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gathering re-cap
now that most people are back to the list, i need to relate some experiences
from the gathering.
first, thanks to beau and sandy (the female one!) for offering to assist me
with the slide show, and a special thanks to joan who came thru in the
crunch for me. she let me borrow her stereo receiver and speakers for the
slide show, delivered them to the auditorium, and helped me set them up.
the slide show is nothing without a good sound system, and while a
full-blown professional PA system would have been best, this provided ample
sound in an auditorium with about 450 people. thanks joan!
it sure was good to meet all the AT-Lers. they do a roll call at the
gathering where thru-hikers stand up and are recognized by year hiked, plus
those who have done the PCT or CDT, and those planning for next year. so i
made a point of mentioning the burgeoning electronic trail community while
introducing my slide show, and had all the AT-Lers stand. about as many of
"us" there as had hiked the trail in 95 or 96, so we were well represented!
i was lucky enough to room with ed garvey for the weekend. as an honorable
member of the "travelling garveys" from 92, i had met him a few times at
trail days, but it sure was good to get to know him better. of course he
knows all about the trail, was (and is) a prominant advocate for trail
rights, has a great sense of humor, and quite a way with words. i felt honored.
and speaking of trail legends, earl schaeffer crawled out from hibernation
and gave a slide show of his 48 hike! most of the slides were in excellent
condition, and some parts of the trail haven't changed. some, of course,
have changed dramatically - most notably for me was that the shelton graves
in 48 were in an overgrown field! at the very end of the weekend, earl and
ed met for the first time in over 20 years. quote of the gathering by earl:
"Well, Ed, you and I can look around here at all these people and just about
every one of them has done this whole trail. Look what we started. I guess
they can have the two of us to blame."
we are not worthy!
mike
ke kaahawe
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Michael Henderson E-mail: mikeh@royalrobbins.com
Royal Robbins, Inc Web Site: http://www.royalrobbins.com
1314 Coldwell Ave Phone: 209/529-5511
Modesto, CA 95350 Fax: 209/522-5511