Lee McMinn, part of the staff here at the Cradle of Forestry, gave a slide presentation the other evening, covering his walk in the woods from Maine to Harper’s Ferry WVA in the fall of 2007. Pictured here, Lee is a Forest Service employee who takes fees from visitors, since the Cradle is a fee area. Lee was the first person we met when we rolled in here with our motor home on September 1st.
Last year, 2007, Lee thru-hiked the northern half, more or less, of the Appalachian Trail [AT] from Mt. Katahdin, Maine, to Harper’s Ferry in a little over 90 days. He had hiked the southern half in four sections since 2003 from Mt. Springer GA northward.
Right up front, he made it clear he didn’t do it for any big existential reason -- finding God, himself or anything like that. He first saw the AT in the mid-1970’s and the idea of doing it all has been on his mind for 30 some years -- his personal “bucket list.”
“I guess you could say ‘because it was there’,” he told the group of about 18 of us Forest Service volunteers.
We’ve read Lee’s trail log of over 80 pages and understand his interest in hiking. Some days he got in 20 or more miles, we know from reading his log. He’ll hike during his lunch break and can get in at least a few miles. He hiked the AT alone, but found some compatible Kiwis, a couple, with whom he hiked during the majority of time on the trail. [We think that’s good because, regardless of skills, being alone on the trail is not a great idea.]
Lee divided the northern half of the AT into three parts, just like Julius Ceasar divided Gaul [Gallia est omis divisa in partes tres]. 1. Maine, 2. The diner-to-diner route and 3. The rest of it -- these are the three parts of Lee’s hike last year.
Maine was the most challenging and at the same time the most beautiful. The 100-Mile Wilderness, he feels, is a misnomer because much of it was a walk in the park and he has the photos to prove it. However, he warned, watch out for those mud-sucking bogs.
The diner-to-diner route runs from Massachusetts to the northeast corner of Pennsylvania. This is where “real food” is available.
“Wherever the AT crosses a road,” Lee said, “you could be sure there was a diner on the road within a half mile in either direction.”
The rest of it involved Pennsylvania and Maryland. Once past Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania, a lot of the trail was “walking between farmers’ fields.”
Lee’s presentation was well received and enjoyed immensely. The last photo Lee showed was on the bridge over the Potomac at Harper’s Ferry. I remember it well since Georgia and I were there not too many years ago when we biked the mule paths on the Cumberland Canal from Cumberland MD to downtown Washington DC. Thanks, Lee, for doing this!
Last year, 2007, Lee thru-hiked the northern half, more or less, of the Appalachian Trail [AT] from Mt. Katahdin, Maine, to Harper’s Ferry in a little over 90 days. He had hiked the southern half in four sections since 2003 from Mt. Springer GA northward.
Right up front, he made it clear he didn’t do it for any big existential reason -- finding God, himself or anything like that. He first saw the AT in the mid-1970’s and the idea of doing it all has been on his mind for 30 some years -- his personal “bucket list.”
“I guess you could say ‘because it was there’,” he told the group of about 18 of us Forest Service volunteers.
We’ve read Lee’s trail log of over 80 pages and understand his interest in hiking. Some days he got in 20 or more miles, we know from reading his log. He’ll hike during his lunch break and can get in at least a few miles. He hiked the AT alone, but found some compatible Kiwis, a couple, with whom he hiked during the majority of time on the trail. [We think that’s good because, regardless of skills, being alone on the trail is not a great idea.]
Lee divided the northern half of the AT into three parts, just like Julius Ceasar divided Gaul [Gallia est omis divisa in partes tres]. 1. Maine, 2. The diner-to-diner route and 3. The rest of it -- these are the three parts of Lee’s hike last year.
Maine was the most challenging and at the same time the most beautiful. The 100-Mile Wilderness, he feels, is a misnomer because much of it was a walk in the park and he has the photos to prove it. However, he warned, watch out for those mud-sucking bogs.
The diner-to-diner route runs from Massachusetts to the northeast corner of Pennsylvania. This is where “real food” is available.
“Wherever the AT crosses a road,” Lee said, “you could be sure there was a diner on the road within a half mile in either direction.”
The rest of it involved Pennsylvania and Maryland. Once past Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania, a lot of the trail was “walking between farmers’ fields.”
Lee’s presentation was well received and enjoyed immensely. The last photo Lee showed was on the bridge over the Potomac at Harper’s Ferry. I remember it well since Georgia and I were there not too many years ago when we biked the mule paths on the Cumberland Canal from Cumberland MD to downtown Washington DC. Thanks, Lee, for doing this!
No comments:
Post a Comment