[at-l] A report from The Willage of Delaware Water Gap

[kahley7 <kahley7@ptd.net>]

He's back!!!!!!!  And he's now a 2000 miler!!!!!!!!!!!!Congrats Kendall
Wear that rocker with pride!!!!

Kendall reports..........

        The Village is looking pretty depressed these days.  Fall winds
are blowing
leaves around the streets.  A lonely faded banner across Main Street
reminds
us about the United Way.  The Jazz Festival is over and most of the
tourists
have gone home.  The Church dinners have stopped for the year.   Most of
the
98 thru-hikers have finished or are up in Maine hoping for a shot at
Katahdin before the ice locks them out for the year.  The Hostel is dark
and
quiet.  What is a trail town without a bunch of hikers milling around...

looking for a free meal.

        I could find only one hiker to visit with...

BandannaMan

.....a section hiker who had just finished a hike across New Jersey,
from NY
17 down to the Water Gap.  He was cheerful, clean, polite, well spoken
and
well dressed.  He had no blisters to brag about, and he had a normal
appetite.  He had sufficient funds and  did not stink!  As you can see,
there is very little evidence that he was a hiker at all, but that's
what he
claimed.

        The Fat Boys Hiking Society had a successful 450 mile walk this
year.  Mr.
Ed, Restart, and Castoff pushed across New Hampshire and Maine.  Though
many
efforts were made to locate a Queen for our society, all offers were
refused...and probably with good intelligence.   We had to walk without
the
civilizing effects of the sting of a Queen's whip and quip.  I can now
brag
that I have successfully hiked the whole trail and will soon get a 2000
mile
rocker for my trouble.  Restart took a week off while I crossed the
Whites.
Just because his ankle was swollen up like a watermelon, he though we
would
be sympathetic.....no way!  Castoff dropped out in Maine when he learned

that his home in Virginia Beach had been crushed by hurricane
Bonnie....a
pathetic wimp-out....any excuse to quit...let the wife handle
it...ignore
her injuries....just hike!.   I hope the future thru-hikers are
listening.
You just can't let these little matters distract you from your hike!

        There seems to be a couple of new varieties of hiker lately,
"the
freeloader thru-hiker" and the "amazon" hiker, both of which deserve
longer
discussions on the ATML....next week maybe.

        I will not go into detail but will summarize the two month
section hike as
the most glorious backpacking I've ever done.  The weather was great,
the
trails were great and there was a marvelous assortment of goofball,
meathead, lunatic, amazon hikers for companionship.  As most thru hikers

know there is a wonderful "rush" of happiness after coming down from
Katahdin....a feeling of success, and gratitude for having the good
fortune
to have the health, money, fortitude, and good luck to have been able to
do
the whole trail...to finish strongly....climbing a hard mountain trail.
There is a feeling that you are glowing internally with a mixture of
positive emotions....mostly pride I guess.

        This "rush" last for a good long time.....in my case it lasted
until I got
home and heard those words from my lovely wife:  "Are you EVER going to
mow
this god damned yard?.....or what?  My son cheered me up too...after two

months he had this to say:  "Hey Dad ....where you been?.....my bike has
a
flat".   Maybe I should hike 11 months a year and come home for one
month to
mow the yard and fix flats....maybe just hire a gardener.  I had over
1800
email messages.....proving once again that I have way too many friends.
And
two bushel baskets of regular mail...mostly bills and overdue
notices...too
many credit cards.  Amen and Amen.






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