[at-l] The Tradition of trip-reports 7

[JaZZmanDU at aol.com (JaZZmanDU@xxxxxxx)]

first and mainly, i am sorry about the colors. somehow, i am stuck with an 
"extra" background. the best i could think of to do was to make it the lightest 
color i could. white was not open to me, so i chose light gray. on the very 
last report, i forgot to change it. i checked the email i got from myself, and 
it is in black and white!  so i resent that to the list, and also to bill in 
south dakota. bill, my temporary next-door-neighbor in bethel, bill who shook my 
hand when i told him the hike i'd done.

i will resend all the reports, in i hope black and white. and i'll change 
this and subsequent ones (how many'll there be?) to blue on light gray...

horses, horses...........yes, that's right:  i AM patty smith!  ..... no, 
just jerry.  somewhere in NY state, we had to stop our car (rented one. we left 
lafayette home) for about 2 dozen horses being lead across the road. that was 
pretty cool...

back to the report:   next morning,  we went north about 10 miles to grafton 
notch, where the AT crosses route 26. paul and his dog cocoa have hiked about 
1/2 the AT, in section hikes, but no part of maine until that hike.  diane and 
i were starting on the AT, then switching to an orange-blazed trail to Table 
Rock.  We each took a hiking pole.  (my first time for using one.) Trail 
angels were at the trail-head, Bamboo Bob who thru-hiked last year, and his spouse 
who hike part-the-way with 'im.  BB talked a lot about his hike, spurred on by 
diane's questions. (i would have been shy and only asked one or two.)  

i wrote a message in the book for wench and jan lite-shoe, whose journals 
kelly and i are reading, and we were off.

the AT part was easy-footing, no Tuckerman, but again uphill all the way.  
diane had water and trail mix, and we stopped often. the orange trail was 
similar, and soon we were atop ..... the world.  great views of mountains with rocky 
sides, some seeming above treeline at the top, the road way below. diane took 
my hand and led my sceerdaheights self to the edge, and keith, a mainer and 
cabinetmaker who we met up there, took our picture.  

a trail maintainer came up, to.  he told us the orange path down is VERY 
steep, and he seemed NOT to recommend it for us.  i DID hesitate a little, but 
these days i try not to miss things, to try to take advantage. so down we went.  
it was on boulders, at all crazy angles, and i feel that without the pole i'da 
had to turn back. each step required a strategy to avoid falling. at times we 
squeezed through tiny openings.  also, there were construction people there 
making both wooden and stone steps.  we were the first to use some of them. the 
rocky scenery was great, as was meeting this challenge, which we did.   

we celebrated at pat's restaurant, a eating place that i feel should have a 
better name. for the name "pat" while a nice name, does not let on the rustic, 
beer and moose decorations of the place.

"what are you doing, dancing?" asked diane, as i struggled with my footing.   
is that a lead for a trail name? it was not on the AT but the orange trail. 
does that matter?   i would really like a nom de trail...

(yes, i am from Northeast Philadelphia and yes i like jazz, of the Ornette, 
Trane, AAMC variety, but also Charlie Parker and more traditional artists.  i 
was asked these questions)

i brought 3 things to read, though i didn't do much of that:

------- journals of Wench, Jan Lite-Shoe, and Neil
---- Jack Kerouac's Desolation Angels
---------- Pilgramage on a Steel Ride by Gary Paulsen
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