[at-l] Lister bios

[CrzyPlum@aol.com (CrzyPlum@aol.com)]

 Born in Dayton, KY, an Ohio River town across from Cincinnati, OH, Sept. 18 
1940. Oh my goodness, I'll soon be 61 going on 16. What's worse is that come 
Nov. my older son will be 40?
When I was 11 we moved to the country. A 110 acre 
hillside/hilltop/valley/hillside further up the river. Our house sat (sits, a 
brother still lives there) on the hilltop with a 10 to 20 mile view of the 
Ohio River and the only houses in sight were those several miles away on the 
Ohio side of the river. My teenage years were filled with countless beautiful 
sunrises and sunsets. To this day I love to watch them and a house is not a 
home unless it has a good view of one or both and preferably includes water. 
The down side of growing up with all of that beauty is that the wonderful 
mountain top sunrises and sets don't impress me the same way they do so many 
hikers, for me, it's just part of the day.
We didn't have a lot of money, the river and woods provided a playground.  
After high school I joined the General Electric Jet Engine business on a 
training program; working in a machine shop during the day and attending the 
University of Cincinnati at night studying engineering. (got to sneak in and 
watch Oscar play a few times). Got married to a sweet girl, had son #1, 
finished the training program, never did finish college. Jet engine business 
was slow, in 1962 as I was graduating from the apprentice program, was 
transferred to the Computer Dept. in Phoenix. Short 6 months stay and it was 
back to jet engines in Cincy. Worked in several disciplines for three years 
before settling into marketing/product support area dealing with the Navy and 
Air Force.
Stayed there until early retirement at the end on 1995 having worked my way 
into the middle management ranks. 
Weary wrote of his 2 year cycles, mine have been similar but by a factor of 
ten.
That sweet young girl and I became not so sweet in each others eyes after 20 
years and two wonderful boys, and we parted. I officiated football at the 
high school & small college level for 20 years having the good fortune to 
work many playoff and several state championship games.
I was a serious competitive runner for about 20 years having chosen my 
parents well enough to be in the top four or five percent nationally in the 
masters group. (it was those same parents that gave me the back that ended 
that running era).
BTW I still think my first marathon at 38 (run not fully trained) was the 
single most interesting physical/mental/emotional thing I've done so far. Ran 
2000 to 3000 miles per year for most of the running years.
Several other interests/activities have run on 20 year cycles.
Nadine and I have been married 16 1/2 years, gotta remind her that we need to 
stay on our toes to be sure we break the 20 year cycle. 
I took up walking/hiking to replace the running and have now covered over ten 
thousand miles mostly day hike & road/street miles.
My Dad had backpacked from Cincinnati to central Mich. back in the early 
thirties and often mentioned the AT. When I started hiking I looked up the 
address and joined the ATC. As I got more into hiking I began to think of 
hiking the whole Trail [hadn't yet heard the word ThruHike] but it was just a 
back of the mind idea. In 1994 it became necessary for my mother-in-law to 
move in with us. I had been pointing toward early retirement toward the end 
of 1995. With our permanent house guest extensive travel in our fifthwheel 
would be delayed; the ThruHike idea began to move to the front of the brain. 
I mentioned the thought to the wife and she said go ahead. Beginning in mid 
1995 I began to think very seriously about a Spring of '96 hike. Thru the ATC 
News I hooked up with a young woman from eastern Ohio and via mail we began 
planning. What I should say is, she began planning. My problem was that I 
wanted to hike but was not at all looking forward to the planning process. My 
good luck was that she reveled in the planning and did all of the research, 
choosing mail drop sites, a tentative schedule etc. During the planning a 
third member was added, a woman from South Africa would join us. I retired at 
the end of 1995 and we left Springer on Good Friday 1996. (there is a good 
story that someday I'll put on paper). On Easter I left the Trail at Woody 
Gap going home to get rid of some 15 pounds of gear and to leave the dog. I 
wasn't going to miss the gear but I sure would miss my friend and companion 
but the weather during those first 2 1/2 days taught me that I didn't know 
enough about long distance backpacking to take care of myself and the dog 
too. I came back to the Trail in a couple of days, ahead of where I thought 
my partners would be, planning to let them catch up to me. By Fontana I was 
still alone and not enjoying the hike much at all (I had been rained or 
snowed on every day but one).
I holed up at the Fontana Motel [now Hike Inn] to await my partners. While 
there I pulled a calf muscle evading a NC driver in Robbinsville. It hadn't 
quite healed when my partners showed up to spend a rest day. I decided to 
leave ahead of them since I'd be moving slower with the healing calf. With my 
calf saying ouch every few steps the hike from Fontana to Birch Spring 
shelter was not my most enjoyable morning of hiking. I arrived at about 11 to 
that dark wet hole, my leg bothered me enough that I didn't want to try for 
Mollies Ridge but I sure didn't want to stay there either. About then a storm 
started blowing in and that was the straw; I told the two hikers that were 
there that I had just become a section hiker. Nemo and Jason the Gorp 
Inspector were headed back to Fontana to hitch to Gatlinburg to catch up with 
some friends. Amidst a downpour and close lightening strikes all the way back 
down I stumbled along behind. [that storm generated several tornados as it 
passed thru KY/TN&NC]. I arranged for a ride to Lexington KY with my partners 
parents, called my wife and said come meet your baby boy. I had started the 
hike with a bad attitude, I wanted the hike to be 80 percent fun and 20 
percent work. Our friend WF is correct, to complete a Thru, that must be the 
most important thing in your life at that point in time. For me it wasn't, 
for my partners it was, they finished in mid Oct and wrote of their trip "A 
Journey of Friendship." 
Except for failing to obtain an appointment to the Air Force Academy back in 
1958 I had completed every major undertaking or goal I'd established for 
myself; this slap in the puss was good for me. A reminder that you gotta pay 
the dues.
Since 1996 I've done a fair amount of hiking and starting a Thru occasionally 
creeps into the brain but most of the time I'm happy to do short jaunts here 
and there, now and then.
Oh yea, when I stopped running 10 to 15 years ago I also stopped smoking and 
over a two to three year span went from a slim trim short little elf to a fat 
little troll that no amount of exercise or diet has been able to undo.
 
Friends and family bestowed my trailname Plum'Crazy as being descriptive on 
my personality and  choice of activities.

Recently moved from NKy to the Kentucky Lake/LBL /Lake Barkley area.

Last Book: "All Of My Rivers Are Gone" Katie Lee and one of Louis L'Amour's 
offerings.
Confession: Even tho my older son's CB handle was Hobbit & thru most of his 
teens his most looked forward to Christmas present was the JRRT calendar, I 
have never read any of his works. I have listened to a recording of The 
Hobbit several times. Since it seems to be a requisite for full fledged list 
membership maybe I'll read the Trilogy after I get caught up on all the 
outdoor mags that accumulated while I was gone and after the L'Amour & 
Canyon/River books that we bought.
Current activities: Maintainer of ten miles of the LBL's N/S Trail; Volunteer 
at the LBL Elk & Bison Prairie; Hiking, Kayaking, looking for a square dance 
club, Eagle Watching, just enjoying God's creation. 
The List sure is an eclectic group.
Justakahike




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