PA - a - loser

“dom - dom - dooooommmmm

Due to car truobles halfway up to the trail - stinkin' rotten gay blue - Corp' and I are not going to be able to do this trip


So enjoy it for us - have fun - hopefully we'll get to backpack one of these years.... :( :( :(
:(”

“Sorry to hear that Twinkle Toes! It isn't Friday the 13th for nothing I guess. I can't say much good about this day.

Give the car another chance tomorrow morning, maybe it will be miraculously better?”

“Snafu left at 7:00 your time and was going to meet everyone.

His 1st TT trip. He was so excited.

Will there be anyone there to meet him?

I guess we'll hear the trip report.

lol”

“Ding dong, Gay Blue is dead.”

“Reminds me of my busted trip to Mt. Rogers a coupla years ago. One day before lift-off the transmission fell outta the Exploder. $1200 later, it was feelin' FINE.”

“I guess hitting that delete button wasnt as premature as it appeared to be....”

“Snafu made it...I escorted him into camp so he wouldn't wander around through the woods in the dark. He got to camp and started singing praises for this dude he called Binks....started waving the water bottle for everyone to see while everyone stood in a circle and drooled over his pack.

Bummer about the car Twinks!!! I waited till 1:30am but you guys weren't there yet so I left...so they had me hang a glowstick at the trail for you. How far did you guys get before the car broke down?

I learned that backpackers are backpackers because armcarriers just doesn't work for too long..especially when you are carrying a cooler of beer with one arm. I think one arm is longer than the other now!”

“Time for you to get a cooler on wheels or rig a frame pack to carry it properly.”

“lol..I don't carry beer in that often.

This was a special occassion and I only brought in enough for 1 beer per person.

I had 2 beers left over.... :-(”

“I had the oil pump in my truck go out on the way to the trailhead on my first backpacking trip. $900 later, it was running again, lol...

I borrowed a car and still made the trip.”

“Saw that bail coming long before she announced it!”

“Well that stinks.

All of my car problems on trips have been on Boy Scout trips. When you have a car load of fellas you'll walk on water before you let them down. Luckily I can handle most auto ailments myself. We've left late a few times but we have always managed to get out.

(knock on wood)”

“LyndsyS - hope your daughter gets well soon from the Strep

Adventurist - we got halfway there before the car started to make the really nasty engine knocking noise. I left meassages on both Ice Tea's and Pennsy's phones (thanks Artex for the numbers!).

To the guys on the trip - again I am so sorry that the unexpected happened :(

Well, on to figuring out the rest of the weekend! I spent the morning bawling like a baby about this - now back to the pursuit of happiness. :)”

“Adventurist, what are left over beers? I've never encountered them.”

“There will always be a next time. Don't beat yourself up over it.”

“Twinkle Toes, don't worry about the trip, you will have many more trips. It is too bad about the car because expensive car repairs are painful budget breakers. My daughter is better today, but she had to miss a couple of scouting events that she was looking forward to. Then today she went to a lake party with her grade, and fell in while trying to board the paddle boat. More tears and laments of "why is it always me?". She is not even a teenager yet, so I'm stocking up on margarita fixins' (for me not her) as it will be a long next few years.”

“lol...LyndyS. Sherry was my parents cure all for everything. I got a cough, they'd give me some. Upset stomach.....etc. Its a wonder Im not an alcoholic....well either that or Im still in denial.”

“If you order a sherry next time we have drinks, Dare, I will now know the history behind that!”

“D'nial is a river in Egypt.

I had leftover beers because I didn't have enough to give everyone another...”

“besides Twinks now you get to do my second most favorite thing.

Justified purchases

The words just roll off like they have been waiting for the chance

but honey I had to buy it, I had no other choice.”

“I'm home- just got twinks message. It was good anyway...”

“I got home around noon. Sorry to hear about the car troubles. Most of the gang stayed up until 2 A.M. the first night wondering what had happened. We had a blast and got hit with some serious rain Saturday afternoon. I got chewed up by black flies and mosquitoes, mostly mosquitoes at Butler Run. It was still fun despite the bugs.”

“Nice trip! Nice people! Nice Trail! Nice... I mean... Nasty bugs!

Twinkletoes: Sorry you and the Corp didn't make it.

Pinchot Pics are below (hope the link thingie works). The album crosses into a SECOND page, so don't miss any. Enjoy...

Pinchot Trail Pix

PS: I like Sherry ...she's cute! ;-)”

“Glad you guys had fun! It's a bit painful (I'm soooo jealous) to look at the pictures - WOW! - what a turn of of folks!

Anyway, I really really do want to go backpacking and meet you guys!”

“Pictures look great.

Sorry I didn't show today but I talked with AmyG and she told how far you guys got and it didn't seem to me like it was worth trying to catch up for half a day's hike.

Hope you all had a blast and hope to hike with you all soon.

Soooo Snafu how did your maiden voyage go?”

“ohmadawg, I'm lovin' that shirt Pennsy! ;D

It was great to see some familiar TT friends and always a pleasure to meet new ones too!

Snafu - I hope your first time was enjoyable. It was great to meet you...bring us some apples on the next gathering!

Musthike - thanks for the great tips on foil-pouch gourmet!

Nomad1 - It was fun to talk shop with ya (and to gross the others out a little too, I think)

Pennsy - always a pleasure to admire your gear. ;)

Gojo!!! I can't believe you drove all the way up for this. You rock...it was great to see you again. Miss ya already.

msilver - tell Sparky that PatchyG sends out a "woof" to her longtime penpal.

Hey Ice Tea, can you hear me now? ;p
- you are the prodigal son of TT. I realized after we parted ways on Saturday that we forgot to leave the loaner headnet with ya. D'oh!

Lthiker - remind me to keep you and Dare separated. Instigator! (you guys think alike in too many ways). Great to meet you...your reputation preceded you. heheh

jmitch - I had your book in the truck at the trailhead...merely a few feet away from being signed. arrgghh! next time...

RichB - nice to finally meet you. I can't wait to see your newest line of backpacking gear.

All I can say is thank you thank you thank you to Twinkles...for bringing together such a fabulous group of 11 TT men for me to hike with. your loss was certainly my gain
>:D
Seriously though, sorry to have missed you. It was a good time. We had 6 states represented, which is very cool.

Here are some pics (the first several are from the first time Dare and I hiked the Pinchot trail - South loop).

”

“oh suuuuure, Adventurist. Blame me, why don't ya? ;p

Sorry about the link...

Try this”

“Hey Twinks... your message came through on the way home today. I can never get cell service in that part of the state. Don't worry about not making the trip. We'll catch you on the next one.

No time for a long report tonight but it was a fun weekend, despite the nasty storm Sat afternoon. It was a great turnout (12 + 3 dogs at one point), and I enjoyed meeting 2 new people, Snafu and Nomad1. Great guys they are and I'm glad Snafu's first bp trip was a success.

Great pics Mister M and the captions were very entertaining. the pic with Gizmo rolling around the ground with Sarabelle and Sparky looking on is priceless. It;s too bad there was some guy showing his butt in the background. Sheesh!

You got some nice pics also Amyg, however I can't believe you have me labeled as Lthiker in the Loser Group shot. Sheesh2!

More stuff and pics tomorrow night.”

“Pennsy, Fritz says you won't go with me on the Wonderland trip because you are afraid to fly?????


SAY IT ISN'T SO BROTHER!!!!”

“M Silver, The tarp pic, LT is the owner of the tarp setup.”

“well, thank god that picture of the red elf wasn't of Dares..........

but now we know why the scowl was present!?!”

“Tea: Muchos gracias for noting the error. I corrected it. Sorry Rob, Rich.

AmyG: Great shots. Thanks for posting 'em. Was nice hiking with you and Dare again. Pax.”

“great pics amyG and M Silver. M Silver--the captions you gave are a hoot!!”

“Very nice pictures AmyG and Msilver. The forest looks so green from all the rain we had. My gear finally dried out after hanging up all day. That had to be the heaviest rain I've hiked in. Glad we were able to find a porch at a hunting cabin to hide under if only for a little while to lift our spirits during the deluge.”

“my gear is outside drying now. It will stay there until lunch time....”

“AWESOME! Glad to hear it was a smash hit! See you the next time!

ps - where is the trip report?”

“Glad you all had a good time, wish I coulda been there. Enjoyed the pics.

Especially disappointed I didn't get to see gojo...dude, I had no idea you were in the neighborhood!

snafu, we shall meet another day.

But Pennsy, uh.....oh, never mind.”

“Gojo is very verrrry sneaky! You never know where he might show up...

Pennsy!!! Sorry to have mislabeled you, honey bunches. I didn't recognize you without your satellite antenna.

So...where the heck was Lthiker when this picture was being taken?

Pete, you hush! Why, we were practically in your backyard, you no-show.
;p
;b

I second Twink's inquirie...where is the report? I want to especially hear about the conditions on the Southern loop! Where'd ya'll end up camping? etc.

get to it!
>:D”

“Awesome pics. The cloning sparky really cracked me up. He must have been drinking Sherry. Sorry you and the corp couldnt make it Twinkle. Next time though, pour some Sherry in the tank. It will take care of those engine knocks.”

“"gay blue" kinda like my car....”

“nah..that's more like peculiar pink.......”

“Had a Blast, My gardian hiker (adventurist) came to my aid when i was looking at the map in the parking lot. It was midnight and I was saying to myself, O man in in deep Sh-t!!!! Then Poooof !! Adventurist comes and save the day...He drove me over to the next road and we walked a short distance to the base camp!
Thanks ADV I owe ya beer!
Everyone was Great! I really had fun even thoug I bailed on the second day....
My Feet where sore. No blisters though, thanks to LThiker :-).
Only slightley sore muscles.
Gotta drop weight on the pack!
I'm dumping the tent and going to a hammock!
Sorry Twink wish ya made it :-(
Car tropubles suck, thats where a Pit Crew backpacker would of came in handy! hint hint
Kinda busy here at work today. I will finish up report later.....
Tim
PS
Nomad1 sez his 'puter is down and will report in the middle of the week.......He did say he had a great Time and can't wait to hike again....He and Amy where doing there version of GORE GALLERY on the trail..haha
PSS...Funniest part was when Pennsy Spit inside Buzz-off coat/head net....haha”

“Oh my God someone that spells worse than Ice Tea!

Glad you had a good timeSnafu! You don't know how lucky you were that you bailed when you did. We ended up hiking about 12 more miles after you all left.
Nomad1 and I were lead to beleive that it was always just a couple of more miles to camp. We would hike for an hour and I would ask, "So how much farther to camp." Pennsy's reply about 5 or 10 miles." Another hour, "So how much farther to camp." Pennsy's reply about 5 or 10 miles." Richb, "Oh not much farther we are almost there" Another hour, "So how much farther to camp." Pennsy's reply about 5 or 10 miles." Richb, "Oh not much farther we are almost there"
Well we finally made it to camp after hiking through a downpour at 7pm.
Man my legs were shot! We had hiked 18 miles on Saturday! I was never so glad to see Sparky looking at me when we came to the clearing. Seeing Sparky meant that Msilvers car was slose and a ride was availible for the quick trip back to my car on Sunday.
Nomad1 and I quickly accepted a morning ride back to the cars.
5 more miles, I've heard that one before!
Made my wife very happy thatI got home by 1pm to celebrate Fathers day with my son.
Hope to see you all on the next hike!”

“dittos”

“great time, great company, had a blast. met lots of new people, including gojo, snafu, amyg, nomad...not to mention 3 cool dogs, gizmo, sparky, and sarabelle. i think gizmo likes to hike even more than pennsy does!

amyg valiantly served as official trail babe.

this was snafu's first trip, and he did very well. we were all impressed with his fine choice of equipment, especially his backpack. pennsy was worried as his position as gear whore was threatened.

gojo popped up from georgia, it was a pleasure to meet him and his two hilarious dogs. hope you make it up this way again.

nomad is just that...he lives in DC area and moves around with his job. he cracked as all up with his stories of horrific hiking partners and threesomes.

we all got together fri night, the weather was warm and relatively bug free. we had a blast around the fire, drinking "beverages", telling stories, oggling at snafu's gear. we stayed up until 2 am for twinkle and corp, but they failed to show.

sat. morning we awoke to lots of friggin' bugs. amyg and dare showed up for their dayhike. we decided to do the north loop, with pleasant, easy trail through woodlands and mountain laurel, which was on the verge of blooming. there was a breeze and the bugs became less a problem.

we made a few stops, including scenic painter creek and the observation tower at big pine hill. the view was mostly hazed over and the t-storm rumbled to the east.

one cool wildlife encounter was when we came upon a fawn hiding in the brush. she bolted upon on arrival, with those big white spots all over her coat.

upon completing the north loop, i had to leave for other commitments; snafu and must hike came along w/ me back to the trailhead. we all said our goodbyes.

the rest continued onto the southern loop. i felt bad, because as i drove home, there was a nasty t-storm heading for their direction. i'm glad they found some shelter.

see y'all on the trail and thanks for your food!!”

“twinks and nasty- sorry you couldn't make it, hope to see you guys soon.”

“my official trail food review....

as the official trail mooch, i really enjoyed nomad's beef stew, ice tea's nachos and salsa (and starburst jellybeans!!), snafu's cheese and pepperoni. several gnats also visited my mouth.

however, i did not care for amyg's honey chex mix.

nomad's beef stew gets first place for this trip.

amyg...i hope you do better next time. but dare's snickers deserves an honorable mention.”

“jmitch, I think you might have just found a new trail name!”

“hummm jmooch ???”

“I think Ice tea put the Spelling Whammy on me when I was sleeping
in my tent :-).....

Changing Gears like a drag racer!

I dumped the Zoid 1 tent and the therma pad, TNF 30 degree bag, Primus stove & fuel can.

For: Henessey hammock, Marmot venture summer bag, Etowa Alchol Stove. Saved like 8-10 lbs easy !
My feet are thanking me already.

The way Amy G and Dare described the southern loop, I knew I was going to boogie after the first loop. Besides I had a date waiting at the "Grandview"...haha

I did make it back to Oswego speedway right at the begining of the first heat race @ 630pm.....
Great Day”