Journals

According to Pittsburgh:

AUGUST 26, 1997 - TUESDAY
   TIMMY has decided to take a break from hiking for a week or so. her ankles have been swollen, plus she has become very uncomfortable with the difficulty of the hike. she and PETER PAN are taking refuge away from us and the trail for the period of time that she is taking off...
   I took SUNSHINE and NTO, plus some friends that we me recently, BUZZY and TAGALONG, to the top of MT. WASHINGTON to begin their hikes. they hiked south towards CRAWFORD NOTCH. I watched for a half hour or so as they became little ants descending the mountain...
   the weather atop the mountain was superb: clear as a bell, 40 degrees, and very little wind. from what I have come to understand about MT. WASHINGTON, this type of weather is highly unusual. it apparently is often blustery, very cold, and shrouded in clouds...
   we picked everyone up at CRAWFORD NOTCH (NH 302). they all had had a glorious hike. it was nice seeing big SMILES instead of big frowns at the end of the day...

AUGUST 27, 1997 - WEDNESDAY
   I took SUNSHINE, NTO, and BUZZY to the top of MT. WASHINGTON for a hike to PINKHAM NOTCH. PANTHER FAN also came along. JOURNEYMAN and STARLIGHT were waiting for us when we arrived. they had hiked up from LAKES OF THE CLOUDS HUT to meet us so that they could SLACKPACK. WOOLYBOOGER had arrived at the top, so he SLACKPACKed also. everyone headed north. PANTHER FAN and I watched for a while from the observation deck, then drove down the mountain a short distance and observed the hikers again. the weather was not bad, but was not as pristine as the day before...
   PANTHER FAN and I headed into GORHAM NH to secure a motel room for the next four nights (the ladies intend on hiking from PINKHAM NOTCH to GORHAM in two days, then take a day off). we then headed to BERLIN NH in an attempt to find and negotiate SUCCESS POND ROAD, which roughly parallels the AT as it enters MAINE. last year, I had found the road, but it had been gated, and the MAINE side had been blocked by logging vehicles. we found the gate open and took off on quite an adventure. our goal was to find the side trails that connect the AT with the road, and then to find a connection into MAINE near GRAFTON NOTCH. we were successful. this means that the planned three day backpack from GORHAM NH to GRAFTON NOTCH in MAINE can now be a three day SLACKPACK utilizing the side trails. we also investigated a campsite near NEWRY ME. this will allow all of us to take showers after the three-day sojourn...
   we headed for PINKHAM NOTCH (NH 16) to pick up the hikers. TAGALONG was there waiting for BUZZY. JOURNEYMAN and STARLIGHT arrived, then WOOLYBOOGER, then our two ladies. the SMILES were smaller today, but no frowns were permitted...
   we headed back to GORHAM, dropping WOOLYBOOGER at the PARADISE HIKER HOSTEL (attached to the COLONIAL COMFORT MOTEL), then onto our motel. TAGALONG, BUZZY, JOURNEYMAN, and STARLIGHT secured a room at the COLONIAL COMFORT. we had tried to get a room there yesterday. the owner wanted us to stay in the hostel, but we wanted a motel room. it got into a negotiating session that was going nowhere, so we left...
   we all took showers and ate, then headed to the hostel to meet, greet, and yak. a large fellow by the name of BRUCE was very unpleasant to us. he got into my face and started demanding that I leave because I wasn't staying there. I attempted to initiate a conversation, but he kept in my face. we finally were allowed us to sit on the porch and talk to the hikers...

AUGUST 28, 1997 - THURSDAY
SUNSHINEs injury has returned and she has decided to take a few days off of hiking. NTO and I decided to take the SKI LIFT to the top of WILDCAT MOUNTAIN and hike south to PINKHAM NOTCH. the weather was good, and we had a great time...
as I was hiking into the NOTCH, WANDERING STAR was hitchhiking. I told her that would happily take her to GORHAM. NTO arrived and we saddled up. on the way to GORHAM we ran across WHISTLER and FOXTROT also hitchhiking, and picked them up. we stopped at the POST OFFICE for WHISTLER and FOXTROT, then to SUBWAY and dropped off FOXTROT, then to the PARADISE and dropped off WHISTLER, then to the grocery store for WANDERING STAR, then back to get FOXTROT, then onto the trailhead on US 2 to drop off WANDERING STAR and FOXTROT. they were hiking to he first shelter south, with the intention of taking a couple of days into PINKHAM NOTCH...

AUGUST 29, 1997 - FRIDAY
NTO and I hiked south from US 2. we were planning a 15 mile day to CARTER NOTCH HUT, where we had secured reservations (the APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN CLUB (AMC) runs and maintains a series of HUTS through the WHITE MOUNTAINS in NEW HAMPSHIRE. even though they are remote backwoods facilities, they are staffed and require reservations). the hike was very tough and we did not arrive until dark, nearly 12 hours after we began. NTOs daughter CELIA was there when we arrived. we knew she had plans to be there, but these things can change. we were very glad to see her. she had hiked in along a side trail...
during the day, PANTHER FAN had met BOY WONDER, FRODO, and SUPER TRAMP at PINKHAM NOTCH, and ran them to the PARADISE. later he had stopped to get them for supper or a movie or such, and was rudely greeted by the proprietors wife. she would not allow him up to the hostel. instead he had to go to the office and have the desk call up. apparently BRUCE (see AUGUST 28th entry) was telling the owners and the hikers that I had been trying to steal his business for three years (I don't know what business that is) and that I had previously stayed at the hostel without permission (this is not the case) and that I was not welcome on the premises. I of course knew nothing of this because I was on the trail...

AUGUST 30, 1997 - SATURDAY
   NTO and CELIA hiked to the top of WILDCAT MOUNTAIN and took the SKI LIFT down. I hiked out to NH 16 via the side trail that CELIA had hiked in on, then took her car to the SKI LIFT. PANTHER FAN and SUNSHINE had arrived to pick us up, and had taken the SKI LIFT to the top of the mountain. they came back down before NTO and CELIA arrived, and had APPLE JACK and CHURCH MOUSE in tow. they had earlier started SLACKPACKING north from PINKHAM NOTCH with the intention of going all of the way to US 2 (21.1 miles). they intelligently cut the hike short. we all headed to the AMC PINKHAM NOTCH HUT for lunch. we met SMOKIN' JOE there, and he left with us...
   NTO and CELIA arrived shortly after we returned to the SKI LIFT, and we all headed for GORHAM. we dropped SMOKIN' JOE, APPLE JACK, and CHURCH MOUSE at the hostel, then headed for our motel. we took showers, then NTO and CELIA headed out for lunch...
   a few hikers hikers stopped by and indicated that BRUCE was really bad-mouthing me. I really started to get angry, so I got into the van and went to the PARADISE. all I wanted to do was talk to the proprietors and try to straighten things out. this fellow BRUCE is irritating the hikers with this vendetta talk, and the hatred is trickling down to the owner and his wife. I parked next door to the hostel and walked to the office. BRUCE came out of nowhere and stood between me and the office demanding that I leave, that I was not welcome, that this was private property, and that he was going to call the police. I told him that I did not want to talk to him, that I wanted to speak with the owner to get things straightened out. he continued telling me to leave, so I did. I went back to the motel and called the hostel. the proprietors wife answered and I explained what I wanted, and she put BRUCE on the phone. this obviously went nowhere. I ended up cussing him out and slamming the phone down...
   you can try and dismiss something like this as ignorance or stupidity or misunderstanding, but what remains is unwarranted persecution. you can try to put it out of your mind saying that there is nothing more to be done to rectify the situation, but then you can't sleep because it keeps repeating in your mind all night long. it is unfortunate that the proprietors of the PARADISE have put this BRUCE fellow in charge of the hostel. he is doing damage to their business and reputation. theirs is not the only hostel in town, and as the word of the unfriendly nature of the PARADISE spreads, the other hostel will gain...

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