[at-l] Yet Another Lister Bio

[janl2@mindspring.com (Jan Leitschuh)]

Johnny-Come Lately Here. I'm likely the last to offer one, but here
goes...

Name: Jan Leitschuh (say "Light" and shoe")

Trail Name: None yet, tho LighShoe, HoofHead and Hoofer have been
ventured. Hoofhead?!!! Come on! 
Dunno, nothing sings yet... it will arrive in its own time, if meant to
be.

Home: The charming NC central Sandhills town of Southern Pines, sister
city to the resort town of Pinehurst.

Born:
 Milwaukee, Wisconsin (yes, a real cheesehead, tho we didn't call
ourselves that before I left that cold country in 1980). Been in the
South ever since. Love the South! Miss good bread though real Southern
biscuits make up for alot.

Age: Exactly 37 and ten years!

Married:  Nyet!

Children: 
Two stepchildren, who I raised for seven years after their mother died.
Great, amazing kids. Sadie just entered the film program at Hollins in
Virginia, and Paulie, who will turn 16 this fall, allowed me to
introduce him to the AT this June - he proved to be a superhiker as we
traveled up Roan MT and the Humps, all the way to Laurel Fork Falls. He
did way better on the dreaded 19E than me!

Occupation:
 Will do anything for a buck. However, list horse trainer and riding
instructor as primary occupations. Also write, (former reporter and
feature writer for the News and Observer, now freelance and do a monthly
column for a horsemanship magazine).

Military: Well, I live next to Fort Bragg... does that count?

Hobbies: 
Fun!!! Love making mischief. That probably underlies all I do.
Backpacking is the latest obsession in a wide range of interests. Have
always loved camping and hiking, just now getting around to combining
the two. Love plant ID, love all water, love to swim, float and canoe.
(Canoed a few rivers this fall, but apparently suck at the rock-avoiding
aspect. It's a gas tho)! Love to travel! 
Of course horses, but that is Biz too... all animals attract. Work MAO
doing horses, all that will come to a grinding halt when I thru in 2003.
Write quite a bit, love to read (could spend my life catching up on my
wish list), am a moviebug, would love one day to build my own stone
cabin or maybe straw bale cottage but remain in bafflement as to how one
actually does that sort of thing (being the non-technical,
procrastinating kind).
 Gardening is pleasant diversion and grounds me, so to speak. Sunshine
on my shoulders makes me happy, sunshine in my eyes makes me cry...
Want to retire wealthy! Now! Too much fun to be had!

Last books read:
 Hmmm, I read about five at once, all laying about in various stages
"un-read-ness..."
Prolly "The Red Tent," "The Hills of Tuscanny" (by Ferenc Mate), and
"The Power of Now," an amazing book by a German, Echarkt Tolle.
If you haven't read it but just seen the movie, I'll bet the book
"Little Big Man" would resonate with most on this list. Really fine
read, can't put it down. Way better than an already good movie, still
holds it own in these trying times. Just reread that.

First time on the AT: 
By accident, in 1984, on a horse. near Mt Rogers. It was a horror story
as I struggled thru leg-snapping boulders to turn my nervous beast back
onto the blue blazed equine trail and solid ground. A whole-hearted
supporter here of separate trails for human and equine...

First time I realized I was on the AT: 
The first deliberate attempt was this spring, from I-40 near Mt. Moma's
to Hot Spring. A miraculous trip in a snowstorm. Freezing! Up Snowbird,
over Max Patch in a screaming, pack-cover-tearing wind. I could barely
stand upright... My gawd, it was epic. Awesome. Been out for three more
week-long trips since, from GA to VA.

Favorite soft beverage: Chocolate milk (hey, from the Dairy State...)

Favorite hard beverage: 
In summer, a real limey margarita. In winter, love to curl up on the
couch after work with a good Spanish cream sherry and Goldfish
crackers... 

Portions of AT covered:  
Lots of Georgia, thanks to Pittburgh and the Stop-Smoking hike. Parts of
NC/TN and VA. Next July, all of Maine (except saving Mt. K for my thru
in 2003).

Other Trails hiked: Hmm, does it count if you ride them on a horse? I
have packed mules thru the Bob Marshall and seen the amazing Chinese
Wall, ate trout caught in icy crystal pools. Also canoed the Boundary
Waters the Canadian Border. Just discovered that there's an Ice Age
Trail in Wisconsin, follows the beautiful glacial formations in the
state - would like to do that one day. Went over Niagra Falls in a
barrel. Actually, that's a lie, it was a canoe...



-- 
========================================
    Jan Leitschuh Sporthorses Ltd.

http://www.mindspring.com/~janl2

E-mail:  mailto:janl2@mindspring.com

========================================