable to complete a sentence as tried to relay
how the boysens were walking away from *his* go-lite butt all the way up.
I asked them why they raced like that up the entire climb -- they
responded "We didn't *think* we were racing, we were just excited,
maybe..." Methinks dem boys need a bit more weight in their packs,
methinks. Next year, *they* carry the food. 

Planning for this trip was very good, food-wise, mileage-wise, and
equipment-wise. (Very different from last year, where planning time was
sapped by other matters, to our detriment.) Packs weighed approximately
10-12 pounds for the boys, depending on water, and 20-55 pounds for Daddy,
depending on food/water. Finished the hike with two supper meals left in
the backpack, from the two 90-mile "runs". We hiked the 180 miles in a
total of 18 days, taking approximately one "zero" day and two five-mile
days. We spent one night indoors from July 7 to today; took two showers
two days apart; ate three pints of Ben&Jerrys three times; played darts
and drank Guinness (Or other age-appropriate beverages....), and stood for
less than 5 minutes *total* during our 3.5 hour hitchhike back to the car.

Will be back on list .... soon.
Love and miles to all...
Sloetoe

=====
Spatior, Nitor, Nitor, In Nitor!

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