CHARACTER

Hi all this is post #10 and we have reached New York State which means New England is around the corner! Well at least for one of us and maybe with some luck both.

Wanna go to Oz but Kayak can't get you there? Just go hike the AT instead. While there you can be like Dorothy (or me too for that matter) moaning for home while having the time of your life. This hike has been a whole lof of fun. I have never eaten as many hamburgers, and pie slices as have these past 3 months.
Thankfully the same can be said for the number of pints have downed.

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 Those aspects make up somewhat for what have not been doing which is better off kept unsaid.

The scenery has been fab, and the people have met along the way super colorful. How could they not be with trail names like Rocky Racoon, Calamity, Which Way, A-Train, Emerald, Frog Monkey, Chain Saw, Raven Cloud, Blitz, AppleJacks, Bearbait, Roadrunner, Bartender, New Hampshire, A--hole, Grasshopper, Napolean, H2o, Mowagli,Wicked Wahine, Grease, and Lead Dog. They and so many other fascinating people have met along the way have added greatly to the enjoyment of the hike. There are pictures of several of them but cannot upload till find a tab or pc with a port.Will do so by the end of football season  promise!

The most memorable character that have met of all though am glad to report have buku pictures of. That would be the one and only my bro Papa Paul. One night at a campsite in Shennadoah chatted at length with an attorney and finance consultant from Maryland. After awhile lawyer Andy noted to me that Paul and I are so different from each other and asked if we get along. He was right about us being different of course. Although with the recent addition of facial hair and long term lack of such on the head we now look more similar than ever.

Since March 11 when arrived on the continent till now Paul and I have been together stride by stride 24/7. We shared a bed in a hostel but he drew the line much to my chagrin (as it meant another nite on the floor) at his son's home! Looking forward to the future when can kick him out of the bed!

This trip has afforded the opportunity for each of us to learn much about what the other had been doing the past 40 years and to learn about the persons we have become. It has deepened the respect, admiration, and love I feel for my brother Paul. He is just one great awesome individual. (oldest brother John feel the same about you but hey we lived practically next door to each other for like 30 years therefore no need for us to hike months on end!). So, to answer Andy's question, yes we get along, and except for minor skirmishes while growing up always have, and always will. Okay will leave it there as Betty may get ticked off if I make this post more mushy than the one did about her!

What follows are some pictures from the mid atlantic area stealing from Paul's blogsite. You can view more by going to www.papapaul.net. There is one shot though of a character met off the trail in NYC. Don't know who the bum is next to her though.

LOST

Hi everybody! Thanks for the encouragement and support as we continue on our journey of hiking the Appalachian Trail. This is post #9. Brother Paul and I are moving along and soon will be in New Jersey! At this time am about half way to Maine and on target to get home in the not too distant future!

Half the time I don't know where I am, and the other half is spent searching for temporarily misplaced or gone forever items. Those facts made the title of this post inevitable!

Lost is one of my all time favorite words. It is associated with feelings and moments of excitement, anxiety, joy, relief. Hey it's awesome to find your electronic car keys a mile from home along the roadside! Wish could say the same for watches, wedding rings, tent poles, and countless other stuff that has somehow disappeared.

Hiking the Appalachian Trail is quite similar to being a character on Lost the TV show. Can really identify with them as they did not what was going on most all of the time and often walked around from one point of the island to another without getting anywhere. Most days out here I have no idea where going and we also go in circles. It is easy to get off trail and end up where started a hour earlier. When the weather was cold could blame the snow for missing the white blazes but now guess have to look at whom was in the lead when get off track. Will need to get the eyes checked when return home and in the meantime stay in the rear!

The losties had to deal with time travel and space issues. Although we aren't breaking any natural laws at times there is so much variation you could almost picture yourself in a different era. One night may be a campsite seemingly in the middle of nowhere and the next by a railroad track at freight train central crossroads USA. You could hear those whistles blowing all night long for sure. The fab lost characters developed special skills as the series went on. Although we are not able to save the universe as they did we are getting pretty darn good at tick removal, duck calling, and stream fording.

Lost was filmed mostly on the windward side and the north shore of O`ahu. Our home is near Kualoa (brother John was the first director at Kualoa regional park years ago) where most of the windward shooting took place.

Mokuleia was often the scene for shooting on the north shore and is where Ho`opono has its annual camp.

Special places and stupendous scenery all around both locations. The Appalachian Trail also has much beauty. At times the vista views go on for ever. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes I think that this journey may end in similar fashion to how the TV show did with all of the people have met along the way gathering in one spot. Instead of going up to bright light in the sky though we all board a plane heading to that slice of heaven on earth known as Ahuimanu valley. Hallelujah! Gonna change the homestead into a hostel and charge fellow travelers exorbitant resort rates!

MAGIC

Hi all, this is post #8 about brother Paul and I as we hike the Appalachian Trail. Thanks much for your encouragement and support. Very soon we will be in Maryland!

A lot of great stuff has happened since started this hike. We have been the recipients of what is known out here as trail magic! The people that supply such are often referred to as trail angels. A couple of them picked us up when we were facing a 6 mile walk to resupply in freezing weather. Another fed us all the hot dogs we could eat after a hard days hike, plus dinner and the next mornings breakfast (thanks legendary angel fresh ground)!

The natural world has also supplied us with numerous magical moments. Wildlife, waterfalls. summit and ridge line views have been just awesome. If magic can be defined as the impossible becoming possible then would have to say that the fact we have made it this far is also magical. There is no way that two months ago when we started out from Damascus that thought would make it out of Virginia. We are though, and for that I am extremely thankful. I don't know how long will be able to keep going but I do know that this has been a heck of a journey and am glad to be here. The goal remains to get to Maine, however in so many ways the trek has already surpassed my hopes and dreams.

I believe that there is much magic to be found all over the world not just in natural surroundings but also from individuals as well as services and programs delivered from organizations. one of the purposes of this hike is to try and raise some funds for two such agencies, Easter Seals of Wisconsin's camp Wawbeek, and Hawaii's non profit attached to its' Services for the Blind program known as the Friends of Ho`opono. Originally as the first posts indicate I did not plan to hike for any charity. Fellow camp counselors from Wisconsin though encouraged me to hike for Camp Wawbeek where I worked a couple of summers. The time spent there was trans formative. After agreeing to do that then decided that it made sense to also try and help out the Friends. After all a huge chunk of my being still remains at Ho`opono. If interested you can read more about these two organizations at the blog sites set up several months ago. They can be found at www.wawbeekaloha.blogspot.com and www.friendsofhoopono.blogspot.com.  There is a short video clip attached to each but you may want to have earplugs handy.

Alright photos follow below. They include deer, bear, birds, waterfalls, and cover highlights of the past few weeks such as scrambling up spy rock, and walking on a stony man. The one of my praying in front of the priest wilderness sign was taken after the tremendous rainfall that hit the south a couple of weeks ago. For some dumb reason I had put up my tent the day before during a slight lull and was one wet camper by the time we got off that mountain! Physical health is a okay and am 90% recovered from a recent chigger army body invasion! Okay next blog should be in early June. By then thinking we may be about done with Pennsylvania!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rocks

Hi all. Thanks for continued reading and comments. This is the seventh post. Nothing lost (except us) last couple of legs! No head bumps!! Did get two tent poles busted on two different tents though. Latest was fixable in the field so all is golden. We are moving along and not too long from now will reach Northern Virginia!

The Appalachian mountains are approximately 500 million years old which makes them like sort of ancient! At one time they were as high or higher than the Rockies but over time have not kept up and are now much shorter than their western cousins. They are however extremely large in volume as shrinking made their belt expand. That translates into making certain climbs up to ridge lines and gaps (passes) quite difficult. The trails are not able to go straight up due to their waist belt expansion. There are usually several ravines and/or gullies one has to go up and down before reaching a clearing.

As a result if the high point of the day is 1300 feet higher then where starting from, before one gets to that spot can pretty much count on having to climb at least 2600 feet or more.

As noted the rocks out here are old. As many of them have found their way to the trail it is kinda fun to think of the impact they have had over the years while one is stepping on them. For sure they have caused billions of blisters, sprained ankles, and sore feet. There must be positive impact as well, such as the result of people deciding to stop hiking and therefore lessening the footprint on the aina. Maybe they helped contribute to the rise and fall of the age of dinosaurs. Whatever, at least they provides lots of photo opps.

We have had some smoking days since the snow storm issue. Largest mileage in one day now stands at 18. That was due to my missing the signage for a shelter. By the time realized the mistake we had gone up a 2000 foot side hall and were not about to come down. Got lost a couple of times that day too as it got late and dark on us.

Met some awesome hikers. Most are quite a bit younger but a few are our age, and better yet not all are men with big beards.

Got a few days off here and there for r and r. Now have a new fav southern restaurant chain known as Cookout! Can get a fancy shake there for $1! Also made friends with patriot Sam Adams!

 

Alright that is all for now. Have plenty to write about later. Will continue to ponder the difference rocks make for the trail. They seem to me to be much like us humans. In other words all over the map. Some are helpful, some not, some beautiful, some well lets say would not take all the rocks come across home to Mama. Some make their mark on the world and others seem inconsequential. Am striving to move myself up towards the side that matters on the rock scale! At the end here are some pictures of the trail. Thanks everybody for your well wishes and thoughts. Have a great spring!

 

 

 

She

Hello again! Here is the sixth post! We have finally made it out of the southwest Virginia highlands and are now in the Central Virginia region. May not sound like much but please keep in mind that one third of the distance from Damascus where we started to the end at Maine's Katahdin lies in Virginia! This latest leg found us hiking 17 miles on the first day thanks to my ability to get lost. We were out on this occasion a total of 9 days (which makes over 20 trail days total so far) and now back at smith mountain lake for a couple of zeros before heading back out on 4/16. Glad to report that all lost this time was another stocking hat and a backpack cover. More good news is no head bangs from privies but did scrap the noggin several times at the shelters and a bunkhouse hostel. Super glad to report that there were only two freezing days this round and that the weather has finally warmed up! Here is a photo on top of war spur lookout

At some point will post more later about the latest segment, with pictures and stories about some of the awesome people we met but for now going to report on progress toward meeting one of my main goals for doing the trek. That was to deepen my appreciation for Hawai`i, Ohana, and in particular the one and only, my taitai, Shui yu Betty Lee.

Betty and I first met in April 1978 at the municipal Taipei airport. My former roommate during grad school days at Greeley Colorado, Chaiyutha Lertpachin, had arranged for her and others to show me around the Taiwan capital and country side. Chai had a few years earlier married Betty's roommate from her days at Tamsui's Christ College. There I stood outside the baggage claim area wearing the same sort of footwear and clothes wore to work in those days, open toe sandals and a cotton shirt patterned with elephants. Betty, being a sales representative and English interpreter for a Taiwanese plastics company was not impressed. We did however get along and when got back home started corresponding. That July she came to America on a three month business visa with a mission to try and drum up some North American business for her company. The firm already had a foothold in Australia and wanted to expand to other English language markets. Not long after she arrived in New York City I called and told her about a good friends wedding coming up on September 2 and invited to come on over to Honolulu for that event.

She arrived a few days before Guy and Lynn's ceremony. I met her at the gate for the 1 am arrival. She was smiling, happy and looked as gorgeous then as she does now.

Over the next several days we went to the wedding plus snorkeling,UH football, movies, and camping with the church group at Kualoa regional park. The campout took place during her last weekend in town. I had a plan to take her to the top of Mokoli`i (Chinaman's Hat) and propose.

We paddled out there and climbed to the top but I couldn't get the words out. Was worried she might get mad and push me off the cliff. That afternoon stopped at my brother's house. In this picture she is thinking something like "this bozo has about 12 hours to get it done or will be out of his life forever." I am thinking "gonna get down on my knees begging her please."

That evening we went to the lagoons at the Kahala Hilton. Time was running out as the next morning she was returning to the mainland to finish up her work and then back to Taiwan. Did get down on those knees and thankfully she knew what was coming so no begging necessary. Subsequent conversation settled the number of kids (3) and laid a plan for her to finish up the work she had to do and return to the islands by the end of September prior to  visa expiration.

The next two weeks waiting for her to come back were the longest of my life. As it turned out there was plenty to worry about whether she would return or not. Pressure to not go through with getting married came from all sides, family, business, and friends. Return she did though. By that time had figured out that if we did not get married while she was still in America chances were we would not get married at all. The arrangements fell on me. Even though there were only 8 people present it was still quite a bit of work! Brother John served as photographer and poem reader"soar deep into your love of life".

Sister in law Diana got the flowers and Parker UMC's Reverend Rhodes Martin said he would be thrilled to officiate. October 1, 1978 was world communion Sunday and he saw our union as the joining of east and west. Besides my brother John and Diana, only nephew Jeremiah, plus friends Ken, Clyde and Kay were there.

I had told many others we would have a reception and party at a later date. That turned out to be true, just is such occurred in Taiwan and not Honolulu.

My mother in law once knew that the deed was done started sending daily multi page letters to Betty. They consisted of what and what nots. After she became convinced that her daughter would not get hapai soon and that the marriage was valid she slowed down on the letter writing and eventually stopped altogether. Mother Lee then started planning a ceremony to be held in Taiwan a year and a half later. It was a grand affair, with a 300 plus guest list. Due to a marital law decree cracking down on wedding parties just a few weeks prior dim sum was served during instead of after the hour long minute ceremony. Servers walked up and down the aisles passing and collecting trays of tea and snacks such as bbq pork buns, shrimp spring rolls, turnip cake, and egg custard tarts. While everyone was eating various people gave speeches with the two of us standing at the front of the stage. I did not understand a word. We exited the hall through a wall of firecrackers and smoke. A small banquet followed for a select few with the traditional dishes, and endless toasting. My cheeks hurt for days afterwards from all the smiling.

Time moved on, we made a life with each other and for our three now adult children. Each have their own unique personalities, vocations, and gifts. I wouldn't trade them nor the past 36 years for the world. Many people have asked where does Betty stand on the going away for half a year bit. Some have made comments that indicate their disbelief she would allow such to occur. The truth is Betty has been very supportive. She really did forget that the hike was to be this long until a few months prior but once that was understood was okay. Did not ever expect her to be jumping up and down. After all, our marriage vows did not state that you are to be very happy when your husband decides decades from now to voluntarily leave you for 6 months to go spend a boatload of money ro walk in the woods with his brother. Originally had planned for her to come out around the half way point for a few days but due to circumstances that does not look like will happen. So, now it is 5 weeks since left home and we have been away from each other longer than have ever been.

The hardest part of hiking the Appalachian Trail is the mental toughness it takes to get through. There are physical challenges plenty and several have faced already such as muscle strains, bone spurs, freezing cold, rain, poison ivy, infections, hard climbs, and missed trail signs. Thanks to proper gear, and supplements such as garlinase (mahalo army buddy, top medic first class C Montoya) have got through listed ailments and think can deal with those yet to come. There is not a pill though that am aware of to make it easier to deal with being away from home this long. When planning the hike did not think 5 or 6 months would be a problem. When consider that this year is already 4 months old and that 4 months from now will be done or close to it makes me think what is the big deal. That line of reasoning however does not take into account when one wakes up in the middle of the night alone in a shelter with the full moon shining bright, or having no one to make some sort of herbal concoction to improve whatever is hurting, or a thousand other things.

I miss Hawai`i, the children, our home, but most of all I miss my wife. The goal to deepen appreciation for her has been met a hundred times over already.

Am trying to figure out just what takes the greater mental toughness. Sticking it out so can be with my brother on this quest or possessing enough resiliency to go home and not regret missing out on the rest of this once in a lifetime hike and its moments of solitude, peace, and pure joy. If do leave early it will be due to the need that have to get back to the side of she to whom I belong. If continue on the next 4 or 5 months will be due to the fact that besides being stupid am confident that when get home to Betty she will be supportive of the choice I made. As one friend said 'she must be a saint." As far as I am concerned that such is true there is no doubt.