[at-l] Finally made it to Springer

[David Addleton]

Imho,
search 'n rescue is better than a [selfish] thru'
[an what thru ain't selfish?]
jest say'n

On Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 6:03 PM, Richard Calkins <racalkins at msn.com> wrote:

>
> I am suffering from a really bad case of Springer Fever this year.  Cold
> compresses don't seem to help.  My 2005 hiking partner, Butterfly Moon, is
> having another go at it this year, with her dog, Luna.  Reading her journal
> brings back so many incredible memories.  She just passed Bly Gap where we
> took a group picture at the famous old gnarled tree.  I miss her, and
> Phoenix, and Nubee, and even Hopeful Hiker!  I'm going again next year, but
> that's 349 days from now.  sigh....
>
> Best I could do this weekend was to respond with my search and rescue
> group for a missing person search in the Shenandoah National Park.  Got up
> at 5 am to get down there for the 7:30 am briefing.  Searched until dark,
> and then headed home.  Had to come to work today.
>
> One of my tasks was to lead a team doing a sweep search on both sides of
> the AT between Elk Wallow Wayside (remember the fresh blackberry
> milkshakes?) and the Piney Ridge trail.  Later we did a grid search around
> the perimeter of the Range View Cabin.  We didn't find him.  But we tried.
> The search is still going on, but I had to come back to work.  I miss the
> mountains.  I hope they find him.
>
> ok, back to lurking.....
>
> Longhaul
>
>
>  ------------------------------
> Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2008 17:35:19 -0400
> From: dfaddleton at gmail.com
> To: at-l at backcountry.net
> Subject: [at-l] Finally made it to Springer
>
>
> for a week-end trip, that is. With a backpacking meet-up group at
> http://www.meetup.com/
>
> A cold and rainy Saturday greeted me; the weather radio predicted
> pea-sized hail around nightfall, but it never came.
>
> I'd left early Friday and hiked from 3Forks to Stover Creek Shelter in the
> evening. The trail has been rerouted to the new shelter and latrine: instead
> of the steep climb to the right at the end of the old, nameless FS road, you
> switchback to the left and down. They installed it last Fall. It has an
> aisle down the middle of the first floor, a great innovation; and sleeps 4
> or 5 on each side. There's an upstairs loft. Both have windows in the rear.
> There's a porch with a giant table and benches all around the perimeter.
> There are pegs galore in the sleeping areas, but none in the porch area.
> Mice have already moved in. I slept under my tarp between two trees in a
> hammock, with only my legs in the bag. The first night was warm enough for
> that.
>
> I was supposed to meet my group at the parking lot below Springer on
> Saturday at around 10 am, but they arrived late. I was wet to the skin
> hiking up there to meet them and cold from waiting for them and decided to
> hike without them to the Springer summit. My assault on the summit went
> smoothly -- only three bottles of oxygen and no burned retinas; I'd left my
> gear at the Stover Creek Shelter, planning to return and dry out and letting
> them hike up to Springer and back using the BMT, because they liked to hike
> miles. But they wanted to stay together as a group and didn't want to get
> wet. So we went to the Stover shelter and lunched. It quickly filled up
> because of the rain. A women's PE class from UGA showed up and took over all
> the tent spots. My group decided to hike down to a camp site they'd seen
> after going to view Long Creek Falls and returning in the afternoon. I'd
> wandered close to hypothermia and then dried out by then -- after someone
> had built a fire -- and agreed. The next morning dropped to around 38F with
> drizzle and we left.
>
> The ridge runner at the summit said he counted 15 leaving on a thru hike.
> He said there were over 50 the last week end. We camped with two, Pete from
> coastal Virginia and Sunny from Boston. I told all the others I was just
> finishing up my sobo thru and offered stolichnaya and they didn't think I
> was much of an [trail] angel. But the Russian economist dude to whom I'd
> promised it if he joined me liked it. We drank it with his spicy organic
> garlic Saturday night as darkness gathered. There were rumors of bears, but
> we never saw one.
>
>
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