Paralympic Flashback

My post for August 6th in the White Mountains was titled More Of Same. Here's the whole post, reproduced for you:

Not much to note today really, except that I dodged two rainfalls by hanging out in huts where I met lots of nice families. Unfortunately, I left my map at the last one so I'm now mapless until Hanover.

That's it. I didn't get into any details, even though, in many ways, this was one of the most interesting days on the trail.

I think I was just too tired to get into details.

But today, a year and a half later, I'm going to fill one of those details in.

What I didn't mention is that one of the families I met and chatted with at length at one of the huts was Dannelle Umstead's. Her kids were wearing Australia green and gold caps, and when I asked about it they explained that it's because their mom travels a lot.

She travels a lot because she's a visually impaired Paralympic skier. She skied for the US Paralympic Team in Vancouver and Sochi and has three paralympic medals to show for it.

And today, she skis again representing the US at the Pyeongchang Paralympic Winter Games.

So I've decided to revisit that blog post just to say how cool it is that I met a paralympian. As much as I love the Olympics, I find the Paralympics about 10 times more inspiring. All olympic and paralympic athletes achieve levels of athleticism that most of us can only dream of - but paralympic athletes do it toiling in relative obscurity and with a tiny fraction of the financial support that other olympians get.

So I'll be watching the Paralympics again this year, and though I'll obviously be cheering for the Canadian athletes first - I'm also looking forward to seeing Danelle at work.

And just because I didn't include a photo last time, here's one I took that day:

Day 111 - Waynesboro VA (20/10/2016)

I had planned to head out at 7am again this morning but clouds rolled in and made it too dark to walk without a headlamp. I was forced to sit and have a coffee while waiting for the sun to rise a bit and brighten the day. It was a nice leisurely start, but also meant that I had to do 8 miles in 2.5 hrs to meet Karen for my ride to Waynesboro. That would usually be OK, but for some reason the last few miles of Shenandoah are quite a bit more challenging than the first 100. Still, I managed to make it and am glad to avoid hiking in the hot, humid air for today.

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I had the great fortune of riding with Karen, her husband Jack, and their two beautiful Golden Retrievers. I tried to "borrow" one until December, but Karen kept a wary eye on me. Since they were generous enough to drive me to an outfitter for a gear resupply, and then to a diner for breakfast, I didn't steal their dogs (also, Karen knew to watch me like a hawk).

After a breakfast fit for a hiker (good, but more importantly, huge) I headed to my hostel, where I found Cinderella and Waterboy as expected. Less expectedly, I also found Timber and PinkyPurple!!* C and W are ahead of me now, having arrived last night, but T and PP are sticking around so I'll get to catch up with them.

All in all, a rewarding nero.

Start: just north of Calf Mountain 

End: Waynesboro VA 

Distance: 8 miles

* I'm a bit sad that Timber and Legs are now separated. They were my favourite trail "couple" and I really thought they'd hike the whole way together.

Day 43 - I'm wet! I'm wet and I'm hysterical! (13/8/2016)

The sugar shack was fun, it was nice to be sheltered from the torrential rains that hit in the early evening, and Pete had a pretty cool life story but in the end I probably should have skipped it in favour of some miles. I was (once again) reminded that I don't like shared sleeping arrangements. Late revellers, a couple "caring about each other deeply", and repeated intrusions by people looking for space to set up for the night meant that I didn't get much sleep.

As usual, that meant I was cranky when I woke. A situation not improved by the discovery that both the water and electricity were knocked out by the storms, so there would be no eggs and pancakes for breakfast.

The situation was further not improved by the thunderstorms that came while I was walking. Camping wet probably has some charms, but I have trouble seeing them today. Fortunately I'm not far from Hanover where it will be time for some serious gear shopping - my t-shirt is torn in several places, and my shoes have finally given up.

On a more positive note, the terrain has gotten friendlier making bigger miles easier. Also, the maté tea that my parents sent was amazing! I can't wait to make more.

Start: NH25A (near mile 408.5)
End: Around the 425 mile mark
Distance: 16.5 miles

Day 7 - a taste of oz (8/7/2016)

No actual rain today, but the clouds barely lifted. Despite a lot of hard climbing up White Cap Mountain, the views were only of clouds.

I ran into a couple from Perth that I'd been hearing about. Sidetrack and Jules have two huge Alaska Malamutes with them, and they're slowly trudging through the wilderness doing around 5 miles a day. It was nice to hear that accent again and chat about Aussie life.

They're planning to do the whole  trail (minus the dog unfriendly bits), but at their current pace they'll finish sometime in 2018, so I expect they'll leap frog more.

Most of the trip so far has been hiking with Trout, the 18 year old son of a rabbit* from Georgia. Tonight we shared a 3-course meal of Chicken with Rice from a Mountain House meal packet, tuna casserole with mushrooms and "Asian stir fry spices", and fruit gushers. A terrific end to an otherwise pretty boring day.

Tomorrow we're aiming to cross Chairback gap and camp at Cloud Pond. We'll start with a tough climb up to Chairback mountain.

I'm old, so my left knee is really not happy with all this up and down. Luckily we're getting close to a rest day in Monson so that keeps me pushing through the pain.

Start: Logan Brook Lean-to
End: West Branch Pleasant River
Distance: 11.8 miles (19km)

*This should be rabbi, but Trout asked me to leave it uncorrected because students at Rabbinical School are called Rabbits (Rabbi's In Training)

Away we go

Day 1 was today. Slackpacking up Mt Katahdin and back.

Not much to say except that I almost cancelled the first day because of the threat of hail and thunderstorms. When you're above the tree line, you make a great lightning rod. In the end, I decided that if I have to die by lightning on a mountain, then I have to die by lightning on a mountain.

I didn't die by lightning on a mountain.

Tomorrow it's on the trail for real (as in with a full pack, and several days of food, and no chance of blackened haddock and a pint of IPA at the end). I'm already tired and craving a burger.

A few people have asked about how to send me things on the trail. I'll try to post mailing addresses that I can pick mail up at. The first one will be Monson ME's post office [Ed: on the 11th of July, if all goes according to plan]. Use the following address:

Serje Robidoux
c/o General Delivery
2 GREENVILLE RD
MONSON, ME 04464-9998

If you do mail something, send me an email with [TopPriority] in the subject line. If I miss your letter/package, I can call the post office and ask them to forward it on.

Some photos of Day 1:

Registered for the climb 

It's official: As of now, I'm heading Southbound
on the Appalachian Trail.

The view on my way up.
If you look closely, there are some people there.

The same view on my way down.
If you look closely, there are still just rocks and a cloud.

Also, I have to thank my dad, who very awesomely drove down here with me and has ferried me about and taken care of errands while I play around in the woods. Best. Dad. Ever.