[at-l] Flyin' Brian journals/Eggman

[janl2@mindspring.com (Jan Leitschuh)]

Cool!@
For those that are following, Brian's last journals look to be posted on
his site.
What I enjoyed most was his accounts of meeting on Moxie Bald with the
second calendar Triple Crown attempt crew, Fiddlehead (the Underwear
Guy), Pieps and Shirt. 

http://royrobinson.homestead.com/Triple_Crown.html

Also mentioned is Brian's meeting of a thru-hiker I met below Damasucus
this May, Eggman. 
Being a backpack newbie, I had been going out for week-long backpack
trips in the spring not only to check out my new gear but also to talk
to these rare, different-drummer creatures called thru-hikers. I wanted
to see what they were carrying, and also LEAVING out of their packs. 
This was before I found the vast Internet resources, by the way.

Eggman had blistered horribly early on, then accidentally tore off his
heelskin by pulling off the Compeed patches prematurely (note to self:
DON'T!). 
His friends said he bled so profusely from the heels all around camp the
others were afraid of attracting bears! Eggman was dripping blood
everywhere. 
Clearly, he couldn't use boots, so Eggman cut the back straps off his
sandals and rigged some sort of harness from bear bag rope. It was my
first up-close-and-personal view of the what-it-takes mentality to
thru-hike. He himself said "You really surprise yourself with what you
can do out here." 

Anyway, I watched Eggman's friends summit a month ago and was thinking
he himself had had to bag it, and was sad. "Here," I thought back in
May, "is one who should go all the way."
 I'm glad to hear he's about made it, if he hasn't already. His whole
group was friendly and free with their knowledge and very encouraging of
me and my budding skills, and of my desire for long distance hiking.
It was one of my earliest tastes of the enthusiasm and helpfulness of
the hiking community, and the easy acceptance of anyone with a sincere
intention to join it.
Jan


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    Jan Leitschuh Sporthorses Ltd.

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

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