View Full Version : Welcome to me
DiamondDoug
09-29-2005, 16:08
:welcome
This is my first post here. So I apologize in advance if I don't follow the appropriate protocol. Oh, what the hell, right, when in doubt just follow the white blazes.
My name is Diamond Doug. I completed my thru hike 5 years ago today. It was both a happy and a sad day for me. Sometimes I envy Jack, hiking year after year.
There is hardly a day that goes by that I don't think about the trail. Sometimes it is the color of a single leaf lying atop the black slate of Maine. Sometimes it is the view from the Humps in Carolina. Sometimes it is the sound of the wind rustling the leaves while lying in my tent, waiting for darkness to fall.
Mostly, though, what I miss most is the rhythm. I miss the feel of each day, of getting up, packing, hiking, stopping for the night and my evening rituals. I miss, too, the rhythm of the Earth as the days grew shorter and the air became crisper. I miss the sense of purpose I had on the trail.
Today I climbed Katahdin. It was a gloriously sunny day, cold in the morning and warming as the sun rose. Visibility once I got to the summit was limitless. It was truly a perfect day in every respect.
I remember drinking my coffee watching the mist swirl on Daicey Pond with the peak in the distance. I remember bounding up the path beyond Katahdin Stream, climbing effortlessly up the side of the mountain as if it was as flat as the trail in Maryland. I remember taking the last few steps to the sign, embracing it and the sobs that racked my body until the flow of emotion that consumed me subsided.
My father's dream had always been to hike the AT, but that was never going to happen after he had a hip replaced at age 62, so I hiked it for him. Dad came to Maine to meet me, and we hugged there in the parking lot, got in the car and drove away. We spent the night in a hotel near the interstate, and the next day we drove all the way to New Jersey, as far as I'd hiked in two months.
The end of the hike was both a bang and a whimper, the wonderful day atop the mountain followed by the retreat back to civilization. I want to hike again, plan to, will do the trail again. Next time I'll take it slower, look around more, enjoy it more, be less focused on the finishing.
Sorry for rambling. Hope to see some of you at Trail Days.
Onward! Furthur.
-<>-Doug
GAME2k
Thanks for sharing Doug. Welcome to Whiteblaze - from another from the class of 2000. March 7 - August 21, 2000.
Jeffrey Hunter aka Little Bear
Welcome Doug. :welcome I'm a section hiker and just getting started, but have had the dream for 25 years. Now my plan is to section over the next 10 years and thru with my son (now 7) in 2016. It gives me incentive to stay young.
In light of my goal, the story about your dad was poignant. Thanks for sharing.
Don't wait for Trail Days. Come to the ALDHA Gathering next week. http://www.aldha.org/
rambunny
09-29-2005, 18:01
Hey is this a class of 2000 meeting? Hi guys remember me? Yes i miss it liked i've never missed a lover-the intensity of my missing it takes my breath away-got an opprotunity to serve the AT community and live on the trail. Say a little prayer we'll be picked. By the way i went Ga-Me2000 Ga-Me2001 Ga-Me2002 and Me-Ny 2004. Me addicted to hike naaaaa.
Jack Tarlin
09-29-2005, 18:17
Welcome, Doug! Great post, and it's very good to see you here!!!
walkin' wally
09-29-2005, 18:43
[Quote]
Mostly, though, what I miss most is the rhythm. I miss the feel of each day, of getting up, packing, hiking, stopping for the night and my evening rituals. I miss, too, the rhythm of the Earth as the days grew shorter and the air became crisper. I miss the sense of purpose I had on the trail. [Quote ]
Welcome Doug,
I like that part a lot. I hope to thru hike in a few years. That was a great post. :)
Beautiful post, very expressive.
:welcome Old Friend:
Diamond Doug, you hot ****, haven't heard from you since you finished the trail. Luke and Fennel got married, have a kid now and you were there when they first met at Brown Fork shelter. Loved the notes you left for everyone. Did you go back to your law practice after the trail or did you get that job driving the shuttle at the Raleigh Durham Airport you were dreaming of? Great to see you on Whiteblaze and don't be a stranger. A bunch of us 2000 alumni will be at the gathering in Hanover NH next weekend and if you can get a cheap airfare by virtue of your airport shuttle job I could pick you up in Manchaster. Your old buddy John from Scotland was back a year or so ago and a bunch of us met in Portland. Don't be a stranger now you have found Whiteblaze, it is a great site. Look foreward to lots of posts from you. I'm still drinking Moxie.
:clap :clap :clap :clap :sun :sun :sun :sun :dance :dance :dance :dance
sierraDoug
09-30-2005, 02:17
: I'm still drinking Moxie.
So what flavor is this Moxie soda? Just curious.
Hi Doug. Thanks for the great post. Welcome to Whiteblaze and guess what? We are neighbors. I live in Fuquay Varina and work at RTP (Nortel). Once again, welcome!:welcome
:welcome
This is my first post here. So I apologize in advance if I don't follow the appropriate protocol. Oh, what the hell, right, when in doubt just follow the white blazes.
My name is Diamond Doug. I completed my thru hike 5 years ago today. It was both a happy and a sad day for me. Sometimes I envy Jack, hiking year after year.
There is hardly a day that goes by that I don't think about the trail. Sometimes it is the color of a single leaf lying atop the black slate of Maine. Sometimes it is the view from the Humps in Carolina. Sometimes it is the sound of the wind rustling the leaves while lying in my tent, waiting for darkness to fall.
Mostly, though, what I miss most is the rhythm. I miss the feel of each day, of getting up, packing, hiking, stopping for the night and my evening rituals. I miss, too, the rhythm of the Earth as the days grew shorter and the air became crisper. I miss the sense of purpose I had on the trail.
Today I climbed Katahdin. It was a gloriously sunny day, cold in the morning and warming as the sun rose. Visibility once I got to the summit was limitless. It was truly a perfect day in every respect.
I remember drinking my coffee watching the mist swirl on Daicey Pond with the peak in the distance. I remember bounding up the path beyond Katahdin Stream, climbing effortlessly up the side of the mountain as if it was as flat as the trail in Maryland. I remember taking the last few steps to the sign, embracing it and the sobs that racked my body until the flow of emotion that consumed me subsided.
My father's dream had always been to hike the AT, but that was never going to happen after he had a hip replaced at age 62, so I hiked it for him. Dad came to Maine to meet me, and we hugged there in the parking lot, got in the car and drove away. We spent the night in a hotel near the interstate, and the next day we drove all the way to New Jersey, as far as I'd hiked in two months.
The end of the hike was both a bang and a whimper, the wonderful day atop the mountain followed by the retreat back to civilization. I want to hike again, plan to, will do the trail again. Next time I'll take it slower, look around more, enjoy it more, be less focused on the finishing.
Sorry for rambling. Hope to see some of you at Trail Days.
Onward! Furthur.
-<>-Doug
GAME2k
wow doug, bring me back home...................what an excellent writer you are..........
walkin' wally
09-30-2005, 06:54
So what flavor is this Moxie soda? Just curious.
It is made from gentian root extract and other flavors. It has a bitter-sweet- bitter taste. Did I say bitter? It comes in both sugar and diet versions. It has a dark color like colas and a slight odor. For a lot of people it is an acquired taste. Some people don't like it at all. :)
Big Dawg
09-30-2005, 06:58
Welcome aboard, DiamondDoug!! :D
DD
An inspiring post -- welcome aboard and keep 'em coming!
Sky Rider
(walessp)
So what flavor is this Moxie soda? Just curious.Moxie was first invented as a nerve tonic. It is very bitter and much like scotch you have to acquire a taste for it. Before WWII it was a bigger seller than Coca Cola in the US but it fell out of favor after the depression. Ted Williams was the spokesman for Moxie in the 1940,s. I used to carry it out on the AT and offer it to thru hikers in the 1990's and Nomad 98 gave me the trail name Moxie because I did that. Now it is only found in nothern New England but is the official soft drink of Maine. I had cans sent to me in food drops on my thru hike in 2000. One comment I got when I shared it was,"It tastes like cheap cough medecine without any sugar in it." Often thru hikers when they get to Maine will mistake it for orange soda because of the can color and after the first taste spray if all over their fellow hikers. You either love it or hate it and those like me that love it will have it shipped to them wherever they are in this world. If you ever get a chance to try it, Don't, you may like it and they just dont make that much of it and everyone who drinks it leaves one less can for me. It is very bitter, extremely distinctive, and for those that like it, the necter of the Gods.
:banana
The Old Fhart
09-30-2005, 20:25
Hey, DiamondDoug! I remember just landing on the sandy beach south of Wadleigh Stream lean-to and who walks out of the woods but you. I hadn't seen you since Damascus. I'm sure I'll run into you again at Trail Days, as usual.
justusryans
09-30-2005, 21:23
Moxie was first invented as a nerve tonic. It is very bitter and much like scotch you have to acquire a taste for it. Before WWII it was a bigger seller than Coca Cola in the US but it fell out of favor after the depression. Ted Williams was the spokesman for Moxie in the 1940,s. I used to carry it out on the AT and offer it to thru hikers in the 1990's and Nomad 98 gave me the trail name Moxie because I did that. Now it is only found in nothern New England but is the official soft drink of Maine. I had cans sent to me in food drops on my thru hike in 2000. One comment I got when I shared it was,"It tastes like cheap cough medecine without any sugar in it." Often thru hikers when they get to Maine will mistake it for orange soda because of the can color and after the first taste spray if all over their fellow hikers. You either love it or hate it and those like me that love it will have it shipped to them wherever they are in this world. If you ever get a chance to try it, Don't, you may like it and they just dont make that much of it and everyone who drinks it leaves one less can for me. It is very bitter, extremely distinctive, and for those that like it, the necter of the Gods.
:bananaMy father bought Moxie thinking we wouldn't like it. Little did he know! Now I have to mail order it. :D
tiamalle
10-01-2005, 01:59
:welcome
This is my first post here. So I apologize in advance if I don't follow the appropriate protocol. Oh, what the hell, right, when in doubt just follow the white blazes.
My name is Diamond Doug. I completed my thru hike 5 years ago today. It was both a happy and a sad day for me. Sometimes I envy Jack, hiking year after year.
There is hardly a day that goes by that I don't think about the trail. Sometimes it is the color of a single leaf lying atop the black slate of Maine. Sometimes it is the view from the Humps in Carolina. Sometimes it is the sound of the wind rustling the leaves while lying in my tent, waiting for darkness to fall.
Mostly, though, what I miss most is the rhythm. I miss the feel of each day, of getting up, packing, hiking, stopping for the night and my evening rituals. I miss, too, the rhythm of the Earth as the days grew shorter and the air became crisper. I miss the sense of purpose I had on the trail.
Today I climbed Katahdin. It was a gloriously sunny day, cold in the morning and warming as the sun rose. Visibility once I got to the summit was limitless. It was truly a perfect day in every respect.
I remember drinking my coffee watching the mist swirl on Daicey Pond with the peak in the distance. I remember bounding up the path beyond Katahdin Stream, climbing effortlessly up the side of the mountain as if it was as flat as the trail in Maryland. I remember taking the last few steps to the sign, embracing it and the sobs that racked my body until the flow of emotion that consumed me subsided.
My father's dream had always been to hike the AT, but that was never going to happen after he had a hip replaced at age 62, so I hiked it for him. Dad came to Maine to meet me, and we hugged there in the parking lot, got in the car and drove away. We spent the night in a hotel near the interstate, and the next day we drove all the way to New Jersey, as far as I'd hiked in two months.
The end of the hike was both a bang and a whimper, the wonderful day atop the mountain followed by the retreat back to civilization. I want to hike again, plan to, will do the trail again. Next time I'll take it slower, look around more, enjoy it more, be less focused on the finishing.
Sorry for rambling. Hope to see some of you at Trail Days.
Onward! Furthur.
-<>-Doug
GAME2k DD you sound good,They're right there are lot's of great people here like on the trail
DiamondDoug
10-05-2005, 11:36
:welcome Old Friend:
Diamond Doug, you hot ****, haven't heard from you since you finished the trail. Luke and Fennel got married, have a kid now and you were there when they first met at Brown Fork shelter. Loved the notes you left for everyone. Did you go back to your law practice after the trail or did you get that job driving the shuttle at the Raleigh Durham Airport you were dreaming of? Moxie, you old goat! I heard you made it all the way to Maine, glad to know someone was keeping up the rear. :banana
Luke and Fennel...I think I have a picture of them I took at Trail Days that year...I hope they cleaned up for the wedding. :D Brown Fork...hmmm...I only stopped for lunch there, do you mean Cold Spring? That was the night we had ten (including your sorry butt:bse ) in a shelter designed for six. It was Fran's birthday and snowed!
As for my law practice, well, yes and no. (The joke on this is that I tried hard not to tell everyone when I was hiking that I was a lawyer, that I had quit my job, didn't know what I was going to do when I got off the trail and maybe I was going to be a baggage handler at RDU.) I did not go back into private practice, I am still a lawyer, though, working for the NCDOT.
Hey Moxie, guess what is in my office, compliments of the Division 13 Maintenance Engineer? :-? A highway traffic sign. You may remember seeing it...descending in to Sam's Gap...dayglow orange..."Hikers Yield To Traffic." I only had to wait three years to get it, but when the project was over he took it down and brought it to Raleigh. Its on top of my file cabinet in my office now. :clap
Thanks to everyone else for all the kind words. You too, Old Fhart. :eek: I'm not always moved to write so fine, but when the mood strikes me will do my best.
Onward. Furthur!
-<>-Doug
GAME2k
Carrying on a conversation with old friends isn't usually done on this forum but Diamond Doug is entertaining and I try to be so here goes. Yes it was Cold Spring, you gave Luke a message to take ahead because you felt he could keep up with anyone, especially at age 17. Once he tied up with Fennel (23 years old at that time) young Cool Hand Luke took up a more slower pace. The two of them actually finished two weeks behind me and they snuck onto Kathadin after the park was closed. Just shows what love does for young people. Keep in touch.:dance
Jester2000
10-05-2005, 20:24
DD! Good to hear from you! That is so cool that you got that traffic sign. I (and this is probably true of everyone from 2000) have a shot of that sign in my photo album. Will see you at TD '06. In the meantime, welcome to Whiteblaze!
PS -- Moxie is Moxie flavored. And (I have it on good authority) so is Moxie.