Day 1040: Drowning our sorrows

Whiskey Hill wings offered a bit of solace and an escape from the constant barrage of news.  We didn't watch, but we did read updates on the NYT.  Perhaps the worst news was the percentage of citizens who actually voted.  In NY, it was about 31%, in Chautauqua Co. it was 24%.   So many important decisions and policies left to such a small percentage of the electorate.

I had Steve review the leadership chapter again and then I spent an hour deleting some more.  Then he read the routes chapter and I worked on that for several hours this afternoon.  I cover all the factors to consider when designing a route, procedures for using private and public lands, miscommunications that resulted in confrontations with landowners, descriptions of the state parks and national forests that are nearby and stories.

My favorite part of the chapter, though, is the tale of our trip to Hearts Content with a high school group sometime in the early 1990s.  We set off on a Saturday in late October.  All week the weather had been warm, but on Friday night, a cold front moved in, dropped the temperature to 40 and dumped tons of rain.  We hiked through the day in pouring rain along a boulder strewn trail.  It was rough going and by the time we reached our destination, it was nearly dark.  We set up tarps, but they didn't help much during dinner.  Lee had decided we would purify water from a pond to cook with, so some of the folks took care of that.

After a dinner of macaroni and cheese and hot chocolate, we tried to hang the food bags.  It was pitch black as Lee and Lou tried desperately to get the ropes over a branch.  I pointed the flashlight into the trees while they repeatedly threw the rope and we laughed so hard we fell over into the wet leaves.  At 7:30, there was nothing left to do but go to bed.  It was so cold, that we decided Colin should sleep in our tent between us.  Terrible decision!  He slept great, but we couldn't move.  Then, about 10:00, we were startled by gunfire.  Steve recognized it immediately.  AK 47.  "Probably somebody out jacklighting deer."  He went back to sleep and I lay awake with my heart pounding, listening to the tents rippling in the wind and waiting for more shots.  They never came.

The next morning, when the sun finally came out, all around us were brightly colored tents.  We didn't even know they were there the night before!

It was a great trip, but we never repeated it, unfortunately.  I wish we could cause the kids would love it.  I've never minded walking in nearly any conditions.  Today was cool, but sunny so we walked 4.2 miles.  It's only going to get worse in the next few days!

Celebrate wings!