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aldha gathering -oct 10-12

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    • After weeks of nothin' doing, I will have had four job interviews this week. (two by phone, one by Skype, one face-to-face.) Two of them today. The bad news is, that last one, the face-to-face, is Friday morning, which means we won't depart for Williamstown 'till mid-day at best. Grrr. Sucky timing.

    • rafe wrote:

      After weeks of nothin' doing, I will have had four job interviews this week. (two by phone, one by Skype, one face-to-face.) Two of them today. The bad news is, that last one, the face-to-face, is Friday morning, which means we won't depart for Williamstown 'till mid-day at best. Grrr. Sucky timing.


      Good luck, and I hope you get what you want!
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

    • At the gathering tentsite
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      its all good

    • Coach Lou pays homage to the wine and chair threads.happy sunday from the gathering
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      its all good

    • i left coach lou at the gathering after the annual group picture.
      the gathering was alot of fun, met a lot of old friends , made some new ones, met rafe and his wife, cookerhiker, rickb, and of course baltimore jack was there along with miss janet. also met chipmunk, really good kid.awesome time, good hiking, good friends. i'll post some more later, going to have dinner with my daughter,alex.
      its all good

    • Good time indeed, tho I don't think Merry got quite as much out of it as I did. Chris Gallaway's film was the feature presentation, and it was stupendous -- got a huge extended standing ovation. In addition to the aforementioned, there were several characters from the RPH crew in attendance. The campground had beautiful views and the campus (Williams College) is pretty swanky too. Campus food not so much but fortunately we only ate one campus meal. Merry and I checked out the Clark Art Institute as well, it's about a half-mile walk from campus. Link to Chris' film ---

      thelongstarttothejourney.com/

      Chris thru-hiked in 2013, goaded and supported by his bride-to-be (Sunshine) who had 2 thru-hikes to her credit already. The story and cinematography are both superb.

      My photo from Baldpate summit won the AT category, but after watching Chris' film I felt duly humbled.

    • rafe wrote:

      Good time indeed, tho I don't think Merry got quite as much out of it as I did. Chris Gallaway's film was the feature presentation, and it was stupendous -- got a huge extended standing ovation. In addition to the aforementioned, there were several characters from the RPH crew in attendance. The campground had beautiful views and the campus (Williams College) is pretty swanky too. Campus food not so much but fortunately we only ate one campus meal. Merry and I checked out the Clark Art Institute as well, it's about a half-mile walk from campus. Link to Chris' film ---

      thelongstarttothejourney.com/

      Chris thru-hiked in 2013, goaded and supported by his bride-to-be (Sunshine) who had 2 thru-hikes to her credit already. The story and cinematography are both superb.

      My photo from Baldpate summit won the AT category, but after watching Chris' film I felt duly humbled.


      didn't you have the only entry?

      i agree. this movie is hands down the best ive yet seen about the trail. it has a good dose of history along with trail culture, and a heartwarming personal story that develops on its own as frost makes his way north.frost and sunshine are two great kids.
      and what a venue to display it, among one of the warmest trail families in the world. it was great to meet you and merry,rafe.hope to see you out on the trail -jmt?
      its all good

    • this was a wonderful trip for me. i got to the campsite wednesday,planning to leave my car there, and take a bus from williamstown to dalton and hike from dalton back.i met chuck norris and tim from rph cabin who were at the site early to start setting up, chuck asked me how id get to williamstown(i had no idea how far it was )i told him id walk, but he offered to give me a lift. turned out it would have been a 7 mile road walk.
      i took the bus from no adams to gulf road, and had a mile road walk to the trail, and another 3 to crystal mtn campsite. i camped alone.the next day lou called and told me he was thinking of changing plans and going north ot avoid the rain forecast in the midatlantic. i hiked up to mark noepel shelter and set my tent up next to one of the platforms. a lady from quebec came down and asked if id mind if she set up her tent in the shelter. i told her she should ask someone else.
      the next morning i tried to figure out how to get back to the campsite, as the trail crossing was a good 7 miles away. i turned on my phone to check for messages.it rings and its coach lou. "where are you?' i told him where i was, and he said "I'll meet you at mt greaylock . i should be there in an hour." a few hours later i met lou coming down the hill and my ride problem was solved.the trail always provides.
      its all good

    • friday night was the opening ceremonies, and recognition was given to everyone in attendance as a member of the family.there was a photo montage showing highlights of a memorial hike for zach "shady"adamson, a former army ranger who i had hiked with last year, and had taken his own life in january.
      i met rafe and merry,from tos, i ran into rickb, cookerhiker(bought his book,too)so far, i can tell you the table of contents is very,very well written.give you an idea of some of the company we kept, in the annual group photo, ive got bob peoples on my right coach lou on my left, and awol and heartfire in front of us.baltimore jack, miss janet, billy goat (who's hiked 40000 at miles)
      we went to a seminar on the jmt saturday morning which was pretty cool. its on the to do list, but we'll see.in the afternoon we had promised to heckle baltimore jack, who was doing a seminar for people planning to hike the at. turned out he did a great job, and we didnt need to tell him he was doing it wrong.
      saturday night before the movie, miss janet was given a check for $10000 donated anonymously through aldha.
      aldha is a wonderful family of kind loving people-trail people. i encourage you all to join.
      i will definitely be attending more gatherings
      its all good

    • The gathering was great.I wish we had more time to connect, but it was great to see Hikerboy and Rafe for the first time if only for a few minutes. They looked just like their posts!

      Seriously, I had wanted to introduce myself to Rafe because he seems semi-normal and lives in my neck of he woods, but I had no idea of what he looked like. I had not seen his name tag, so tried to find his image on "another site" but like me he left little photograph evidence of his existence. My wife grabbed my ipad and within seconds found this website with his image holding wine in one hand and beer in the other. He was made. And as a definite bonus, standing right next to Hikerboy.
      :thumbsup:

    • rickb wrote:

      The gathering was great.I wish we had more time to connect, but it was great to see Hikerboy and Rafe for the first time if only for a few minutes. They looked just like their posts!

      Seriously, I had wanted to introduce myself to Rafe because he seems semi-normal and lives in my neck of he woods, but I had no idea of what he looked like. I had not seen his name tag, so tried to find his image on "another site" but like me he left little photograph evidence of his existence. My wife grabbed my ipad and within seconds found this website with his image holding wine in one hand and beer in the other. He was made. And as a definite bonus, standing right next to Hikerboy.
      :thumbsup:

      stalker.
      great to meet you rick.
      its all good

    • Good stuff. Very good stuff. Love hearing stories like this.
      Welcome rickb. I see you on TOS all the time.
      Glad you found your way here and hope you can give us
      some of your input from time to time.
      Changes Daily→ ♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫ ♪♫♪♫♪♫ ← Don't blame me. It's That Lonesome Guitar.

    • Semi normal, eh? I guess I'll take that as a compliment.

      It was good to finally meet you Rick, even if the timing wasn't the best. You had mentioned something about sneaking up on me, and made good on that for sure. I was on a short leash this weekend, being there with my non-hiker wife. It clearly wasn't as much fun for her as it was for me (except for the contra dancing, where the roles were reversed.)

      PS to Hikerboy my photo was not the only entry! But it probably was the most "iconic" of the AT pix. Several of the others had much more vivid color (beautiful foliage) but the images were not as closely identifiable with the AT specifically.

      I met Chris Gallaway as we walked to our car for the last time on Sunday. I gave him the print that I had entered. He seemed to appreciate it -- it tied in, in a personal way with the story in the film.

    • rickb wrote:

      The gathering was great.I wish we had more time to connect, but it was great to see Hikerboy and Rafe for the first time if only for a few minutes. They looked just like their posts!

      Seriously, I had wanted to introduce myself to Rafe because he seems semi-normal and lives in my neck of he woods, but I had no idea of what he looked like. I had not seen his name tag, so tried to find his image on "another site" but like me he left little photograph evidence of his existence. My wife grabbed my ipad and within seconds found this website with his image holding wine in one hand and beer in the other. He was made. And as a definite bonus, standing right next to Hikerboy.
      :thumbsup:


      I will take it "semi-normal" is a good thing. :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

    • As most of you know, I repair Auto Collision, and Hikerboy sells you a new auto.....after that moose steps in front of you coming down off the gap, and our guys can't get you straight.....Andy got it.

      So you would imagine that we both have the eye for Autos. We did most of our parking in the school garage.

      Who would like to guess which make of automobile was numero uno. The most by far in the lot... covered with hiker stickers and peace signs. For extra credit guess that vehicles color?! :thumbsup:
      Cheesecake> Ramen :thumbsup:

    • I almost bought a WRX some years back but for some reason ended up with a Maxima, saw on the news a few days ago that the most ticketed auto is the WRX...I'm ready for my second childhood and seriously thinking of getting one again, even my wife loved it, blink your eyes and you've gone 0 to 60.
      I may grow old but I'll never grow up.

    • Drybones wrote:

      I almost bought a WRX some years back but for some reason ended up with a Maxima, saw on the news a few days ago that the most ticketed auto is the WRX...I'm ready for my second childhood and seriously thinking of getting one again, even my wife loved it, blink your eyes and you've gone 0 to 60.


      Brite Blue or White Pearl STI is what you are lookin' for :thumbup:
      Cheesecake> Ramen :thumbsup:

    • rafe wrote:

      AnotherKevin wrote:

      rafe wrote:

      Boobaroo! Green of course.


      Is it ok that I have a Blue-baroo? After I picked the car, it seemed only fair to let my wife pick the colour.


      I believe Coach Lou is "the decider" on this matter. :)


      Rafe... I saw one of your models, I saw one '00ish' green Legacy wagon. 1 green '98' style. 3 my years that had my color, Bill Cook had one. I saw four, Ovs vintage and color ...2 were from Connecticut. I did not count how many Cross-Treks, but they were the next most popular Sub in attendance.
      Cheesecake> Ramen :thumbsup:

    • CoachLou wrote:

      rafe wrote:

      AnotherKevin wrote:

      rafe wrote:

      Boobaroo! Green of course.


      Is it ok that I have a Blue-baroo? After I picked the car, it seemed only fair to let my wife pick the colour.


      I believe Coach Lou is "the decider" on this matter. :)


      Rafe... I saw one of your models, I saw one '00ish' green Legacy wagon. 1 green '98' style. 3 my years that had my color, Bill Cook had one. I saw four, Ovs vintage and color ...2 were from Connecticut. I did not count how many Cross-Treks, but they were the next most popular Sub in attendance.


      I wasn't really taking a tally at Williamstown, but If I were to tally the brands of cars that have picked me up while hitching to/from towns along the AT, Subarus would probably be near the top of the list.

      Liking my CR-V so far, but it will have to do a lot of miles and years yet before it tops the Boobaroo. It's really quite similar, but a lot more posh... sunroof, automatic transmission, MP3 player, Bluetooth, and a miles-per-gallon indicator to keep me frustrated.

    • rafe wrote:

      CoachLou wrote:

      rafe wrote:

      AnotherKevin wrote:

      rafe wrote:

      Boobaroo! Green of course.


      Is it ok that I have a Blue-baroo? After I picked the car, it seemed only fair to let my wife pick the colour.


      I believe Coach Lou is "the decider" on this matter. :)


      Rafe... I saw one of your models, I saw one '00ish' green Legacy wagon. 1 green '98' style. 3 my years that had my color, Bill Cook had one. I saw four, Ovs vintage and color ...2 were from Connecticut. I did not count how many Cross-Treks, but they were the next most popular Sub in attendance.


      I wasn't really taking a tally at Williamstown, but If I were to tally the brands of cars that have picked me up while hitching to/from towns along the AT, Subarus would probably be near the top of the list.

      Liking my CR-V so far, but it will have to do a lot of miles and years yet before it tops the Boobaroo. It's really quite similar, but a lot more posh... sunroof, automatic transmission, MP3 player, Bluetooth, and a miles-per-gallon indicator to keep me frustrated.


      My accord has four wheels and some seats
      Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.
      Dr. Seuss Cof123

    • If my experience is normal for Subaru it's amazing that the other brands sell any vehicles.
      I've got enough miles on my '02 Forrester that I could have driven to the moon and been a good way back to earth, all without any real problems or unreasonable maintenance.
      I know, now you've got to look up how far it is to the moon :D