Mom got to talk to Dad for a little while today, and was so thrilled to hear his voice. He shared some good stories and comments with her, and here she is sharing them with you.
First of all he said, "can you believe this weather?" the storms have been so bad with thunder and lightning. He woke up on Saturday to lightning and thunder all around him and he thought, "well are you going or not?" and off he went in the wild weather. That night he got to a shelter and stayed there with 13 other people...they are not big shelters, but they all squeezed in to escape the rain. Sunday he walked in the pouring down rain all day and camped with Hawkers and Whitewater that evening. They gave him some tips on setting up his stuff, but he was still worried about how they would pack it all up in the rain without it being soaked through. Luckily it stopped raining in the AM, and this is where one of his possible trail name "The Tent Whisperer" came from. When he realized the rain had stopped, he walked to their tents and whispered, "are you awake? Are you awake?" haha.
He camped in a tent two nights in a row in the rain. He walked 9 miles on Monday, 3/28. He got to a campsite full of boyscouts on Tuesday night (3/29), and decided to call the hostel to see if they had room. His phone service wasn't working, so he borrowed a phone from one of the scouts and the hostel needed to call back to confirm room. He didn't know the number, so he just said "forget it", and camped with the boy scouts, who kept him up half the night.
Tonight he's at the place where the guy goes through your pack to help lighten your load. He sent home 8lbs of gear, including his soap and shaving gear...looks like we'll see a beard afterall. The first casualty of the trip were his walking sticks, they broke (what?), so he bought new ones, because he said he couldn't do it without them.
The other trail name being tossed around is "George of the Jungle". This is the nickname given to him by a guy writing a journal on his trail experience, which he is calling "Gorillas in the Mist".
Overall he is very happy, even in the pouring rain, and has met some great people along the way so far. Its everything he thought it would be and more. its supposed to rain the next three days, and then they'll get a break to dry out.
"Can you hear me now..??" What's up with UR's phone service, and what provider did the boy scout have? I just realized with this post that rain is not only inconvenient, but how do you dry out your gear before repacking it so it's not heavier? I'm looking forward to some dry weather for our UR. I just read about Earl Shaffer, who was the first "through hiker" in 1948, made a second hike the other way in 1965, and did a 50th anniversary hike at age 79 in 1998. You're putting our family on the map, Uncle Rog, and we're so proud of you!
ReplyDelete