[at-l] "Summit Stories".... Fwd: September 11, 1979

[wb4pan at mindspring.com (Chase Davidson)]

September 16, 1999,

	As I made my way across tableland Baxter peak occasionally peeked 
through the clouds. I still have that liter of water I picked up at 
Thoreau Spring :-). As I climb the final peak the sky opens up. 	 
There at that famous sign is Cobweb, (smiling like you wouldn't 
believe). He started out a bit earlier than me today (well he does 
clean the cobwebs that way). I had purposely given him a few minuets 
head start so he could summit alone cause I didn't want to crowd his 
accomplishment. After all he was finishing a thru hike and I had just 
met up and walked across a good portion of Maine with him.
	Yahoo I am there or is it here. Anyway it is a great exzzzzileration 
to finish the AT. Shucks I get that feeling every time I watch a thru 
hike movie or listen to someone's presentation. Its a great feeling of 
accomplishment. The experience must be overwhelming for a thru hiker 
who has been at it for months. Me I been plugging along 18 years and 
some 5,000 miles before I finally have walked all the AT at least 
once! My longest time out was one 28 day trip in 1982. Besides that 
there are lots of two week trips and less. That's just not the same as 
a thru hike. Still its sure worth doing and I had plenty of rest time 
in between hikes. Actually I had only concentrated on finishing the AT 
over the last few years. This years hikes amounted to two, two week 
excursions that carried me from Franconia Notch to the top of the 
Great Mountain.
	Along comes Blister Butt to join Cobweb and myself on top. We take 
bunches of the required photographs. Soon others arrive and we get 
someone to take a group shot with each camera. Oh and I get a couple 
with my big ATL banner too.
	Now I have on all the cloths I brought and I am getting pretty 
chilly. I slip away from the crowd and hide behind a big boulder. My 
first cell phone call is to my brother Woodelf who wishes he could be 
here too!
	On the way back to camp I run into Fanny Pack AT96 and trail angel. 
He and the Old Phart are out for a day hike on the big K. Back at camp 
Pittsburgh is waiting with warm beverages. It sure was nice to run 
into Pittsburgh a couple of times in the Hundred Mile Wilderness. And 
then again at Abol bridge! He had a campsite reserved there and also 
had multiple shelters reserved for us the last night before we made 
this big climb up Katahdin. It was nice to have shelters for most of 
the bunch I had been hiking around the last couple of weeks.
	Sir Pees a Lot and the JoJo crowd had summated the day before. They 
had skipped ahead about 60 miles between the hurricane flooded 
Pleasant Rivers so they could make it on time to Bill Irwins spaghetti 
cookout at Elks. I think Jilibe and her husband also summated the day 
before.
	Pittsburgh delivered us to Milinocket where I spend three days 
waiting for my Shuttle and Bangor Flight home. Don Cogswell of the 
Appalachian Trail Inn was an excellent host. 40 years of service to 
the hiker. I went to end of trail fest and got to see Earl Shaffer 
show his 1949 slide show again.
	Maybe it won't take 18 years for my second section hike. I am already 
half way there! Anybody want to hike? The weather is getting perfect 
for hiking.

chase