Hiking the AT with a tuba.

“No, I not going to attempt it. But someone else has done it. His journal and photos are posted here:
http://lemming.uvm.edu/~dtepper/crazyhikers/index.html”

“What an idiot!”

“And all this time I thought that there was no one dumber then _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (fill in the blank with your lest favorite TTer).”

“That'd be "dumber thAn"...

Maybe a tuba toothpaste, but I usually just bring a brush....and even use it a few times.”

“One of my favorite experiences of the 2-week trek to Utah and many national parks last fall was this one at Colorado N'tl Monument near Grand Junction.

There was a group of kids on one of those paid expeditions, ya know, about 20 pup tents, four counselors making food for breakfast and rounding them up, the requisite white vans, etc......

In the women's restroom, a couple of the girls were talking. British accent. I don't know where their wilderness trek was gonna take them, but I about fell over when one got out an electric toothbrush. AN ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH!!! God forbid you have to brush your teeth the old-fashioned way on your "wilderness" expedition!!!!!! >8-O”

“I had a friend who carried a banjo on a BPing trip to Isle Royale. In a case. He was a healthy, strapping fellow, but he did allow as how it might have been an easier hike without it. I'm just glad I wasn't there for the banjo music around the campstove, because you know if he carried it, he had to play it, too.”

“LOL, walkindude.

Can you imagine the range of reactions that guy got while on the trail? "You idiot! What are you carrying that tuba for?! " LOL.

His trail name should have been Willy Wonka.”

“This trail ain't big enough for the tuba of us.”

“This guy is a real sweetheart. I talked to him several times. he is a concert tuba player and did it to bring awarness to the arts. he played wonderful music to the backpackers in the shelters at night and sometimes played while hiking. He finds the joy of music and the joy of nature go together very well and if you could play like this guy you would play out there too.”

“Some folks here are quick to judge. Hike your own hike! Thanks MOM for sharing this guys motivations.”

“I just cannot understand music resounding from a solo tuba being classified as "wonderful music." ...even if it is being played by a concert tuba player.

It's nice that he had a cause. I still think he's gotta be a couple of fries short of a Happy Meal, even if he is a "real sweetheart."

This might have made more sense with a lighter weight instrument...like a piccolo.”

“Oh. I confused this with the 'passing gas' thread.”

“I think if you were a musician you'd understand his motivation. True devotion to your art wouldn't allow you to go so long without practicing. He just did what he had to do to keep his skills up.

His pack weight with tuba was 70lbs, but he ran into a hiker carrying 110lbs of gear. He also met a male hiker wearing a skirt. I don't think you can make judgements on intelligence or sanity based on pack weight. Sure, it would have been a lot easier without his horn. Bottom line is that he completed it...which is more than most of us can say.”

“Tuba can be very beautiful. They don't always just play the bass line.”

“I wonder what REPTILES would do if he was runnin down the trail and discovered "tuba hiker" in his path??? LOL”

“by the way hes doing the ADT next with his tuba.”

“which one's the ADT?”

“American Discovery Trail
It runs Coast to Coast. About 5000 miles.

I still say the guy's an idiot. I used to play the guitar but I never took one BPing.”

“Maybe he stuff`s his groceries in it.????”

“I could almost understand carrying a guitar walkindude, you can at least enjoy that when it is played alone, but a tuba?”

“Are you inferring, you don't enjoy umapapa----umpapa,.?????”

“is that the name of a song or the sound?”

“You know what's the best sound a tuba makes?





The Sound of it bouncing off the occordian and the banjo when you throw it in the dumpster.”

“8D”

“What's the definiton of "perfect pitch?"
Throwing a tuba into a dumpster without hitting the rim.”

“I have seen, with my own eyes, a guy that hiked the West Coast Trail with a set of bagpipes- naturally, he broke them..duh”

“I don't want to even think about backpacking with low brass. My trombone is awkward enough in day to day life. on the other hand if the guy is that good. Low brass can be quiet sonorous(sp?) in the proper hands. Anybody out there carrying instruments on the trail? Any ideas about what to carry (recorder, flute, etc.)? I wonder if I still have that litte clay (Peruvian?) flute...”

“There's a short blurb on "The Tuba Man" in this month's Appalachian Trailway News.

Says he just completed a masters degree in music and didn't want to give up six months practice while he thru-hiked the AT so he strapped this 30 pound instrument to his pack. He didn't think it was a big deal as he'd already run the Boston Marathon with it!

He credits it with possibly saving his life when he pitched over backwards and instead of cracking his noggin on the rocks he only dented 'Charisma'.

Up next: mandatory helmet laws for hikers.”

“Is it true what they say about tuba players? Did he have a real tuba or one of those goofy plastic Sousaphones which are really just big kazoos? Why can't I spell it "kazooz"? Why do Pez, Orbitz, and Zima have a "z" but not
Mentos? If you put them in the oven do you get Mentoast? If you put a tuba on it do you get a tuba melt? When Martin Landau flew the crop-duster past Mike Jittlov, did Alfred Hitchock really have a cameo as "Man doing a bad
impression of Alfred Hitchcock"? How did Allen Funt manage to film "What Do You Say To A Naked Lady?" because the opening titles said "Nobody who was wearing clothes was aware they were being filmed." and he was wearing
clothes! Did Allen Funt ever get nude? If he had, would civilization have collapsed? If David L. Hewitt was responsible for one of my favorite scenes
in WOSAT, does this mean Mike Jittlov made Robert Vaughn stumble during that scene in "The Lucifer Complex"? I do talk about golf games I played in the forties before those damn beatniks took over the government and stopped issuing ration books which were the only thing that kept this country whole lousy bastards someone should smack them but nobody listens to me because of my surgery! In MY day when someone had surgery everyone wanted to see but today they just run away and won't even ask why the jar's so big. Bacon was ten cents a ton and your teeth got pulled out every day! Eisenhower had a dog, Alexander the great had a dog, but they won't let ME have a dog because of the urine! I don't mind urine! And my sense of smell is
just as good as yours young man and my hearing may not be so good but at least I listen instead of just droning on and on about things! The whole world's going to hell and nobody cares but me! I'm not done, don't wheel me back in yet! I can't zip this thing any more. Where's my hat? No more bacon!”

“I'm Fudgy The Whale! Love me! I am Fudgy The Whale and I am here to
invent the light bulb! I don't like cheese! Mr. Wizard thinks he's so smart, but I'm Fudgy The Whale! I own Schenectady! Gondola! Nougat!
Wheeeeeeee!”