Back on my beat

Two weeks ago, I hit the trail again as the Caretaker at Springer Mountain. The flood of thru-hikers has begun, spurred on by the beautiful weather that has finally arrived. It's a stark contrast to last year, when the first half of March was bitterly cold and snowy.

My home away from home...

The view inside...

and out.

Once again, I'm amazed by how unprepared people can be when there is such a wealth of information available--and free information, at that. On the first day of the season, I ran into my first "no way in hell does he make it to Maine." A young kid huffing and puffing up the Approach Trail, wearing jeans and flannel, carrying an enormous pack with random items tied all over the outside. It is a particular peeve of mine to have stuff dangling off a pack. I usually only have my camp shoes strapped outside, unless, of course, I'm burdened by an especially large load of trash. But generally speaking, if you can't fit it all into your pack, you've got too much. So back to the kid--when I asked him how far he was heading, he said something that I eventually interpreted as "Katahdin." Dressed all in cotton (it kills! ditch it now!) and not actually knowing your destination--maybe additional research was in order.

Best of all, I ran into this kid again the next day, and he asked the question I get almost daily: how do I get your job? Well, for starters, I told him to get some new pants. We actually had a nice conversation about his career goals and how he can explore some options on the trail. Hopefully, he made it to Mountain Crossings at Neel Gap, for a pack shakedown and some wicking materials.

On the non-newbie front, I spent a lovely morning hiking with Pa Burt, whose wife and grandson dropped him off to begin his third thru-hike. He has his entire high-school class following his adventure and cheering him on.

Pa Burt

Unfortunately, the first week also brought some of the usual dumb-assery. In one of the shelters I found a big pile of index cards with this helpful note:

Let's go through this again, people--everyone is carrying too much at the start. You may think you're being all thoughtful and helpful, leaving your unwanted, excess crap, but NO ONE ELSE wants to pick up more stuff to carry. This isn't a swap meet out here--no one is going to say, "Hey, index cards! Now THAT'S what I should have brought instead of this electric razor!" (And yes, I met a kid last year packing a razor) Sadly, I'm pretty sure I know who left the cards. One of the shuttle drivers dropped a guy off who said his nickname--and subsequently, trail name--was "3x5," due to his constant use of index cards to keep himself organized. I met this guy, too, and he didn't seem like a thoughtless jerk, but I guess you can't always tell from first impressions. And another thing 3x5 needs to learn quickly--this is NOT trail magic! This is laziness and lack of preparation. Hopefully, he'll figure out the difference.