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Ron Haven
05-04-2016, 08:02
Sad News,
Baltimore Jack Tarlin passed away at Angel Mission Hospital at 6 am this morning in Franklin, NC

ddanko2
05-04-2016, 08:11
Wow. Terrible and unexpected news. He surely touched many a life of thru and section hikers.

bigcranky
05-04-2016, 08:13
Well crap.

johnnybgood
05-04-2016, 08:15
My condolences go out to his family.

God must of needed a trailblazer. RIP Jack !

Greenlight
05-04-2016, 08:25
I enjoyed Winton Porter's sketches of BJ in "Just Passin' Thru"

I was always outside when I was a kid, then almost completely shut down for thirty years. Now that I'm getting back into it, legends are moving on to the higher paths. Weary, now Baltimore Jack. I'm sticking around here for awhile, there's so many places I haven't walked. But damn. Hoped I'd chance to meet him on my thru once I get the funds together and the time off. Not to be.

Greenlight
05-04-2016, 08:29
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjtDV6r23S8

lonehiker
05-04-2016, 08:36
Of all the people that post on WB, Mr. Tarlin was one of the very few that I would have liked to have met. I almost met him in 08 (within a day or two before Damascus.). His knowledge will be sorely missed. RIP.

SouthMark
05-04-2016, 08:40
So glad that I was able to meet and talk with him at SORUCK a few years ago. RIP Jack!


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sfdoc
05-04-2016, 08:45
Met Jack twice, both times at an ALDHA conference in Shippensburg, PA. Nice, sincere, and personable. Gone way too soon.

kythruhiker
05-04-2016, 08:53
Not news I ever wanted to hear :( RIP Jack, you will be missed.

chknfngrs
05-04-2016, 08:55
Legendary. Sad news!! He was posting in here just a few days ago it feels like. I never met him but hugely benefitted from what he shared on here. Is there a memorial fund or site or family we can reach out to?

bigcranky
05-04-2016, 08:58
Spent some time with Baltimore Jack at Miss Janet's in Erwin one March, maybe ten or twelve years ago. He showed up with his boom box and his Bruce Springsteen and Johnny Cash CDs and started playing music and grilling food in the back yard. An interesting character and a blast to hang out with even for a short time.

I think that was the same weekend Jack discovered Miss Janet's computer, unattended and logged into Whiteblaze, and he posted a note purportedly coming from Miss Janet announcing her upcoming thru-hike, to begin immediately. :)

Any details? He wasn't that old.

chknfngrs
05-04-2016, 09:08
The above included link to YouTube footage from 12 months ago and he at least looked and sounded healthyy

Busky2
05-04-2016, 09:26
The first person I met when I came down Blood Mt. into the gap was the man himself, first words out of his mouth, How are you? and, Can I help you with anything? It was his way it seemed. We talked, chuckled a bit before I moved on. The random pic on the home page today had a Jack pic on it from trail days 07 or 08 I opened it, showed my wife and told her of this kind guy I met one day, I clicked to the forum and pow right in the face in the mist of a good memory, a kick in the chops was waiting.

hikernutcasey
05-04-2016, 09:27
Very sad news. I met Jack at Kincora while Bob was hiking in Europe a couple years back. When I met him I had never seen him before and didn't know who he was. True to his character he was incredibly gracious to us and prepared us a warm meal since it was a cold and rainy November day when we showed up. He never told us who he was and I only found out later after seeing a photo of him. He was a kind soul. May he rest in peace.

eArThworm
05-04-2016, 09:27
34726347273472834729

saltysack
05-04-2016, 09:37
Terrible news.....i'f say he lived life to the fullest!! How many thru hikes was it?


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illabelle
05-04-2016, 09:37
Very sad news. I met Jack at Kincora while Bob was hiking in Europe a couple years back. When I met him I had never seen him before and didn't know who he was. True to his character he was incredibly gracious to us and prepared us a warm meal since it was a cold and rainy November day when we showed up. He never told us who he was and I only found out later after seeing a photo of him. He was a kind soul. May he rest in peace.

Similar story here. Met him at Kincora on one of our earliest section hikes. Had no idea at the time that he and Bob were AT legends. :(
RIP

Binjali
05-04-2016, 09:55
Gone to put up golden trail blazes. Thanks Jack, for all your knowledge and kindness through the years.

rickb
05-04-2016, 10:00
So very sad to hear this.

Gambit McCrae
05-04-2016, 10:03
Hate to hear this, always wanted to meet him

RockDoc
05-04-2016, 10:43
I met BJ in a shelter in NC, near Standing Indian Mtn right before a horrible storm.

I recall that at first we thought "here is a dirty homeless person taking up the shelter". There was stuff scattered everywhere.
He said that he hated shelters, and did not like to use outhouses... I mentioned that I had been hiking the AT since about 1970 and he said that was a lot longer than he had been hiking it. I think he stayed the night in that shelter, while we headed out into the storm and got drenched just before reaching the next shelter.

soilman
05-04-2016, 10:45
Ran into Jack several times thru the years. He always seemed to be popping up in the most unexpected places. Spent a couple of nights with him. He was very gracious but could rub some people the wrong way. I remember one night at Brown Fork Gap shelter he got everyone at the shelter to pool their food and he cooked up a fantastic trail meal. Another time he was cooking trail magic at Hikers Welcome Hostel and trashing SOBO's. Good time. RIP Jack.

misterfloyd
05-04-2016, 10:52
I meet him at Kincora going through that section last year.

Very gracious and kind person.

He seemed pretty young, gone way too soon.

Condolences to his loved ones........he will be missed.
Floyd

rafe
05-04-2016, 10:52
Another time he was cooking trail magic at Hikers Welcome Hostel and trashing SOBO's. Good time. RIP Jack.

He loved ragging on about SOBOs. I recall his words exactly: go SOBO if you "wanna spend Thanksgiving in a box."

I think I first met Jack sharing a bottle with Keith Shaw Jr., in the boathouse or garage across the road from Shaw's. In truth I don't have a positive ID, but everything fits. 90% sure it was Jack. It was at least 15 years ago. He will be missed.

Ewker
05-04-2016, 10:57
RIP Jack. You will be missed

Alligator
05-04-2016, 11:00
Sad news indeed. A true trail legend. My condolences to his family.

Cookerhiker
05-04-2016, 11:02
Met BJ several times. His contributions - both here on WB and in person to aspiring thruhikers - were almost always sound and well-reasoned. He will be missed.

mweinstone
05-04-2016, 11:28
Dear jillian,
Your father is sorely missed.
You have a place in hikerdom .
You are family.
Matty.

hikernutcasey
05-04-2016, 11:35
Terrible news.....i'd say he lived life to the fullest!! How many thru hikes was it?


Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkFrom his profile page...http://whiteblaze.net/forum/member.php/227-Jack-Tarlin

Speakeasy TN
05-04-2016, 11:36
Man, myth, legend........... Stories that never got old.

Ender
05-04-2016, 11:36
Very sad news. A true advocate for the trail.

rafe
05-04-2016, 11:37
Man, myth, legend........... Stories that never got old.

But the story-tellers do, alas.

hikernutcasey
05-04-2016, 11:40
From his profile page...http://whiteblaze.net/forum/member.php/227-Jack-TarlinSorry - click on the "about me" tab. He lists his count at 8 northbound trips.

Studlintsean
05-04-2016, 11:44
Never met him but enjoyed reading his posts. He seemed like a great guy always willing to help. RIP

Skidsteer
05-04-2016, 11:45
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/files/1/5/3/1/baltjack70a-med_thumb.jpg (http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=2138)

Dogwood
05-04-2016, 11:45
Baltimore Jack inspired many of us to be better more conscientious less selfish people first hikers second. Always enjoyed his presence as an AT supporting fixture. His depth of knowledge, thoughts, and contributions beyond himself demonstrated a trail and life wisdom arrived at by contemplating lifelong experiences I will sorely miss. Jack Tarlin certainly loved the AT and hikers. TU BJ for embracing this sometimes brash young wannabe hiker always steering me in a positive trail and life direction. The AT community has lost another father. Many are richer, wiser and better through his efforts.

Dogwood
05-04-2016, 11:52
From his profile: "Am primarily interested in helping and assisting first-time thru-hikers with their trip planning and preparations, and am always available to do so."

Honest words he lived by!!! He walked his talk and walked his walk. Jack knew himself well sometimes being hard on himself.

Water Rat
05-04-2016, 11:54
From Jack’s Facebook page, and in his own words this past April 22 (after Prince died):

“This is pretty impressive. If you Google "Prince Tributes Purple" (Images), you'll find lots more. The Niagara Falls shots are pretty amazing. Makes me wonder what I'll get on the Trail when I check out. Maybe I rate a purple headlamp or two, I'll be happy with that!”

I was stunned to read the news this morning… I’d have to say he rates far more than “a purple headlamp or two.” May he rest in peace and his wisdom, kind acts, and stories be shared with others. He will never truly be gone as long as he is remembered. I offer my condolences to all who knew and loved him.

DawnTreader
05-04-2016, 11:57
****.. sad news indeed. ****.. we rarely agreed.. **** ... RIP BJ.. cheers.. to a legend and mentor to many..

Mags
05-04-2016, 12:20
I met Jack several times over the years. His thoughts, ideas and opinions always came from an obvious love and passion for the Appalachian Trail.

mattjv89
05-04-2016, 12:23
Terrible news. I was fortunate to meet him several times last year on my thru and he had a real presence about him. A tremendous loss.

saltysack
05-04-2016, 12:26
Any possibility of replacing a shelter in his name via donations?


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saltysack
05-04-2016, 12:28
Better yet if he hated shelters tear down one and dedicate site with brnch etc in his name?


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Dogwood
05-04-2016, 12:33
I remember seeing him for the first time on trail. I didn't who he was yet. But, I had heard of Baltimore Jack eagerly anticipating meeting this AT legend. By outward appearances he was the antithesis of everything I was led to believe a hiker and a legend should be. With young and naive ignorant judgments I saw this person as an out of work possibly homeless guy just rolling out from under the bushes, maybe a wayward down on his luck slightly overweight John Cougar Mellencamp incognito trying to find meaning, still reliving a late 70's rock concert, who smoked a Camel as he hiked, sometimes wearing a sleeveless cotton tee shirt and backward facing baseball cap like a hip hop artist with "attitude", and with way too heavy of outdated gear. This was a great lesson in itself that finally hit home after hearing it countless times, 'don't judge a book by it's cover.' Next lesson: HUMILITY, my way, my path or the way I know isn't everyone else's way, everyone's else's path. I learned to look outside myself. I learned hiking doesn't have to be characterized and defined by constant self serving narcissistic behavior. I was very fortunate to meet Baltimore Jack spending much time with him early on in an AT thru-hike that these lessons laid the groundwork for the entire AT experience. So apt, the quote by Buddha: "when the student is ready the teacher will appear." These are lessons some of us are in need of practicing. Jack was a great teacher to me.

mweinstone
05-04-2016, 12:42
Jack knew how to whisper in a troublemakers ear and cause them to vanish.
Allways imagined the thinhs he may have whispered.
In my head i hear jack in the very most polite voice ," um...it might be best if you slept a mile down the road, out of all the comotion of the law searching for you."
He may have said....

Jack was a compulsive giver.
He would make up an excuse like," no, its fine.....i dont need it".
When he did...

Jack said you cant tell stupid people nuthin and that they would learn soon enough.
a woman with burger size patties of thigh missing from chaffing asked if he thaught she would be fine to continue.
Jack spoke calmly of her imediate danger of septic and she laughed and walked on bowlegged.
It was those moments looking into jacks eyes, i had a friend who saw as i, the worlds woes.

The inner family is cryin hard now.
But we will stop .
Jack was a big man. We have alot to cry about.
We all feel lost.
thats cause the biggest tree fell and were standin in shock.
Later, and forever, we will dance.
We will revere the place and make it sing with the laughter of hikerdom.
So many tears cause many new green things to grow.
Just had a good long cry.
may have a short one later.
Dosnt matter.
I have him still in this family.

Old Hillwalker
05-04-2016, 12:45
Jack knew how to whisper in a troublemakers ear and cause them to vanish.
Allways imagined the thinhs he may have whispered.
In my head i hear jack in the very most polite voice ," um...it might be best if you slept a mile down the road, out of all the comotion of the law searching for you."
He may have said....

Jack was a compulsive giver.
He would make up an excuse like," no, its fine.....i dont need it".
When he did...

Jack said you cant tell stupid people nuthin and that they would learn soon enough.
a woman with burger size patties of thigh missing from chaffing asked if he thaught she would be fine to continue.
Jack spoke calmly of her imediate danger of septic and she laughed and walked on bowlegged.
It was those moments looking into jacks eyes, i had a friend who saw as i, the worlds woes.

The inner family is cryin hard now.
But we will stop .
Jack was a big man. We have alot to cry about.
We all feel lost.
thats cause the biggest tree fell and were standin in shock.
Later, and forever, we will dance.
We will revere the place and make it sing with the laughter of hikerdom.
So many tears cause many new green things to grow.
Just had a good long cry.
may have a short one later.
Dosnt matter.
I have him still in this family.

Nice one Matty!

rafe
05-04-2016, 12:45
^^^ Nice, Matty.

mweinstone
05-04-2016, 12:56
Letting down someone you love and cherish usually results in loss.
Baltimore jack tarlins gold zippo engraved with the years of his hikes was allways pulled from wherever he kept it and held in offering , glowing and warm to any struggeling or percevied by jack to be about to struggel for a light, without sound or movement.
Like french maid service, it appeared.
Jack was like that.
Once i lost it at traildays and broke into a panic.
My friends know, matty panics if stars come out at night.
After 12 hours i went to him and confessed crying.
He said it was only a lighter and ment nothing and to calm down please.
I had allready seen my life passing before my eyes.
Now i only was confused.
he laughed.
Later, i found it and held it in my closed mouth as i ran to return it.
That was a bad day.

dudeijuststarted
05-04-2016, 13:08
a life lived.

Dogwood
05-04-2016, 13:10
I've missed your post Matty. Nice.

Indeed, a big venerated tree fell in the woods. But what happens next is part of the long life of the tree.…giving and giving intertwined so deeply in a larger perspective. It provides shelter for wildlife on the ground, decomposes to enrich the soil diversity, makes way for other seedlings….

Miel
05-04-2016, 13:10
My God.

Jack (who went by another first name way back when) attended high school together. We were both involved in arts there. Mid-baby boomers who enjoyed certain aspects of the tail end of the hippie generation. The same age as each other. I knew him years before he became the AT's Baltimore Jack. So long ago now. He was handsome and smart.

Even back then, he loved to walk. He walked everywhere. We grew up in a "streetcar suburb" with three trolley lines and three bus lines, but how he loved to walk! So great for him that he followed his passion for walking from the suburbs to the woods, helping others along the way as he happily walked through the decades.

May his memory be a blessing.

ETA:

If no-one's posted his high school graduate pic yet:

http://www.brookline1976.com/class_profile.cfm?member_id=3829440

Ron Haven
05-04-2016, 13:26
I just spoke to Macon Funeral Home in Franklin, NC where Jack's body is at this time (http://maconfuneralhome.com/runtime.php?SiteId=4031&NavigatorId=61709). They stated that obituary information would not be posted until his family was contacted. Sadly, I don't know anyone in his family.

neighbor dave
05-04-2016, 13:38
He died much too young.
R.I.P. Jack

rafe
05-04-2016, 13:42
Amazing story, Miel. Who'd a thunk it? You and Jack. I knew he had Boston connections. It came up when someone praised Sam Adams beer. Jack would point out that "real" Bostonians didn't think all that much of it.

Blue Wolf
05-04-2016, 13:45
Sad news for sure...great guy, never forget all the good food he cooked at the Kincora on my way through in 2009

rocketsocks
05-04-2016, 13:48
Hearing this news I am shocked and without words today, my profound and sincerest condolences to his family and friends, rest peacefully Mr. Tarlin

chknfngrs
05-04-2016, 13:57
Thanks Ron Haven for the update

MuddyWaters
05-04-2016, 14:27
:(
Sorry to hear

bigcranky
05-04-2016, 14:43
Very happy to see your posts, Matty.

bigcranky
05-04-2016, 14:44
If no-one's posted his high school graduate pic yet:

http://www.brookline1976.com/class_profile.cfm?member_id=3829440

Crap, he was only four years older than me. Way way way too young.

The Scribe
05-04-2016, 14:53
Here's to: "Bill Bryson is a Candy Ass!!!!!" RIP Baltimore Jack.

V Eight
05-04-2016, 15:22
I got to meet Jack at one of Ron Havens April Fools Bash's 4 or 5 years ago. Only got to talk to him briefly, but I did get to watch as he freely poured out his knowledge to some very green thru hikers.
Our community has lost another great one.
He will be missed

V8

pilgrimskywheel
05-04-2016, 15:25
34736 Bye Jack! Love, Pilgrim

daddytwosticks
05-04-2016, 16:27
Met him once at the shelter north of Stecoah Gap. Think it was in May of 2005. He was hiking with a guy by the name of Mtn. Dew. Both of them were very funny. Shocked to hear of his passing. Prayers for him and his family.

Lone Wolf
05-04-2016, 16:52
i knew him 20 years. we beat each other up on the interwebs but always had fun when we were together. had many a bourbon shots with him. watched a lot of Jeopardy with him. damn that boy knew a lot of useless *****e! when my friend Duff Buster passed away in 2000 he found me in Stratton, Maine on the street, pulled out 2 airplane bottles of Jim Beam and we toasted Duff's life. i will do same and drink a toast to his life.

he was tough. never carried less than 50 lbs. i was hikin' behind him going up a steep climb in Virginia. he stopped, lit up a filterless camel, hacked and wheezed then hiked on. he really liked pork chops. he'll be missed

Sir-P-Alot
05-04-2016, 16:55
34738

Rest in peace Jack. You sure made my hike a memorable one. May you soul be at rest.

BonBon
05-04-2016, 17:04
I met Baltimore Jack 3 times last year-once at Neels Gap ( he greeted me warmly), once at Laughing Heart Hostel (he gave me a beer, showed me many summit pictures and a picture of a rattle snake climbing a tree) , and once up in Hanover NH. In NH, he was walking up a long hill in town to go and do a movie review of Walk In The Woods for the local paper. He had just seen a pre-release screening. He was struggling with a bad leg. He shared with me what his review of that movie would be, and later when I saw the movie- I thought he nailed it. He was in a hurry and when we offered to buy him a beer, he hesitated then said he had to go, As he walked away he hollered over his shoulder that we might have the only story in which Baltimore Jack turns down a beer.
I had read much about him before my hike and meeting him was very special. He lived up to his legend, for sure.

AngryGerman
05-04-2016, 17:28
RIP Jack and condolences to the family. I've had the pleasure of meeting Jack a couple of times along the AT and he was definitely one I'll always remember.

fiddlehead
05-04-2016, 17:32
Very sad news indeed.
Had many good conversations with Jack.
Met him on the trail in '95 and at many gatherings, trail daze, and more.
Always a helpful soul.
RIP Jack.

Dogwood
05-04-2016, 17:38
i knew him 20 years. we beat each other up on the interwebs but always had fun when we were together. had many a bourbon shots with him. watched a lot of Jeopardy with him. damn that boy knew a lot of useless *****e! when my friend Duff Buster passed away in 2000 he found me in Stratton, Maine on the street, pulled out 2 airplane bottles of Jim Beam and we toasted Duff's life. i will do same and drink a toast to his life.

he was tough. never carried less than 50 lbs. i was hikin' behind him going up a steep climb in Virginia. he stopped, lit up a filterless camel, hacked and wheezed then hiked on. he really liked pork chops. he'll be missed

Yup. Easily mistaken assumptions about Jack upon just a visual scan. He was more quiet than some may assume, usually knowing how and when to be reserved, also knowing when to speak up and act, and having some surprisingly "conservative" views. He demonstrated trail and community stewardship.

RockDoc
05-04-2016, 17:46
Here's a bad photo of Jack lounging in a shelter, but happy to make new friends and talk about hiking the AT.
The camera lens was foggy because we were hiking in a huge, very wet storm.
Sorry, there are probably more flattering images of him.
Loss of a great hiker. Very sorry to hear.
34740

bamboo bob
05-04-2016, 18:27
I met Jack in 2000 at Saunders Shelter ten miles south of Damascus. I was coming in out of gas for the night in he was going to Damascus for dinner! I asked was that really Baltimore Jack ? He looks too young. I met him on trail and off many times after that. He was too young.

RainbowExpress
05-04-2016, 18:47
I first saw Jack at the 2014 ALDHA Gathering in Williamstown. It was Friday night & they were doing Roll Call by year you completed the AT. When they got to 1995 Jack stood up for the next seven years & the crowd cheered. When I saw Jack was as big as I was he instantly inspired me to do another Thruhike which would not start till this March. I saw Jack twice more once at ALDHA again last year & Trail Days in Damascus last year. He was always sourounded by folks so I never got to personally talk to him until just over two weeks ago on April 14th. I was staying at Budget Inn in Franklin when I walked across the street to the new outfitter store that Ron has when there he was working & no body but Jack & I. We then talked for about half an hour about our past thruhikes. I had Thruhiked in 1980 so we had lots of stories. We talked Rattlesnakes & he showed me his pic of one that was ready to strike him & I showed him the one of me holding a small live one during my thru in 80. Well we became fast friends then & vowed to look each other up at Trail Days & the next Gathering. We talked about our weight since we r the same there & he had some before & after pics telling me entuasatically I would get there eventually. We r the same age as well. Jack was truly a major inspiration to myself and to so many others. I will always cherish my memories of him. - Harald Fraude "Rainbow Express"

CrumbSnatcher
05-04-2016, 19:02
R.I.P my Friend.

Greenlight
05-04-2016, 19:02
"Finest kind"
-Hawkeye



Jack knew how to whisper in a troublemakers ear and cause them to vanish.
Allways imagined the thinhs he may have whispered.
In my head i hear jack in the very most polite voice ," um...it might be best if you slept a mile down the road, out of all the comotion of the law searching for you."
He may have said....

Jack was a compulsive giver.
He would make up an excuse like," no, its fine.....i dont need it".
When he did...

Jack said you cant tell stupid people nuthin and that they would learn soon enough.
a woman with burger size patties of thigh missing from chaffing asked if he thaught she would be fine to continue.
Jack spoke calmly of her imediate danger of septic and she laughed and walked on bowlegged.
It was those moments looking into jacks eyes, i had a friend who saw as i, the worlds woes.

The inner family is cryin hard now.
But we will stop .
Jack was a big man. We have alot to cry about.
We all feel lost.
thats cause the biggest tree fell and were standin in shock.
Later, and forever, we will dance.
We will revere the place and make it sing with the laughter of hikerdom.
So many tears cause many new green things to grow.
Just had a good long cry.
may have a short one later.
Dosnt matter.
I have him still in this family.

Hoofit
05-04-2016, 19:38
Wow! What a shocker....helped me out at the start of my hike, back at Walasi, between him and Miss Janet, straightened me out on the right gear. Then dug out some bourbon from his stash under the building. It was The kickoff in 2010, even treated me to some of his venison.
Last time I met him was at the bar in the Doyle with Box of Tricks, once again, generosity in the form of an old pair of croks and good advice for the path north.
And that tea shirt, denouncing Bill Bryson, yep, a true legend of the trail, he had each year that he had thruhiked engraved on the back of his watch.
Yep, the AT. will always have memories from so many that he helped and mentored along the way.
Rest in peace Jack, condolences to his family.

mweinstone
05-04-2016, 19:52
In my mind, jacks strong arm gently reaches over my shoulder from behind me and picks up the trimmed fat on the edge of my plate.
In my mind, he stands over me with a spattula waiting to see if the incredible arrangement of different foods hes laid on my plate have made me happy.
In my mind, hes snoring next to me in room 23 and im smileing.
In my mind,hes come up to me, put his hand on my shoulder and asked," is everything allright matty?"

O-H-10 Lil Ohio
05-04-2016, 19:55
I have met Baltimore Jack on many occasions thurout the last ten years. I found BJ interesting to talk with especially his insite on the trail and his view of the people walking the trail.. He truly helped me in some of my hiking decisions and I appreciated his wisdom. He will be missed. I look forward to my ride up to Blood Mountain , Neels Gap, Walasi-Yi every year to do trail angle work in March at Woodys Gap , next year I will be telling the new hikers about a hiker named Baltimore Jack who had a history of hiking the trail. You earned a prayer tonight. Tic-Toc

Cfullerton
05-04-2016, 20:00
This is very sad news. I chatted with him last month in Franklin. RIP Jack and thanks for the conversation!

BillO
05-04-2016, 20:02
Our paths crossed several times a year, mainly through ALDHA events but at other functions as well. Sadly I never got to hike with him, except when Gatherings were held at Dartmouth and we had to hike from one end of campus to the other (longer than the hike to a privy in Maine, he'd say, citing the old joke from Wingfoot's guide) with him always out ahead of me, to grab a beer in that basement bar on Main Street -- making it technically one of only a handful of bars on the A.T., as he also liked to point out. In fact it was there that I have my favorite memory of him.


He and Jester and some others had invited "officials" from ALDHA to come share a beer on the Saturday night of that year's Gathering (early 2000s) and I believe I was the only one who took him up on the invitation. He was extremely grateful and, I think, impressed that I came. But why wouldn't I? It was October and baseball was on TV. Specifically the team he and I have mutually loved, hated and died for (and with) since our respective births -- in the same exact year under Dwight Eisenhower, I might add -- that team, of course, being the Boston Red Sox. With the backdrop of a great game and well-poured drafts, we got down to solving the problems of Red Sox Nation, the outside world, the A.T. and ALDHA.
Conversations with Jack could be heavy at times, but it was all good, I always enjoyed them. We also shared a love of history. When he quipped out of the blue once how Jack Kennedy's civil rights record couldn't hold a candle to that of -- yes -- our birth president, I shocked the hell out of him when I gave him a high-five of consent. Because I, too, am well aware of that fact, and it is a fact if you didn't know it already. (Something else to thank Jack for putting in your brain, folks, lol.)


Just a week ago he fired off a strongly worded email (redundant, right?) about something that the current administration in ALDHA had done, and I started to type a reply but stopped, reasoning that it would be better to talk to him in person rather than put it in writing, especially since I agreed with him. I don't often go to Trail Days but I was already planning to go this year, so I figured I would just wait to see Jack there, maybe invite him to grab a beer and let him vent to a sympathetic ear, then see if we could come up with a plan to address his concerns.


I should've sent the email.


But I promise not to drop the ball, and will do what I can to address his concerns out of tribute to a well-spoken, outspoken hiker full of passion for life, for the trail and for ALDHA.


The class of 76 has already taken a big hit this year with the passing of Prince. (Boy, I can just see the two of them talking music right about now.) Jack, save me a spot by the bar (there's no smoking in heaven, right?) and put the game on. I'll be there eventually, bro.


As always, Jack precedes me by a few steps.

egilbe
05-04-2016, 20:10
One of the trail legends I was looking forward to meeting and drinking a beer, or two, with. Damn. I like characters, and from everything I've heard, read and saw of Jack in various documentaries, he was a character.

Don H
05-04-2016, 20:41
I met Baltimore Jack at Mountain in March of 2011 during my thru. He asked me what I did for a living and when I told him I was recently retired as a firefighter in Baltimore he said "Thank you for your service. You know I'm not from Baltimore, I got my name from the Bruce Springsteen song, do you know it?" Of course I did.
34745

Emerson Bigills
05-04-2016, 21:17
Hate to hear that Jack has moved to another trail. He will be missed. I came into Kincora one cold January evening and Jack had a bowl of chili for me a minute. He said the wood stove had not kept the place above freezing the night before, but he slept next to the stove that night and I was directly above as he tended the fire. I had the pleasure of having dinner with he and Bob Peoples that evening. When they say the best thing about the trail is the people, these two guys sure lived up to the billing. Thanks, Jack.

solace
05-04-2016, 21:21
Hell of a great one here....... such grand words to a grand man....

Tennessee Y'sGuy
05-04-2016, 21:32
I first met jack when I wrote him about my interest in thru hiking back in 2010. He was always helpful and caring. Had the trail in his soul. When I thru hiked in 2012 I saw him 5 times, including a cold wet night at Kincora cooking dinner for everyone.He even bought lottery tickets for me one night. He would help another hiker no matter what. Miss you Jack!!

Ysguy

solace
05-04-2016, 21:34
..... JACK and I spent last month working together in Franklin , NC with Ron Haven.... working sun up to sun down with Baltimore will give you great perspective & understanding on a Man. Jack like his coffee, BLACK, his liquor quicker, he would collect gear & things he would never use just to be able to give it away to someone who needed it... JACK loved his DAUGHTER, whom is to be wed this summer ,,,, He loved Trail Days, I MEAN LOVED TD! Jack was quick with a story to tell, but just long on the finish, so you better have had awhile! Hes thru-hikes pretty much more than anyone.. and pretty much knew everyone in the AT community, and i mean everyone, their kids, and the names of their pets!Jack was BETTER than anyone i had EVER met with JEOPARDY! He appreciated good food, and was quite the AT Chef! JACK was Happy with great people around him... and was happy with almost nothing. RON & I are talking @ naming the hostel in Franklin after him where he spent his last AT season, and last days... SO IN YOUR TRAVELS, raise a glass of bourbon, share a Jack story, touch a white blaze in his honor.... how we miss him dearly already. And you were right Jack... BILL BRYSON IS A CANDY ASS!

mattjv89
05-04-2016, 21:53
When I saw Jack in Hanover for the last time on my thru, he showed me a picture of Antlers Campsite in ME and said it was his favorite campsite on the trail and a must-stop. I probably would have skipped the site if Jack hadn't mentioned it because it made for a pretty short day when I got there. He was absolutely right about the place and it is probably my #1 of the trail too, certainly in the top three. I'll think of Jack every time I go back there.

Furlough
05-04-2016, 22:07
As you blaze your new trail may you be received kindly and treated well, just as you did for so many for so long.
RIP Jack. Sincere condolences to your family.

Furlough

TJ aka Teej
05-04-2016, 22:49
Last time I saw Jack was in the bar at Lakeshore House, where I was picking up my daughter after she and friends yoyo'd the 100. They were flipping through her camera looking at pictures, laughing about the things they had in common.
They say he died of heart failure.
Don't you believe it - his heart was a success.

Speakeasy TN
05-04-2016, 23:05
Heart failure my ass! The big dope was all heart! He's gone ahead so he can help us all out when we get to the other Trail.

betsi
05-04-2016, 23:09
So glad to see others remember and appreciate "Bill Bryson is a candy ass!" Thank you, Mr. Tarlin, for a fine time in Rutland in 2009. Hike on...

Shutterbug
05-05-2016, 00:16
When I saw Jack in Hanover for the last time on my thru, he showed me a picture of Antlers Campsite in ME and said it was his favorite campsite on the trail and a must-stop. I probably would have skipped the site if Jack hadn't mentioned it because it made for a pretty short day when I got there. He was absolutely right about the place and it is probably my #1 of the trail too, certainly in the top three. I'll think of Jack every time I go back there.

That is interesting. I met Jack at a Hiker Feed in Maine, then a few days later I ran into him again at the Antlers Campsite. He and Lion King camped there the same night that I did. He will be missed.

Frye
05-05-2016, 06:48
Jack was someone I didn't at first like, but I spent a day with him bumming around the Dartmouth area and my opinion completely changed.

Pretty bummed out that we won't have the chance to chat again, I totally feel like I missed out by not getting to know him earlier.

See-ya upstairs Jack.

Ron Haven
05-05-2016, 07:54
Heart failure my ass! The big dope was all heart! He's gone ahead so he can help us all out when we get to the other Trail. Speakeasy, I have to agree he was all heart....

TOW
05-05-2016, 09:04
Sad News,
Baltimore Jack Tarlin passed away at Mission Hospital at 6 am this morning in Franklin, NCJack was absolutely an inspiration to many an adventurous young soul and absolutely one of the best woodsmen chefs ever. I've cooked around a lot of cooks in my life but very few actual chefs, Jack was an actual chef. IMHO all Jack had to do was walk up on a cache of unprepared food and by golly he was going to figure out a way to get it prepared and served.....

He saved my butt at the Southern Ruck this past January, I got the job done but I felt reassured with Jack in the kitchen. He just had a way of calming folks and getting the job done.

DavidNH
05-05-2016, 09:58
this is sad. Jack was an encylopedia of AT information with I don't know how many (9?) thru hikes under his belt. He was an information source to me when I was planning my hike. Peace to his family and friends near and far.

magic_game03
05-05-2016, 10:31
First met BJ on my first Thru. I was at The Place all by my lonesome, it was completely empty in mid-March, late at night, and I was sitting outside at one of the picnic tables when up hobbles this old dude. All I really remember is the bandages that seemed to wrap him like a mummy and the fifth of JB (in plastic bottle) wrapped with duct tape that he set down on the table.

He was way too young. ;(

Rest in Peace Baltimore Jack

The Scribe
05-05-2016, 10:39
Jack spinning a yarn and commanding an audience at the Whiteblaze feed in Caratunk in 2005. Shutterbug, pretty sure this is when I met you and the feed you mentioned.34751

mayfly
05-05-2016, 11:25
I met this guy in 1995 on his first (and my only) thru hike, we shared stories of life (and his daughter), food and beverages one night in a shelter in Virginia before parting ways. I saw him again at several ALDHA gatherings usually giving Warren Doyle **** for his "expedition" style of thru hiking with support vans. I ended up un-friending him on FB for blowing up my page with his comments, but would always share a slug of bourbon with him. Truly a special soul and missed by many. RIP Baltimore Jack played the GA>ME @ 1995

Blissful
05-05-2016, 11:37
This is the forum where I first met Baltimore Jack long ago in 2006 and who gave me much sage advice in the forums as I was a newbie trying to plan by 2007 hike. I faithfully read his resupply, took a lot of his advice in the forums where he posted, and also got to meet him many times over the last ten years. When I journeyed on my southbound hike into Damascus, he was there and gave me advice on the Smokies. Jack was a great friend of the trail and hikers. He will be sorely missed, esp at the next ALDHA I plan to go to in MA. It won't be the same.

The last private pm from here he sent a while back was after I lost my beloved dog. He wrote : I am so very sorry to hear this sad news. I've buried many a pet and it's never easy. I hope, in time, you decide to get another dog, it sure sounds to me like you'd be a great owner.

regards,

J.T.
Hanover NH

u.w.
05-05-2016, 12:22
RIP Baltimore Jack, and thanks for all that you did. Your efforts and legacy live on...

u.w.

Archaeopterix
05-05-2016, 13:24
I met Baltimore in Millinocket, Sept '97. Been friends ever since and I've met up with him every year for a hike or a cocktail.34756

Thousands of miles and many trail towns later I have my share of BJ stories. If you want to hear them I'll be out on the trail...so will he!

mweinstone
05-05-2016, 14:01
Jack left trace
Enough for each of us to pick some up
Im a trasher.
I collect hikertrash.
Hes the pride of my collection.

mainebob
05-05-2016, 14:58
34757 I met Baltimore Jack at Mountain Crossing in 2013. My daughter Sassafras and I were on day 3 of our thru hike. Baltimore Jack spent about 15 minutes talking with Sassafras, giving here encouragement and advice. He suggested she get post cards and mail them to her principal (who gave us the ok to take her out of school and was one of her biggest supporters) periodically as she thru hikes. We live in a small town in Maine and to this day whenever my wife or I run in the her middle school principal, she tell us how much those post cards meant to her. Baltimore Jack was kind, polite and gracious. Sassafras and I will remember him fondly.

One Leg
05-05-2016, 15:07
Not much that I can add that hasn't already been said. I loved the old fart.

Back when I first met him in 2004, I ignorantly asked him "What do you do for a living? " He looked me straight in the eye and said "I hike." I said "Yeah, but what do you do for a living to earn money?" He gave me this 'You're a dumbass' look, and very slowly and forcefully said "I HIKE!"

We saw one another a few times each year, always greeting one another with a bear hug. I'm going to miss those hugs.

I managed to piss him off back in 2014 after I commented on one of his and Warren's infamous diatribes. I commented "Jack, I have this theory that you & Warren were married in a previous life, you didn't get it right then and things ain't looking too hot now." - He didn't speak to me for months. I'm so glad that we made up.

When I met him for the first time, his advice proved invaluable, and his friendship irreplaceable.

I'm going to miss you, Jack. Happy trails.

hikeandbike5
05-05-2016, 16:47
Anyone have any more details, it seems like he was just posting a week or two ago.

saltysack
05-05-2016, 16:54
Someone said heart failure/attack? Not sure if accurate....damn shame


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Lone Wolf
05-05-2016, 17:48
Anyone have any more details, it seems like he was just posting a week or two ago.

major swelling in his legs and he complained of chest pain and trouble breathing. all the signs of congestive heart failure

Ron Haven
05-05-2016, 17:51
Someone said heart failure/attack? Not sure if accurate....damn shame


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
salty, I was the one who posted that it was thought to be heart failure. I have just been informed by Jack's Family. His death was heart complications.

Bluebearee
05-05-2016, 17:56
Not much that I can add that hasn't already been said. I loved the old fart.

Back when I first met him in 2004, I ignorantly asked him "What do you do for a living? " He looked me straight in the eye and said "I hike." I said "Yeah, but what do you do for a living to earn money?" He gave me this 'You're a dumbass' look, and very slowly and forcefully said "I HIKE!"

We saw one another a few times each year, always greeting one another with a bear hug. I'm going to miss those hugs.

I managed to piss him off back in 2014 after I commented on one of his and Warren's infamous diatribes. I commented "Jack, I have this theory that you & Warren were married in a previous life, you didn't get it right then and things ain't looking too hot now." - He didn't speak to me for months. I'm so glad that we made up.

When I met him for the first time, his advice proved invaluable, and his friendship irreplaceable.

I'm going to miss you, Jack. Happy trails.

I met the two of you in the woods just before the Kennebec in 04. I could smell you before I saw you and by that I mean all of a sudden I smelled cigarette smoke and thought "what the hey?" Came around the corner and the two of you were taking a smoke break. Jack proceeded to tell me everything and more about Caratunk and The Forks when I said I was meeting friends for a rafting trip, even though I'm from Maine and had thru hiked two years before.

saltysack
05-05-2016, 17:58
Thx, Ron...I just lost a friend at 43 years old to a heart failure...never no when your times up...I'd say BJ lived life to the fullest....sad...I'm assuming a memorial of some sort is in the works with the ATC? New shelter in his honor? I'm certain many folks would be more than happy to contribute.....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Rocket Jones
05-05-2016, 18:45
A shelter in his honor?!?! Now that's funny.

TJ aka Teej
05-05-2016, 18:50
I hope his Zippo ends up at the AT Museum.

saltysack
05-05-2016, 19:16
A shelter in his honor?!?! Now that's funny.

Or like I said earlier....tear down a rat trap in his honor and do a memorial site...with a good stone fire pit to cook on and flat rock for your whisky...

woodsy
05-05-2016, 19:22
Me and Jack ran the 2006 hiker feed in Carratunk when Steve Longley was absent due to his mom's passing.
Actually, Jack ran the place and i ferried some 60 hikers across the river that day, 40 in one 2 hr afternoon shift.
Good food and drink, good times as usual with Jack . It was the year of Lion King among others and shutterbug was there.
RIP Jack.

SCRUB HIKER
05-05-2016, 19:37
Met him four times on my almost-thru-hike in 2011—Neel Gap, Kincora, Damascus just before Trail Days, and at the ATC HQ in Harpers Ferry. Each time he did something to help me: giving me part of my resupply for free at Neel Gap, telling me about the secret sleeping platform and sauna hut in the back of Kincora, recommending where to stay in Damascus, and giving me excellent advice for the rest of the trail ("carry the MATC map set and don't worry about the rest of the states," for instance) in Harpers Ferry. It seemed like all he ever did was help and dispense advice. Some people didn't like his advice, but I always found it on point. And at the time I was already carrying his resupply guide from this site, a fantastic resource in and of itself. I will always appreciate the guy for being a one-man helping machine—loud, drunk, whatever, he got **** done and had an incredible output of assistance. RIP.

Greenlight
05-05-2016, 20:45
"They always talk of my drinking, but never of my thirst." - Old Scottish Proverb


I will always appreciate the guy for being a one-man helping machine—loud, drunk, whatever, he got **** done and had an incredible output of assistance. RIP.

Ron Haven
05-05-2016, 21:26
Thx, Ron...I just lost a friend at 43 years old to a heart failure...never no when your times up...I'd say BJ lived life to the fullest....sad...I'm assuming a memorial of some sort is in the works with the ATC? New shelter in his honor? I'm certain many folks would be more than happy to contribute.....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Me and my wife are considering naming our hostel in Franklin, NC after him. It was the last place he was on the trail before he was admitted into the hospital where he passed away. I don't know if it would sound better, Jack Tarlin Hiker's Den or Baltimore Jack Hiker's Den. Maybe Jack's Hiker Den. I really like it simple. Jack Tarlin Hostel...

Lone Wolf
05-05-2016, 21:30
B Jack's Hiker Rest

Furlough
05-05-2016, 21:35
B Jack's Hiker Rest
+1 To this.

saltysack
05-05-2016, 21:40
Me and my wife are considering naming our hostel in Franklin, NC after him. It was the last place he was on the trail before he was admitted into the hospital where he passed away. I don't know if it would sound better, Jack Tarlin Hiker's Den or Baltimore Jack Hiker's Den. Maybe Jack's Hiker Den. I really like it simple. Jack Tarlin Hostel...

crazy thing is I was watching a YouTube series of a current thru hiking couple the day before he passed....Jack was on the shuttle from winding stair gap into Franklin...he is part of the trail and always will be...like your ideas..he will always be a legend on the AT.

PeterPan85
05-05-2016, 21:53
Even when I joined years ago, he would always chime in with great info. And after a few years absence, just last week gave me some good info on my first post back. Great guy. RIP!

Speakeasy TN
05-05-2016, 22:03
Any info from the funeral home yet Ron?

Speakeasy TN
05-05-2016, 22:09
Or like I said earlier....tear down a rat trap in his honor and do a memorial site...with a good stone fire pit to cook on and flat rock for your whisky...

I am loving the idea of turning a mouse house into a memorial bonfire!

chknfngrs
05-05-2016, 22:28
If this video doesn't capture him I don't know what would. I never met him but damn glad I found it on YouTube

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nAd6rlO2C-8

Ron Haven
05-05-2016, 22:37
Any info from the funeral home yet Ron?Not yet, as soon as I get info I will share it here.

Ron Haven
05-05-2016, 22:40
B Jack's Hiker Rest
this is an ok name,I am trying to get to Trail Days, see all of you there..

Ron Haven
05-05-2016, 23:29
If this video doesn't capture him I don't know what would. I never met him but damn glad I found it on YouTube

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nAd6rlO2C-8I added that link on the front of one of my site.http://appalachiantrailservices.net/

Raven2001
05-06-2016, 05:59
I was hiking along the trail near Hanover, NH in fall of 2000 on an SB thruhike when I saw him coming at down the trail. Moving fast, half a cig hanging out of his mouth, bandages on both knees. Looked like a scene right out of the 70's. We spent a couple days at the Tabard, the fraternity house at Dartmouth, shared a few smokes, made a few huge lasagnas together, and had some great conversation. I have not seen him since but followed his legend periodically.

He never hammered me for going SB lol. Good man, great spirit. He will continue on for a long time.

Hike in peace, Jack.

CheeseGrits
05-06-2016, 15:08
I met Baltimore Jack three times. - The first time was at Neels Gap on my 2015 hike, when I recall that he bought everyone in the Mountain Crossings hostel a load of McDonalds breakfast goodies.

Then, just before Thanksgiving of last year, my son and I stayed a night at Standing Bear Farm where Jack was helping run the place. In the middle of the night, I moved from my upper bunk which was too hot due to its placement next to the wood-burning stove. There was a empty upper bunk next to mine, and I threw my bag over to that bunk to cool off and crawled in.

The next morning, I discovered that I had slept on top of a large open-top sweet potato casserole that Baltimore Jack had put up in that bunk for safekeeping for some reason. My sleeping bag was totally slimed with the stuff. Baltimore Jack was apologetic, and said not to worry about it, because he never liked sweet potatoes anyway. He said someone had given it to him, and he had accepted it as a Thanksgiving gift that he would share with hikers.

The epilogue to the "sweet potato" incident is that I indirectly lost a girl over it: When I got home, I took the bag to a laundromat to properly wash it. I had just pulled it out of the washer when my girl called, inviting me to dinner. So, I took the wet bag to her house to dry it. As it turned out, when I pulled my bag from the washer at the laundromat, what also came out, unknown to me, was a pair of red lacy panties that had been stuck to the washer drum from whomever had used it before. When my girlfriend found the panties in her dryer later, even though I was totally innocent, that was the beginning of the end.

So, the third time that I met Baltimore Jack, just a few weeks ago in Franklin, I told him the story of the "Red Panties Incident", and how his sweet potato casserole cost me a girl. He contemplated that story, and probably to make it up to me, helped arrange a ride with Miss Janet back to Amicalola Falls, as I had completed my Georgia section hike.

So, rest in peace, Jack. Thanks for the McDonalds treats, and the hookup of the ride with Miss Janet. And, giving me a great story to tell forever about your sweet potato casserole.

Lauriep
05-06-2016, 15:29
The family of Baltimore Jack has been in touch with ATC, and wanted to relay that his given name was Leonard Adam Tarlin, (not Lawrence, as it has appeared in some places). My sense is that he was best known by them as Adam before his Trail years.

Lauriep
05-06-2016, 17:37
Most people think of Jack as a hiker first, but he was also a volunteer, though certainly not a conventional one. While there are some hours recorded in ATC's volunteer database, most of the ways in which he gave back to the Trail were uniquely his own.

Jack's participation in the Damascus Hardcore trail crew was part of the chemistry that made it so successful. The allure of his famous lasagna dinners as well as his unmatched celebrity, charm, and sense of humor were an important draw of this groundbreaking volunteer effort.

When he was in Harpers Ferry, which was annually, he always offered to help us at ATC. We sometimes had projects that tapped his vast knowledge of the Trail, but when we didn't, he'd gamely empty trash or move boxes. He loved helping to process 2,000-miler applications, in part because he knew many of the hundreds of hikers each year who submitted reports.

At the beginning of every Appalachian Long Distance Hiker Association (ALDHA) "Gathering," Jack was the faithful volunteer who asked ahead of time when the ATC cargo van would arrive, so he could be there with friends to help us unload boxes. He didn't have to be asked. He seemed to have an uncanny way of knowing what people needed, when they needed it. This is a theme that has been repeated in so many of the remembrances and tributes to Jack these last few days.

During the Gathering, the thru-hiking workshop he gave distilled a lot of sound advice into a short presentation that was terrific for novices. He was always so eager to support and help the newbie.

He was a brilliant speaker. He knew exactly what to say and how to say it to move people, make them care, and make them laugh. He made it look so easy and natural few thought of him as a "speaker," but there's no Toastmaster who couldn't learn or thing or two from him.

No one ever gave a finer, more impassioned, and eloquent tribute to A.T. volunteers than Baltimore Jack did at Trail Days in Damascus, Virginia, the year that Bob Peoples was given an award to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Hardcore trail crew. I would give anything to hear that speech again.

Jack was frequently the champion for others receiving recognition, especially Bob Peoples. Jack was instrumental in both Bob's award for Hardcore and Bob's recent ATC Honorary Member award.

He was a gifted writer and storyteller, and recently penned two memorable articles for ATC's member magazine, A.T.Journeys: a story about Steve "The Ferryman" Longley, and an article about Bob Peoples and the Hardcore Trail Crew.

Jack had so many different sides. He dressed like a ragged hobo, but could be one of the most gentlemanly people you'd ever meet. He was outspoken and could verbally skewer people he thought were pompous or doing a disservice to others, but the people he admired--especially the soft-hearted ones whose kindness knew no bounds--could do no wrong. He was fiercely loyal to them.

So many people knew and loved Baltimore Jack, and so many of you here on WhiteBlaze knew him personally a lot better than I did. Since I avoid hiking with "the bubble" I never got to hike with him. I never sat around a campfire with him, because I'm just not big on campfires. But we had a kinship because of our shared love of the A.T. Our lives were very different, but what we had in common was that the A.T. became an all-consuming, never-ending passion.

The last time I saw Jack was when I spent a day and half in the back seat riding with him in my car last July. My husband and I and a friend were driving north to hike a section of the A.T. in Maine and dropped him off at a friend of Jack's in Vermont. We had just seen an advance screening of the movie A Walk in the Woods together. If you know Jack's feelings about either the book or the movie A Walk in the Woods, you can imagine what that car ride was like. In a display of exceptional self-control, though, he honored ATC's request not to publish his review until the film had broader exposure. In some respects, discipline may not the word that comes to mind when you think of Jack, and yet he had it in great measure in some areas of his life.

There are few who have cared as deeply about the welfare of the A.T. and the people who hiked it as Baltimore Jack.

I will really miss him. The A.T. will never be quite the same.

Dogwood
05-06-2016, 18:38
Laurie you nailed it about Baltimore Jack's ability to speak and volunteer. He had a way to inspire and communicate that was subtle but got the job done. He wasn't one to covet center stage or easily accepting of long winded flattering of himself. He'd prefer lifting someone else up in recognition. I heard that speech he gave about another huge hiker and AT supporter Bob Peoples. That was a GREAT speech. Down to Earth Jack was.

Matty early nailed it too:


In my mind, jacks strong arm gently reaches over my shoulder from behind me and picks up the trimmed fat on the edge of my plate.
In my mind, he stands over me with a spattula waiting to see if the incredible arrangement of different foods hes laid on my plate have made me happy.
In my mind, hes snoring next to me in room 23 and im smileing.
In my mind,hes come up to me, put his hand on my shoulder and asked," is everything allright matty?"


Jack knew how to whisper in a troublemakers ear and cause them to vanish.
Allways imagined the thinhs he may have whispered.
In my head i hear jack in the very most polite voice ," um...it might be best if you slept a mile down the road, out of all the comotion of the law searching for you."
He may have said....

Jack was a compulsive giver.
He would make up an excuse like," no, its fine.....i dont need it".
When he did...

Jack said you cant tell stupid people nuthin and that they would learn soon enough.
a woman with burger size patties of thigh missing from chaffing asked if he thaught she would be fine to continue.
Jack spoke calmly of her imediate danger of septic and she laughed and walked on bowlegged.
It was those moments looking into jacks eyes, i had a friend who saw as i, the worlds woes.

The inner family is cryin hard now.
But we will stop .
Jack was a big man. We have alot to cry about.
We all feel lost.
thats cause the biggest tree fell and were standin in shock.
Later, and forever, we will dance.
We will revere the place and make it sing with the laughter of hikerdom...


He always had that guiding hand having a way to get me to see other considerations I had been missing. His resupply article listed here on WB became the cornerstone of so many resupplies on so many different trails.

Jack is deserving of an AT shelter and possibly an Overlook named after him! He's right up there with the greatest of AT supporters that have touched so many lives.

old school
05-06-2016, 19:21
rip Baltimore Jack

Del Q
05-06-2016, 21:00
Good dude.

Ron Haven
05-06-2016, 21:56
The family of Baltimore Jack has been in touch with ATC, and wanted to relay that his given name was Leonard Adam Tarlin, (not Lawrence, as it has appeared in some places). My sense is that he was best known by them as Adam before his Trail years.Yes, i thought I was wrong when I saw a post of Lawrence. I was sure it was Leonard Adam Tarlin. His last two initials were A T.............

Hunchback
05-06-2016, 21:59
Sad News,
Baltimore Jack Tarlin passed away at Angel Mission Hospital at 6 am this morning in Franklin, NC

One morning, many moons ago, while breaking dawn in a bunk room of a hostel, a hiker buddy of mine was in the top bunk and rolled into his hydration bladder which began to drip on the hiker on the bottom bunk, splashing onto his foil blanket, which caused the hiker to wake, thinking my buddy pissed himself, and angrily a ruckus broke out which poured outside onto the porch, and jack was friends with the pissed off hiker, and we all almost came to blows, but the situation calmed, which led to many more moons later laughing it off with Jack over beers and hot dogs. And my daughter made him a salad of grass and dandelions on Wilburn Ridge.

lemon b
05-06-2016, 22:30
Deeply saddened. Had a couple smokes with him on trail in 90's. Seemed to me to be regular guy. Think his pre trail friends called him Adam. Obviously, he became part of the trail and was a wonderful caring human being. Huge loss. Kind of man wouldn't want any of us whining about his passing. But looking back and thinks to this modern thing called the internet feeling pain. The newer photos I see do not show the lean hiking machine Baltimore Jack was back in the day.

Also his first thru he never counted cause he broke his leg in Maine. Most including myself would have walked that short section again and called it another not Baltimore Jack. Also obviously an intelligent man which makes me think his own personal last wishes are written by him in his hand and with someone close.If he shared those wishes over bourban with his closest friends that counts in my book. Those wishes need to be honored and respected. I trust his legal family will insure this happens and being 100 percent hiker I'm certain he did not have much material stuff. Spiritually he had the complete package.

Miel
05-07-2016, 07:30
The family of Baltimore Jack has been in touch with ATC, and wanted to relay that his given name was Leonard Adam Tarlin, (not Lawrence, as it has appeared in some places). My sense is that he was best known by them as Adam before his Trail years.


Yep. he was Adam when I knew him in high school. I had reconnected with him briefly on FB through a mutual friend a few years ago, when he had long been Jack Tarlin. Neither the friend nor I knew about his AT life at that point, and she didn't know why he changed his name. I did the LT before he became involved with the AT, so I didn't make the connection. In fact, when I saw his posts on her FB page, I first thought "I wonder if he's related to Adam Tarlin?"

In any event, it all made sense, since he loved walking. He walked EVERYWHERE, even if he could have gotten a ride.

But yes, he was Adam throughout his childhood and for part of his young adulthood. You can verify with this the Brookline (Mass.) High School Alumni Association.

Grampie
05-07-2016, 11:11
Baltimore Jack. May he always have happy trails and never run out of Jim Bean and Camels.

Lone Wolf
05-07-2016, 15:02
Baltimore Jack. May he always have happy trails and never run out of Jim Bean and Camels.

he quit camels years ago. jim beam killed him

Greenlight
05-07-2016, 16:16
It has to roll off the tongue. Don't make the name too long. Just "Baltimore Jack's - A restful place in a hostel world" Commission a chainsaw sculpture of him in his prime and put it near a fire circle.


this is an ok name,I am trying to get to Trail Days, see all of you there..

V Eight
05-07-2016, 16:42
Is anybody planning on some kind of tribute to him at Trail Days? I know he would hate the idea for himself, but would also be first in line for any one of his countless buddy’s.
Just a thought.V8

George
05-07-2016, 17:45
Is anybody planning on some kind of tribute to him at Trail Days? I know he would hate the idea for himself, but would also be first in line for any one of his countless buddy’s.


Just a thought.

V8



not much planning required, lots of venues at TD just need a slot and let it get around that an open podium is available for tributes - a natural for a youtube

Dogwood
05-08-2016, 00:15
Gave so much back. Seemed to quietly be learning from the past and not making the same mistakes again and again. Demonstrated what trail community and personal responsibility and trail stewardship was about without ever being preachy. He just lived it and noticed it when others also did…and didn't. It bothered him when he came across those in the trail community with self serving ignorant of others attitudes. He said to me several times, "what we do now reflects on those who pass after us. None of us hikes totally in a bubble", in a voice and with a reason that resonated deep within my soul. Uhhh…..I will miss Jack… and not so much for his hiking exploits but by being fortunate of being mentored by him that at the time I never perceived as being mentored.

lemon b
05-08-2016, 05:52
Ron and Lone Wolf. Didn't Baltimore Jack have a daughter ? If so for me it would be important to toss a few greenbacks her way so that she can do whatever he may have asked of her.At least for me. Hopefully that will show up in his official obit. Lets face it professional hiker and hiker helper ain't gonna be the highest paying position in the world. I see his cause of death just being the fact he hiked so long and so hard that physically he couldn't do his real passion any longer on account of the fact one only has so many miles in the legs. Once those went it was just a matter of time. Obviously he thru hiked until the physical end made doing so end to end unrealistic. One things for certain God broke the mold and we ain't never again going to see another Baltimore Jack. His spirit and legend will never leave the trail.

Lone Wolf
05-08-2016, 06:24
Ron and Lone Wolf. Didn't Baltimore Jack have a daughter ? If so for me it would be important to toss a few greenbacks her way so that she can do whatever he may have asked of her.At least for me. Hopefully that will show up in his official obit. Lets face it professional hiker and hiker helper ain't gonna be the highest paying position in the world. I see his cause of death just being the fact he hiked so long and so hard that physically he couldn't do his real passion any longer on account of the fact one only has so many miles in the legs. Once those went it was just a matter of time. Obviously he thru hiked until the physical end made doing so end to end unrealistic. One things for certain God broke the mold and we ain't never again going to see another Baltimore Jack. His spirit and legend will never leave the trail.

yes he has a daughter. he also has a sister that is taking care of things. he will be cremated per his wishes. she will be writing his obit

mandolindave
05-08-2016, 08:38
Is anybody planning on some kind of tribute to him at Trail Days? I know he would hate the idea for himself, but would also be first in line for any one of his countless buddy’s.


Just a thought.

V8



V8, Yes plans are being made for a tribute at Trail Days, by an iconic Trail Angel and former hiker. I am sure she has the support of an iconic hiker and video blogger, both of which admired, respected and cared for Baltimore Jack. I am also confident that these two will have no trouble enlisting help doing what ever needs to be done.

bamboo bob
05-08-2016, 10:02
A shelter in his honor?!?! Now that's funny. A plaque at Antlers maybe but a shelter is not something he would've like.

One Half
05-08-2016, 13:23
I found this. Please read the comments section. Seems Jack was in lots of pain and never let his "trail family" know.

http://appalachiantrail.com/20160504/baltimore-jack-tarlin-hits-the-end-of-his-trail/

Dogwood
05-08-2016, 13:28
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAd6rlO2C-8

Peaks
05-08-2016, 17:19
great clip.
Thanks for posting

mandolindave
05-08-2016, 17:56
I found this. Please read the comments section. Seems Jack was in lots of pain and never let his "trail family" know.

http://appalachiantrail.com/20160504/baltimore-jack-tarlin-hits-the-end-of-his-trail/

About this article…..I am thinking Baltimore Jack "enjoyed life", and might not been in the best of shape. But even the old and Grey Jack was sharp as a tack, never slurred, stammered, or missed a beat, in any interviews, casual or formal. I also think that he must have lived a slightly healthier life style than the article HINTS at, seeing as how he hiked the AT 10? times

Pony
05-08-2016, 20:02
On my thru in 2010 I bought shoes in Daleville, and by the time I made it to Harpers Ferry they were basically falling off of my feet. I didn't feel that the quality of the shoe matched the price so I stopped by the outfitter to see what the manufacturer's return policy was. I explained my situation to the guy behind the counter thinking he would help me get replacements. Instead what I got was a lecture about how its not cool to be swindling manufacturers and outfitters, and how freeloaders in general are bad people. After working 10 years in customer service I was really confused by this approach, although I understood the sentiment. But once he realized my intentions were not to get something for nothing, he became very helpful, even friendly. Nonetheless I left the outfitter scratching my head. I walked across the street to have a beer with some friends and told them about my experience. They all burst out laughing and said, "oh, that's just Baltimore Jack". Two months later on my way thru Hanover I ran into him again, and he greeted me like an old friend. We talked for close to an hour then he wished me luck on the rest of my hike. I never brought up the encounter in Harpers Ferry, and neither did he. I have often wondered if he remembered me, or if I caught him on a bad day in Harpers Ferry, and on a good day in Hanover. Either way, both encounters were memorable, and I am grateful to have met him.

R.I.P. Baltimore Jack.

Ron Haven
05-08-2016, 21:45
34776 Here is a picture I took of Jack in 2008 at Hot Springs. It was in front of that pub on Bridge Street that burned down.

wnderer
05-09-2016, 08:41
Somebody should write an obit to put on the Whiteblaze home page. I carried Baltimore Jack's resupply advice on my hike in 2007 and I wasn't the only one using it.

foodbag
05-09-2016, 08:48
Sad news indeed :(

RIP Jack, may the hiking trails in heaven be plentiful and extra long....

mweinstone
05-09-2016, 11:34
Were not going to discuss if our jack was black or white or muslum or not.
He was our baltimore jack.
Its never been his name, it aint a trailname just anyone can use....
Its a designation.
Like air force one.
if, by a stroke of god one day another leaderand father figure of hiking were to come along and win our hearts.....
Well that would be a different story.
For now, we had a baltimore jack tarlin that was in fact our leader and one of our hiker nations founding fathers.
it can be stated so, because hikerdom is young and we have him to take a bearingfrom for many miles to come.

ekeverette
05-09-2016, 11:41
Met him in 2012 on my thru at neels gap, store? ....... he had so many stories....... really nice man.

Greenlight
05-09-2016, 12:47
Per Roberts Rules, I second that motion.
As much as the reality hurts, that Baltimore Jack is now walking the higher trails, we all pass some day.
I've enjoyed the stories here. The chance encounters. I haven't enjoyed as much the dissections of his personality (other places on the interwebz, not so much here), ruminations about his potential vs. his success, carping about his drinking problems, etc.

Every legend I've ever met or read about wasn't perfect.

Baltimore Jack was hiker trash royalty. It appears that is what he wanted from life, from fate, from God, from whatever or whomever grants those sorts of things. The trail was his and hikers love him. Simple as that.


Were not going to discuss if our jack was black or white or muslum or not.
He was our baltimore jack.
Its never been his name, it aint a trailname just anyone can use....
Its a designation.
Like air force one.
if, by a stroke of god one day another leaderand father figure of hiking were to come along and win our hearts.....
Well that would be a different story.
For now, we had a baltimore jack tarlin that was in fact our leader and one of our hiker nations founding fathers.
it can be stated so, because hikerdom is young and we have him to take a bearingfrom for many miles to come.

Ron Haven
05-09-2016, 17:59
Here is what the Macon Funeral Home has posted on line for Jack, Click on this link (http://maconfuneralhome.com/book-of-memories/2492170/Tarlin-Leonard-Adam-Baltimore-Jack/service-details.php)

Ron Haven
05-09-2016, 18:01
Somebody should write an obit to put on the Whiteblaze home page. I carried Baltimore Jack's resupply advice on my hike in 2007 and I wasn't the only one using it.http://maconfuneralhome.com/book-of-memories/2492170/Tarlin-Leonard-Adam-Baltimore-Jack/service-details.php

Greenlight
05-09-2016, 19:35
That's pretty thin soup.

It did point to the ALDHA gathering link. Is his family signaling to the hiker trash community that they're being hands off?

I wish I could get away to Trail Days even for a day since I never got to meet JB and was so looking forward to the opportunity when I do my thru.


Here is what the Macon Funeral Home has posted on line for Jack, Click on this link (http://maconfuneralhome.com/book-of-memories/2492170/Tarlin-Leonard-Adam-Baltimore-Jack/service-details.php)

Ron Haven
05-09-2016, 21:11
That's pretty thin soup.

It did point to the ALDHA gathering link. Is his family signaling to the hiker trash community that they're being hands off?

I wish I could get away to Trail Days even for a day since I never got to meet JB and was so looking forward to the opportunity when I do my thru.http://aldha.org/gathering.html Here is the link..

Lone Wolf
05-09-2016, 21:17
but that's not an obit

solace
05-09-2016, 21:55
but that's not an obit

Agreed LWOlf... I was with Jack for 2 weeks this year in Franklin, from Sun-up til sun-down... had never spent that much time with him. Got to know him so much better. I left Franklin & 9 days later hes gone.. I'm as crushed as alot of us are.... I knew him well... and agree we need a proper obit... anyways, I'll see you @ TrailDays... the memorials are going to be plentiful....

Ron Haven
05-09-2016, 22:02
Agreed LWOlf... I was with Jack for 2 weeks this year in Franklin, from Sun-up til sun-down... had never spent that much time with him. Got to know him so much better. I left Franklin & 9 days later hes gone.. I'm as crushed as alot of us are.... I knew him well... and agree we need a proper obit... anyways, I'll see you @ TrailDays... the memorials are going to be plentiful....I agree with both of you. This was all that was posted.

mweinstone
05-10-2016, 07:31
Baltimore jack
Had in his pack
Half a ham sandwich
And a mayo pack
He looked my way
Saw i was a stray
And asked quite politly
had i eaten that day
I lied with my toung
And said i had some
But the growel from my stomach
Gave me away
he held out his hand
And demanded i stand
for his gift and his polite concerned way
In one gulp i swallowed
In one instant i followed
This man who was a mans man.

mweinstone
05-10-2016, 07:47
Today i will make 3500$ somehow and get to traildays with my bills paid . Im looking at robbing a bank robber or stealing a thiefs loot or possibly selling fat bastard to the highest bidding opposing druglord.
Or i may just draw my own money with sharp crayons as neat as i can and hope for the best.
I still have two kidneys as my ace in the hole.

Rain Man
05-10-2016, 09:18
Sometimes I wish WB had "Like" buttons like Facebook.


Baltimore jack
Had in his pack
Half a ham sandwich
And a mayo pack
He looked my way
Saw i was a stray
And asked quite politly
had i eaten that day
I lied with my toung
And said i had some
But the growel from my stomach
Gave me away
he held out his hand
And demanded i stand
for his gift and his polite concerned way
In one gulp i swallowed
In one instant i followed
This man who was a mans man.

Greenlight
05-10-2016, 09:22
Try to find a cougar looking for a kept man, on the condition that you get to hike during the summers and attend all the trail gatherings.


Today i will make 3500$ somehow and get to traildays with my bills paid . Im looking at robbing a bank robber or stealing a thiefs loot or possibly selling fat bastard to the highest bidding opposing druglord.
Or i may just draw my own money with sharp crayons as neat as i can and hope for the best.
I still have two kidneys as my ace in the hole.

Greenlight
05-10-2016, 09:22
Oh, wait, we're too old for that crap. Time catches up to us all!

chomp
05-10-2016, 14:37
That would be cool since I had that Zippo made for him a decade ago. It once listed all the years that he thru-hiked on it, but those are long worn away now.

The Snowman
05-10-2016, 14:47
Sad news. never met the man but he was such a fixture on the boards RIP.
" May you be an hour in heaven before the devil even knows your dead."

slugger
05-10-2016, 16:30
Man sad news indeed. :(:( The passing of a legend.

mweinstone
05-10-2016, 17:20
Ten years ago in the baroom of the doyel during billvill's july 4th feed, mem ers of billville were blazing hikers tee shirts with red or white duct tape.someone was about to blaze my shirt when i said i wanted jack to do it.
He blazed me purist.
years later, me , mala, phattchap, lonewolf, jack, tricks and tucker started at springer, a hike they called," five old dogs."
I was the guest hiker.
Very sad still . Aint had a dry day since wed.

Lone Wolf
05-10-2016, 17:23
Ten years ago in the baroom of the doyel during billvill's july 4th feed, mem ers of billville were blazing hikers tee shirts with red or white duct tape.someone was about to blaze my shirt when i said i wanted jack to do it.
He blazed me purist.
years later, me , mala, phattchap, lonewolf, jack, tricks and tucker started at springer, a hike they called," five old dogs."
I was the guest hiker.
Very sad still . Aint had a dry day since wed.
been thinkin' about that trip a lot. buncha arguin' goin' on :)

mweinstone
05-10-2016, 17:24
If i invent time travel, ill go back to that day in 1975 when i ran away to DWG and hobbled my way to the doyel on bloody stumps.
Then id wait for each and every one of you and hug you as if you knew me well.
Later, you all would say you once met a hiker who hugged like me.

mweinstone
05-10-2016, 17:30
Thats cause mala , tricks and jack make an exsplosive mix.
Your so right.

Ron Haven
05-11-2016, 18:00
Thats cause mala , tricks and jack make an exsplosive mix.
Your so right.
They had everyones head spinning?

mweinstone
05-11-2016, 18:35
At the start ron. At one point tricks demanded i drive his truck just a mile up forest servise road 42. I told him i dont drive and wouldnt know how and that it was steep and rocky and full of hairpin turns.
He sat on me. It hurt.

mweinstone
05-11-2016, 18:38
Later, mala and phattchap told me stecoa gap was fine for camping.
they sat in the truck waiting for a drizzle to stop as i pitched my tent.
Quickly i found out, malas stelth spot was a poop mine field.
Returning to the truck covered in hiker dung.... they said i had nothing to wine about.
Me and lwolf and jack behaved ourselves.

mweinstone
05-11-2016, 18:44
Said my goodbys to jester today as he left for duncannon to help trailanglemary load her van.
Then they will convoy to damascus.
My son maximilian needs me and i need to find work.
If i somehow get ahead by next weekend, ill go to the doyel nd recieve jester and any northeners stopping there after afterdays.
Meanwhile my plan is the same as every summer i cant hike, hang out at the doyel and be a help.
This year ill remember jacks kind ways when hikers piss me off.
Hehe.

Wolfpaw
05-11-2016, 21:25
Bill Bryson was a candy ass.

MuddyWaters
05-11-2016, 21:33
Did not know him
Met him once briefly several yrs ago. Didnt stop to chat.

But I remember the first time I heard of him.
A section hiker with a young kid had run into him somewhere. He gave the kid something, maybe a patch.

It made their trip.

Many Moons
05-11-2016, 21:44
Having a shot of Jim for BJ. Met him several times on hikes, he always seemed that he was helping others. Really cool dude!!! He was always in the company of other legends, LW, JKD, BP and Lumpy . Happy Trails! Hike On!!!

Miller

George
05-12-2016, 02:00
or possibly selling fat bastard to the highest bidding opposing druglord.
.

I will start the bidding at eighty seven cents - but he has to walk to my place, may be renamed thin bastard by arrival

Creek Dancer
05-12-2016, 08:26
Many years ago, while hiking in Georgia (I think), Baltimore Jack and I were leap frogging on the trail. At one point, I found him sitting on a downed tree or rock. We got to chatting and he told me that whenever we come across a place on the trail that is "butt high", we should sit down and take a break. To this day, every time I take such a break on something butt high, I think of him. RIP Jack.

mweinstone
05-12-2016, 09:56
Traildays weighs heavy on sad shoulders.
In my mind i remember corinthians," believe all, hope all".
That bible verse has never been hard for me.
i still believe in my heart something could happen to allow me to go.
My mission to cheer up the downsaddened with homeade words and antics so foul is and will remain my mission.
and failure is an option i will suffer for any.
Johnney thunder just emailed from korea. He threatened me that id better be recieving his mail in the passenger seat of a car going south to damascus.
soon the threats will stop and turn to drunken calls from hikers missing my teepee filled funtime happy wonder cakes.
Heres my belief......
Somewhere theres an old crippled hiker wathching our lives unfold.
They really want to make some magic happen so they have me picked up by a single hot chick whos loaded, lonely and desprate for a hiker boyfriend.
Or.......
maby theres an ego tripping maniac who wants to be the guy who delivers the missing link to the daze and on the last mile needs to be a maniac and so gives me all his money.
Or.....maby my god wants me to miss traildays cause an asteroid is commin and im needed here.
Or......maby ill just find hidden treasure and with it, come to traildays and attempt to fly myself with nothing but dollar store kites.
Hundreds of kites. All tied to my feet so that when enough kites are flown, i lift up upside down and fly away ...saftly landing on marys shoulders by letting kites go one at a time.

mweinstone
05-12-2016, 10:12
Earned an apt full of food these last 3 days. So good to see cheese again. Just ate a block of feta. May eat another every day for ever.
I purposly spent myself to zero on food so i can gain back my ass. It went concave weeks ago.
with my very last 2 $ , i bet the daily pick four lottery. If 1726 hits at 1:30.... i would have 10,000$.
that would let me pay my 3000$ debts and use the remainder for kites.
I could be on the 540 am dogbus loaded for healing others sad.
In my pack would be a single acorn. I would plant a tree for jack in the center of traildays and endow a gardening company to maintain it forever.
When it would be full grown, hikers would gather round it who never met jack and tell storys of him they heard for others long ago.
A small plaque on the tree would read, " for jack, from 1726 and hikerdoms heart."
The acorns would be gathered and planted up and down the trail each season by hikers.
Eventualy, jacktrees would be prolific.
All with their telltale red blaze painted on to make them jacks.

sunbeam96
05-12-2016, 11:00
Baltimore Jack was, as he and I laughingly referred to him as, my ex brother-in-law; he was married to my sister many years ago. His daughter is now 31. Having known him pre-AT days, imagine my surprise when he showed up dressed head to toe in black, leather motorcycle gear at his and my first ALDHA Gathering - Hanover, '94. He'd talked a buddy into giving him a ride up - I don't think he ever had a driver's license. I don't know how he found out about the Gathering, and only there and then found out about his Dad's connection to him hiking and backpacking.

I got to see Jack periodically over the years at Gatherings and on the AT (he had a knack for meeting everyone and everybody - including my in-laws, on the top of Greylock, of all places). He always wanted to talk with me about his daughter. I've been in some contact with one of his sisters and a tiny bit with his daughter. His sister has made contact with ATC and some hiker friends, so I think communication about an obit and anything else will trickle down the vine - as it always seems to on the AT. His daughter's currently in the middle of Finals.

I know the stories and comments here and on Facebook have helped to open up his AT world to others in my family, and I'm sure to his sisters as well. He was vastly loved, and I'm so grateful for the life he found and lived on the AT. He found his passion and purpose and community, and for these things he was a lucky man. He loved it all, and I will always remember the animation on his face when he talked of those things he cared about. He always had incisive and well thought out opinions on all topics trail-related, and his motives always ran from a place of pure love for the Trail. I loved one video I saw where he was at a hostel and said something along the lines of "lots of great folks on the Trail this year - everyone's been fantastic.". His positiveness says it all.

I last saw Baltimore Jack walking down the sidewalk in Hanover last Fall, pack on his back. I was on my way to work and gave him a ride home. We just had a few minutes, but it was enough time to give him a hug, and chat about his daughter's upcoming wedding. I feel his loss deeply, and am grateful for all of you.

Greenlight
05-12-2016, 13:12
Sunbeam,

That was beautiful and true and kind... you left a lump in my throat, and I'm only one of those guys who hoped to meet Baltimore Jack on some not-too-distant-future hike. I have no stories like so many here... But I know his kind, which is why I wanted to meet him. When someone is so passionate about something that they become part of it, and you can't tell if it's feeding them or consuming them, you can feel the energy and it becomes a part of you.

mweinstone, I'll sit beneath that Baltimore Jack oak tree when I'm 90 and plant acorns from Springer to Baxter, you betcha.

Trail Days. Next year, for sure. There better be a chainsaw sculpture of BJ touching a white blaze somewhere, so I can put my hand over his and listen to the mountains whisper.




I know the stories and comments here and on Facebook have helped to open up his AT world to others in my family, and I'm sure to his sisters as well. He was vastly loved, and I'm so grateful for the life he found and lived on the AT. He found his passion and purpose and community, and for these things he was a lucky man.

mweinstone
05-12-2016, 22:04
Room 23 at the doyel hotel in duncannon was givin to m many years ago for being a help .
Its mine alone. Its never rented to hikers and is full of trail memorys and art. I have the keys to it and the hotel. I can show up anytime and just go to my room unannounced weather the hotel is closed or open.
Only baltimore jack and bag of tricks have ever slept on the bed. I sleep on floors. Ive never owned furniture. Im sittimg on a bucket with a blanket folded on it in an empty apt.
Its how i live.
jack and tricks often slept in my room .
They are the only ones allowed at all times.
jack snored less than tricks.
Next time im in 23, im gonna sniff the pillow for jacks teltale scent.

mweinstone
05-12-2016, 22:12
If the familycould see jack's dopted familys actions at this years traildays, they would be moved to tears often, and to a one.
The knowlage of his notoriaty or a vidio of memorials at traildays would have nothing in common with the tear wet hugs you would all recieve from people of all walks who reviered and admired jacks life and acomplishments.
Only the smiles of old hikers telling storys of his exsploits would fill your hearts with what i pray to my god you could see.
If you only knew and could see first hand the masses of good people gathered to honor their loved one lost.
The numbers of folks that never met him and wished to would be astonishing to you all.
know this well, no man woman or child has left such trace on this, our home we call the AT.

mweinstone
05-12-2016, 22:22
In years to come, if a term or exspression or designation is ever attatched to the lore of the man we miss so,....
let them ask," are you doing a sobo , nobo or bobo?"
And let some be heard to answer," neither. Im doin a baltimore jack"
Which will come to be known as hiking from springer to katahdin utilizing the maximum blue blazes.

rocketsocks
05-12-2016, 22:23
Sorry to hear about your friend Matty, sucks...though I never met Jack, it's nice to read all these stories and that so many held him in regard.

-Rush-
05-12-2016, 22:50
I first saw Jack sitting near the office of Ron Haven's Budget Inn on the night of 4/21/16. He eventually came over and sat right next to me on the sidewalk. He was silent for a bit just listening to all the banter flying back and forth and I decided to engage him in conversation. I didn't greet him or acknowledge him as Baltimore Jack; I just treated him like any other hiking friend I met on the trail. We talked for over an hour and had a great conversation as I sipped my first single-malt Scotch in 110 miles. We shared many of the same views on politics and the like, and Franklin was my kind of town. He was passionate with strong opinions and struck me as a cool and intelligent dude. We talked about the trail, gear, food, his daughter and her upcoming marriage, his love of Jeopardy, and people he despised like Bernie Sanders and Sir Packs A Lot [he hated this guy more than Bernie!]. He was carrying three paperback books with him. I didn't see him drink or smoke the entire time. I considered that chance meeting with him a priceless event on my first AT hike. In fact, my entire stay in Franklin for three days was awesome. Thanks Ron!


I was blown away to hear he passed away the same day I had to get off trail in the Smokies due to an ankle injury. I was looking forward to seeing him again at Trail Days where he stated he was going to lay into Sir Packs A Lot. Alas.. that was not meant to be.


RIP Jack Tarlin. You will be missed, but not forgotten.


Carpe Diem

SawnieRobertson
05-12-2016, 23:09
Many years ago, while hiking in Georgia (I think), Baltimore Jack and I were leap frogging on the trail. At one point, I found him sitting on a downed tree or rock. We got to chatting and he told me that whenever we come across a place on the trail that is "butt high", we should sit down and take a break. To this day, every time I take such a break on something butt high, I think of him. RIP Jack.
I guess my first meeting with him fits in here. It was '98. I was sitting on a log, looking out at the valley of trees below and having a jerky treat. It was a short distance before the descent to NOC would begin. Deep in my thoughts about how much I loved being there, I did not notice anyone as they passed about 10 feet away on the trail. It must have been too tempting for him to pass up. I was startled as his voice broke my reverie, I mean REALLY startled. He was at that time wearing his ragged shirt uniform, sweaty, lean and hard. Innocently, he asked if he had frightened me. Of course, if he had, I would never have admitted it. So I offered him some Robertson jerky, he sat down, and we discussed the trail. Good advice: That some people on the trail did not like to have anyone inquire about what they did when not hiking. (Probably mostly himself.) But then he got the last laugh. I asked about the hike from there to NOC where I was to meet Pittsburgh and Tagalong Jan. He gave the about correct amount of mileage but failed to mention the steepness of the terrain. Then left. By the time I finished the descent, my boots had damaged my toes so badly that they eventually needed surgery. Like so many of you, I met Jack again and again over the years. His salutation always was "What are YOU doing here?" That made me laugh. Our last conversation a couple of years ago was about that first meeting and how lean and healthy he was at the time. He told me that he would be that way again the coming summer. He was going to get fit again on the trail. And that is a sad thing, something all of us can relate to. Bye, Jack. It will be a surprise not to see you the next time I am able to be on the trail, even if only sitting on a log, eating a small snack.

rocketsocks
05-12-2016, 23:25
Many years ago, while hiking in Georgia (I think), Baltimore Jack and I were leap frogging on the trail. At one point, I found him sitting on a downed tree or rock. We got to chatting and he told me that whenever we come across a place on the trail that is "butt high", we should sit down and take a break. To this day, every time I take such a break on something butt high, I think of him. RIP Jack.thats kinda funny, just today I bypassed to boulders that I really just couldn't see myself fighting to get up from...and I had a pebble in my shoe. 1/2hr. Later I sat on the ground to remove it.

perrito
05-13-2016, 06:16
Rest in peace Jack.

Ron Haven
05-13-2016, 21:39
I first saw Jack sitting near the office of Ron Haven's Budget Inn on the night of 4/21/16. He eventually came over and sat right next to me on the sidewalk. He was silent for a bit just listening to all the banter flying back and forth and I decided to engage him in conversation. I didn't greet him or acknowledge him as Baltimore Jack; I just treated him like any other hiking friend I met on the trail. We talked for over an hour and had a great conversation as I sipped my first single-malt Scotch in 110 miles. We shared many of the same views on politics and the like, and Franklin was my kind of town. He was passionate with strong opinions and struck me as a cool and intelligent dude. We talked about the trail, gear, food, his daughter and her upcoming marriage, his love of Jeopardy, and people he despised like Bernie Sanders and Sir Packs A Lot [he hated this guy more than Bernie!]. He was carrying three paperback books with him. I didn't see him drink or smoke the entire time. I considered that chance meeting with him a priceless event on my first AT hike. In fact, my entire stay in Franklin for three days was awesome. Thanks Ron!


I was blown away to hear he passed away the same day I had to get off trail in the Smokies due to an ankle injury. I was looking forward to seeing him again at Trail Days where he stated he was going to lay into Sir Packs A Lot. Alas.. that was not meant to be.


RIP Jack Tarlin. You will be missed, but not forgotten.


Carpe DiemRush, I thank you for stopping into Franklin. Yes,Jack was a lot of fun also..

SnakeSession
05-13-2016, 22:28
Hiker’s Welcome Hostel. Glencliff, New Hampshire. 2012.

A group of us current thru-hikers were hanging out and talking when Baltimore Jack walked in. I recognized him immediately from watching hiker videos of Trail Days: a smiling, stocky man wearing round glasses, a puffy hiking coat, and his ball cap on backwards. Friendly, he asked how things were going then gave us tips and secret stealth camping sites for the Whites we were about to enter. This chance meeting would be like Michael Jordon randomly showing up at a high school basketball team’s locker room just before a championship game, and giving them pointers.

I just found out about this today. As others have said, it was just the other day I saw him riding along with Ron on a bus in a YouTube video. Just there for fun and offering support - because he loved being around the trail, and hikers. RIP JACK.

Ron Haven
05-14-2016, 08:37
Hiker’s Welcome Hostel. Glencliff, New Hampshire. 2012.

A group of us current thru-hikers were hanging out and talking when Baltimore Jack walked in. I recognized him immediately from watching hiker videos of Trail Days: a smiling, stocky man wearing round glasses, a puffy hiking coat, and his ball cap on backwards. Friendly, he asked how things were going then gave us tips and secret stealth camping sites for the Whites we were about to enter. This chance meeting would be like Michael Jordon randomly showing up at a high school basketball team’s locker room just before a championship game, and giving them pointers.

I just found out about this today. As others have said, it was just the other day I saw him riding along with Ron on a bus in a YouTube video. Just there for fun and offering support - because he loved being around the trail, and hikers. RIP JACK.please send me the webaddress to that youtube video. Some how I can't find it..

rickb
05-14-2016, 13:08
... I was looking forward to seeing him again at Trail Days where he stated he was going to lay into....

I knew Jack primarily through this website, and we would go at it quite a bit over the span of years. After revisiting some of those conversations on WB some of the comments were rather harsh. Jack had a way with words, that is for sure.

Throughout it all I always held Jack in deep respect, and hope he could say the same for me. But who knows-- I certainly can be an itch at times.

The one thing I do know is on the occasions we met, he treated me as if we were long-time friends from the real world. Whether in Hanover or at a ATC or Aldha gathering Jack was more than gracious with me, and with my wife. He was not only a fun person to speak with, but a generous one. I expect that was just his nature.

While I was not fortunate enough to spend a great deal of real-world time with Jack, I particulary enjoyed speaking with him about issues that had nothing to do with the trail, and consider myself lucky for that. I will miss him more than I have a right to.

-Rush-
05-14-2016, 13:12
Rush, I thank you for stopping into Franklin. Yes,Jack was a lot of fun also..

Thank you for the hospitality. Ken and the rest of the crew at your place were awesome. It was also cool meeting your son, and you gave on hell of a tour of Franklin on the bus. I shall return!

elray
05-14-2016, 14:18
He made us a plate of toasted cheesy bread in Neal Gap when we passed through in 2014, just another of his quiet kind gestures. Thank you Sir!

The Scribe
05-14-2016, 20:40
My stepson thru hiked last year and not too far into the journey (sorry, don't know exactly where this happened), he went into a hostel. Could have been Ron's I guess. He was hanging out with others when someone said, "hey, if you got questions, go into the kitchen and talk to Baltimore Jack."

Well, he knew Baltimore Jack from like 10 years before. My wife and I and ATTROLL have been doing the September hiker feeds in Caratunk and now Monson for years. In 2005 or there abouts, Jack was there. And so was my stepson. A teenager, far from ever thinking about hiking.

So Mainer goes back into the kitchen and starts talking to Jack. Whether he really did or not, Jack said he remembered him and they carried on for quite a while. Mainer went back out into the room with the rest of the hikers. His street cred had grown exponentially. "You really do know Jack."

Mainer summited on Sept 11 and was saddened to learn about Jack.

mweinstone
05-14-2016, 21:07
Spoke with jesters mom just now.
She was unaware of this thread.
She loved jack like all of us but with a catch.
He allways got either an apple ring cake or a cherry cheesecake from pat whom is in fact billvilles baker mom of choice....
So she sent bothto traildays.
Since im privi to the memorials shedualed....ill share that this is the hour .
Just now words of kind remembrence are being spoken far and wide of jack.
Lets join in and all have a drink or a thaught or a prayer for our beloved hikerdoms gain.
We are the benifactors.
For decades, only our kind remembrences will inform the newbee.........of just what hikerdom is.
How we grieve.
How we love.
Why we are family and who marches with our ranks.
Only in remembering our past, understanding our present.....and dreaming our future....may we triangulate the course.
Jack was a carrin.
We look for him to gain bearing.
He was a testiment of the truththat a manis more than his own.
We share life.

Shutterbug
05-14-2016, 21:52
My stepson thru hiked last year and not too far into the journey (sorry, don't know exactly where this happened), he went into a hostel. Could have been Ron's I guess. He was hanging out with others when someone said, "hey, if you got questions, go into the kitchen and talk to Baltimore Jack."

Well, he knew Baltimore Jack from like 10 years before. My wife and I and ATTROLL have been doing the September hiker feeds in Caratunk and now Monson for years. In 2005 or there abouts, Jack was there. And so was my stepson. A teenager, far from ever thinking about hiking.

So Mainer goes back into the kitchen and starts talking to Jack. Whether he really did or not, Jack said he remembered him and they carried on for quite a while. Mainer went back out into the room with the rest of the hikers. His street cred had grown exponentially. "You really do know Jack."

Mainer summited on Sept 11 and was saddened to learn about Jack.

Scribe, I met you at that feed. Is this a picture of Mainer?

Shutterbug
05-14-2016, 21:57
My stepson thru hiked last year and not too far into the journey (sorry, don't know exactly where this happened), he went into a hostel. Could have been Ron's I guess. He was hanging out with others when someone said, "hey, if you got questions, go into the kitchen and talk to Baltimore Jack."

Well, he knew Baltimore Jack from like 10 years before. My wife and I and ATTROLL have been doing the September hiker feeds in Caratunk and now Monson for years. In 2005 or there abouts, Jack was there. And so was my stepson. A teenager, far from ever thinking about hiking.

So Mainer goes back into the kitchen and starts talking to Jack. Whether he really did or not, Jack said he remembered him and they carried on for quite a while. Mainer went back out into the room with the rest of the hikers. His street cred had grown exponentially. "You really do know Jack."

Mainer summited on Sept 11 and was saddened to learn about Jack.


This is a picture of Baltimore Jack from the hiker feed mentioned by The Scribe.

mweinstone
05-14-2016, 23:33
Tonight i made jesters mom laugh.
iys one of my missions to make her laugh.
I only xall if im dangerously funny , or if i have a bakeing emergency.
She liked my rememberence of a time jack asked ," matty, whats her name again?".
Jack was stayig at the doyel and in my room and sheneequa whom i adore and whom adors me,... and i had been talking.
When she left, jack asked that.
His eyes rolled up and his cheeks went real red , and he sort of combined smileing, with a deep thaughtfull inhale.
Like he was takeing in the scope of her natural beauty and also was happy for us.
That was a moment . But a powerfull one .
Shareing whom you love withanother is personal, deep and coolass.
Thats what jack was.

mweinstone
05-14-2016, 23:43
I, like many .....am happy i met jack.
But also im aware of the gift.
It will be shared.
His was to give to each of us treasure.
Mine is plenty for you all.
Thank you jack.
Wherever you are, my arms are stretched out hugging you fir a thousand lifetimes.

The Scribe
05-15-2016, 09:55
Holy cow Shutterbug. That's him. Although he's 6-2 and under 200 now. A hiking machine. Plans to do the PCT next year and complete the triple crown in 2019 or so. Thanks for the pic and for remembering.

jbbweeks
05-15-2016, 20:30
A retire telephone pole climber, he volunteered in my 5th grade class. I said " Hiking this weekend; Wanta go? -Our trip was his first taste of the AT - Two years later he submitted Katahdin to complete his thru at 67. Leaving school on Friday he says "Doing trail magic at Stecoah Gap Wanta go? Fixin hotdogs - huddled under tarp opening Little Debbie boxes in the rain when a hiker that's waited for everyone else to feed moves up to the table and thanks us for helping hikers - offered his hand said Baltimore Jack - we talked while others ate - an old woman appears from nowhere - no hiker - the epitome of a gyspsy witch with mole & all - we stand stunned hotdog in hand - she ask for food we say of course - I lean into Jack's ear "Who and what the hell is that? Wide-eyes behind round glasses he answers "No ******ing idea, but if she pulls out a broom you're gonna see a lot of my ass!
Met him one other time at Miss Janet's place - mentioned witch he said "I was a little hung over when she appeared, thought, I dreamed that!" Same wide-eyed look! A lifetime memory w/ Baltimore Jack - priceless - honored to have met him !


Tapatalk

SnakeSession
05-15-2016, 20:33
please send me the webaddress to that youtube video. Some how I can't find it..

Hey Ron, here's the YouTube video filmed this year by Eric Lutz, aka AppleJack. The playback starts at Jack's part with you on the bus...

https://youtu.be/FJM_lyg8ntk

Falcon
05-15-2016, 22:05
I've read a lot in this thread about the long time and far reaching impact Baltimore Jack has imparted to many of you. I only know him through Whiteblaze and a few videos clips I've watched. For those of you that have known him over the years I have some basic questions about BJ's life and would be greatly appreciative if someone would respond:

Did BJ have a career/profession before spending all his time on the AT?
How did he financially support himself hiking so many thru's year after year?
Where did he spend his winters when the weather prevented him from hiking?
It has been communicated he had a daughter. Was she his only child? Was he ever married?
Where will his cremains be scattered, if that's the family's wishes?
Thanks!

Shutterbug
05-16-2016, 00:48
All week I have been thinking about how much Baltimore Jack missed by dying at age 58. To many of you, 58 doesn't sound "young", but there is potentially so much life left to live after that age.

I went through my "Done That" list and eliminated all the things I did before age 58. I was left with 510 things I would missed out on if I had passed on at age 58. The attached list is some of the things I have done after that age.

Greenlight
05-16-2016, 06:51
That is impressive. The New England clam chowder has been on my list for awhile. I've done Texas chili cook-offs, which was one of the things I'll repeat once the wife and I begin RV'ing, but the bottom line here as I think you're suggesting, Shutterbug, is that we take care of our health.

Blessings as you add another 500 adventures to the list.


All week I have been thinking about how much Baltimore Jack missed by dying at age 58. To many of you, 58 doesn't sound "young", but there is potentially so much life left to live after that age.

I went through my "Done That" list and eliminated all the things I did before age 58. I was left with 510 things I would missed out on if I had passed on at age 58. The attached list is some of the things I have done after that age.

illabelle
05-16-2016, 07:19
All week I have been thinking about how much Baltimore Jack missed by dying at age 58. To many of you, 58 doesn't sound "young", but there is potentially so much life left to live after that age.

I went through my "Done That" list and eliminated all the things I did before age 58. I was left with 510 things I would missed out on if I had passed on at age 58. The attached list is some of the things I have done after that age.

Shutterbug, I began reading through your list, intending to read them all. After getting a little past 100, I saw that there are 14 pages, so I'll have to save it for later. Wow, what an incredible list! So much to do! I think I'll skip #107 (passing a kidney stone). Inspirational!

Miel
05-16-2016, 08:42
All week I have been thinking about how much Baltimore Jack missed by dying at age 58. To many of you, 58 doesn't sound "young", but there is potentially so much life left to live after that age.

I went through my "Done That" list and eliminated all the things I did before age 58. I was left with 510 things I would missed out on if I had passed on at age 58. The attached list is some of the things I have done after that age.

Love, love, love number 7 - but surprised orcas are still out there. I thought SeaWorld had stolen the all and decimated their northwest populations and broken up their families decades ago.

Miel
05-16-2016, 08:43
Wonderful list though, Shutterbug. I think we in Boston tend to take the Customs House for granted. Glad to see others appreciate it.

Water Rat
05-16-2016, 09:44
Love, love, love number 7 - but surprised orcas are still out there. I thought SeaWorld had stolen the all and decimated their northwest populations and broken up their families decades ago.

Not to hijack the thread, but did want to answer the question about the Orcas... Yep, there are still (as of last month) 83 Orcas remaining in the J, K, & L pods of the Southern Resident Orca community. They are closely monitored by the Center for Whale Research (San Juan Island) and you can read all about them on Orca Network. http://www.orcanetwork.org/Main/index.php?categories_file=Births%20and%20Deaths

They don't often take a swim down toward Gig Harbor, so that truly is a treat! They tend to stay further north, but it does all depend on where their food (these particular pods eat salmon) happens to be at the time. They are truly amazing to view in their natural habitat.

Skinny Rooster
05-16-2016, 12:46
Baltimore Jack at Mountain Crossings imparting his wisdom to prospective thru hikers - 10 April 2015. A real trail legend. RIP34823

Shutterbug
05-16-2016, 12:48
All week I have been thinking about how much Baltimore Jack missed by dying at age 58. To many of you, 58 doesn't sound "young", but there is potentially so much life left to live after that age.

I went through my "Done That" list and eliminated all the things I did before age 58. I was left with 510 things I would missed out on if I had passed on at age 58. The attached list is some of the things I have done after that age.


I apologize. I didn't mean to high jack this thread. I will start another thread to respond to comments.

The point I hoped to make was for the younger participants on this board. Baltimore Jack missed a lot of his potential life by dying at age 58. But for the grace of God, I could have died early too. From the time I left the USAF at age 28 until I was 60, I gained one pound a year on the average. At age 60, I had my heart crisis. Fortunately, a doctor detected my blockage and I had a quadruple bypass. Since then, I have corrected the life style issues. I exercise regularly and lost 30+ lbs.

My point is simply that Baltimore Jack had a lot of potential life experiences ahead of him. I feel badly that he won't get to experience them.

mweinstone
05-16-2016, 17:54
Answer to question about jacks past.
jack taught history.
Jack worked inhanover in the winters running a grocery store and doing work for the tree preserve in hanover where he kept a room and each spring drew his whole winters earnings at once for hiking.
Up and down the trail beds belonged to him as he was a hardcore volenteer and stayed when he wasnt hiking at many of our wonderfull hostles.
Jack worked at the outfitters in harpers ferry many seasons and had a place there as well as many many outfitters.
He worked many years for winton and kept a room there at neel gap walasi yi center.
i could keep going but its way too long of a list encompassing each of our 14 eastern seaboard states.
To say jack worked hard for us is such an understatement.
He thrived on working to hike or helping hikers.

Greenlight
05-16-2016, 18:01
34827
I didn't think you hijacked it, Shutterbug. That was an awesome list. I got your point immediately: Don't waste it! Get out there and do stuff, you only get one trip around the block.


I apologize. I didn't mean to high jack this thread. I will start another thread to respond to comments.

My point is simply that Baltimore Jack had a lot of potential life experiences ahead of him. I feel badly that he won't get to experience them.

mweinstone
05-16-2016, 18:04
Kincora was allways jacks retreat. Bob peoples his loyal friend allways.
At daves place in damascus his room was the last on the left as you enter with the double bed.
His work at bluff mountian for jeff and the family was instrumental in their successes.
Jacks givin me many many gifts in the decade ive loved him.
I think the one that trumps them all is the chewed unlit wooden match he left in room 23.
He chewed them when he quit smoking.
I framed it and its been just an intresting thing on my wall at the doyel, with its exsplanation i wrote under it.
But now i think ill unframe it, have a chew and a cry.....
And maby just toss it back under the bed where it fell from his wise hand.

Water Rat
05-16-2016, 19:45
I apologize. I didn't mean to high jack this thread. I will start another thread to respond to comments.

Please don't take what I wrote earlier as meaning I thought you were hijacking the thread. My comment was was directed at what I was about to write since it was only a response (to another poster) about the Orcas.

Shutterbug, your words of reflection and wisdom are absolutely perfect for this thread. Your list absolutely belongs as a reminder that life is short and it is for living. Thank you for taking the time to share your list. :)

Ron Haven
05-16-2016, 21:08
Hey Ron, here's the YouTube video filmed this year by Eric Lutz, aka AppleJack. The playback starts at Jack's part with you on the bus...

https://youtu.be/FJM_lyg8ntkthanks very much.

mweinstone
05-18-2016, 21:41
Wolfpaw just called from his farm in remote michigan to have a phone hug over jack.
Felt like a far and wide moment.
Wolfpaw felt a great disturbance in the force.
As if the friend of thousands of lives suddenly became even stronger.
Wolfpaws thru saw him scooped up by billville and spit out hiker trash with a smile.
Hes growing organic crops and animals and invites hikers to build a life on his fourty acres.
I will visit his family and exsplore a swamp on his property if i can sometime.its hard to reach into the hearts of folks far and wide and deep in the backcountry up nooks and crannys to tiny farms and dales....
Jack made it look easy cause he was worth folks love.

-Rush-
05-19-2016, 02:42
34852

RIP Baltimore Jack Tarlin

moytoy
05-19-2016, 05:04
He is one of the people I always wish I could meet on the trail. RIP sir!

Driver8
05-20-2016, 00:04
I met this guy in 1995 on his first (and my only) thru hike, we shared stories of life (and his daughter), food and beverages one night in a shelter in Virginia before parting ways. I saw him again at several ALDHA gatherings usually giving Warren Doyle **** for his "expedition" style of thru hiking with support vans. I ended up un-friending him on FB for blowing up my page with his comments, but would always share a slug of bourbon with him. Truly a special soul and missed by many. RIP Baltimore Jack played the GA>ME @ 1995

I came to know Jack through Whiteblaze. Loved his occasional thoughtful, philosophical missive here. He wrote fluid prose.

We became FB friends, and that went well until it didn't. Caught up in some of the anger of this political season, he took to blowing up my FB page with what I considered to be misogynistic anti-Hillary stuff. After a while, having had enough, I unfriended him myself a couple months ago. I reckon he and I had a lot more in common than we had dividing us, but it's been that kind of political season. I'll choose to remember more his love for the trail and fine way of expressing himself when he set about to do so here. The community is poorer with him gone. I think of him whenever I pass through Hanover, as a few days back, and will continue to. Salut.

Driver8
05-20-2016, 00:23
If this video doesn't capture him I don't know what would. I never met him but damn glad I found it on YouTube

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nAd6rlO2C-8

This is how I envisioned him from his writings here at WB. Hiker philosopher, a free spirit, free man. Thanks for sharing this, CF.

-Rush-
05-20-2016, 03:35
I came across this post over on Reddit. Pretty cool read. Enjoy!



Now that he's passed, maybe I can tell a story, because he swore me to secrecy while he was alive.
I met Jack at a much-anticipated day-long hiker feed/trail magic in NC. Like the kind where you saw previews written in the shelter logs, promising not just food, but a KEG of local beer from Asheville. The guy I was hiking with at the time and I were DEAD SERIOUS. We got there at like 9 AM, and there was just one dude sitting there, in a folding chair. I sit down, and he just casually introduces himself as Jack. I put two and two together, ask "THE Baltimore Jack?" and he pulls out that lighter to show me.
I could talk for hours just about that day, but instead, I want to tell a story from the next time I saw him, a little bit down the trail at the NOC. Now, I don't know how much the NOC has grown since 2010, but when I got there it was total culture shock; I had adjusted to being in the woods, to the quiet, to the hiker trash stink, and here I was, walking into a loud-ass carnival. They were having some kind of kayaking competition, and there were townies everywhere, voices blaring through loudspeakers, just crowds and crowds.
I'm looking for a place to camp, and who should I run into but Baltimore Jack. I start telling him how crazy this place is, and how culture-shocked I am. He gave me one of those famous Jack pieces of advice: "You want to leave here in the morning, just do the climb up to Cheoah Bald, and enjoy the sunset, night, and sunrise up there." Jack said it, so I was going to do it. (PS: It was worth it)
But the problem remained of finding a place at the NOC to camp, and I'm seriously wondering if Jack shared this bit with anyone else. He literally told me to act casual, and follow his lead. We were walking right past the river, in the middle of crowds, and he made us stop right next to this weird, vertical hill, right in the middle of the NOC. We're doing this secret agent ****, making sure the coast is clear! He finally decides nobody is watching, and takes me around the left side of this unclimbable hill, and believe it or not, there's this steep-ass vertical/diagonal goat path up the side of it! He's frantically whispering to me to keep close, and we scramble up the side of this thing.
And lo and behold, right in the middle of the crazy-ass NOC, there's an untouched, pristine hill, a GLADE, surrounded by trees that muffled the sound. We're up about 50 feet high, dead-center of the NOC, and Jack is just looking at me with this ****-eating grin. "This is where I always camp at the NOC. I agree, it's too ****ing loud."
We camped there, and I got to watch his drill of how he unloaded his pack by just dumping EVERYTHING, got to see all the flasks he had stashed around his person, got to drink with the man and talk trail, the whole time, we were on total light and fire restriction because Jack said NO GOD DAMN WAY was anyone else going to learn about his secret spot.
I mean, how Trail IS THAT?
I got to have a night getting drunk with trail royalty, and so much of my memory of why the trail was great has to do with that night and many others spent in his company. I don't give a **** what flaws the man had. He made my hike an ADVENTURE every time I ran into him, and I will always be grateful.
But I am curious if anyone else had the opportunity to share that secret spot at the NOC with Baltimore Jack. If not, then let this story and this sharing be a candle lit in memory of one of the greatest badasses ever to walk the Appalachian Trail. I'm drinking to your memory tonight, Jack. Here's to you, and here's to the Trail.


https://www.reddit.com/r/AppalachianTrail/comments/4hugbk/rip_baltimore_jack/

Lauriep
05-21-2016, 10:58
ATC just posted this tribute to Jack on our Volunteer In Memoriam page at: www.appalachiantrail.org/home/volunteer/volunteer-recognition/volunteer-biography-full-page/jack-tarlin-(baltimore-jack) (http://www.appalachiantrail.org/home/volunteer/volunteer-recognition/volunteer-biography-full-page/jack-tarlin-(baltimore-jack))


Leonard Adam Tarlin, best known as “Baltimore Jack,” passed away unexpectedly in the A.T. Community of Franklin, North Carolina on May 4, 2016. Considered an A.T. icon, he was famed for his eight Trail completions, seven of them northbound thru-hikes completed every year from 1997 to 2003.

No other A.T. hiker has reported as many annual thru-hikes in successive years, and few hikers have spent as many years completely consumed with the Appalachian Trail.

After worn-out knees prevented him from hiking long distances, he devoted much time and energy to “giving back” to the Trail he loved so much. While there are some hours recorded in ATC's volunteer database, most of the ways in which he contributed were uniquely Jack’s.

Helping novice thru-hikers succeed and supporting the individuals and institutions within the Trail community became his mission. Each year for the rest of his too-short life, he would start his pilgrimage afresh, working a few weeks at various outfitters or hostels along the Trail, beginning each time in Georgia and wending his way north to New England, spending his winters in Hanover, New Hampshire.

In his free time, he spent countless hours advising hikers through the popular online A.T. discussion forum, WhiteBlaze.net. He wrote the site’s most popular article, a streamlined guide to resupply options that enabled hikers to free themselves of elaborate pre-planned maildrops and easily negotiate the maze of options along the Trail. This simplified the logistics of long-distance hiking for untold numbers of hikers.

Jack's participation in the innovative and impactful Damascus “Hardcore” trail crew was part of the chemistry that made it so successful. The allure of his famous lasagna dinners, as well as his celebrity, charm, and wit, were an important draw of this groundbreaking volunteer effort.

During his annual stint in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, he volunteered at the ATC Headquarters. If we asked him to move boxes, he’d jump to the task as if it was the most important thing in the world. Off the top of his head he could provide information that might otherwise take staff hours to research. He loved helping to process 2,000-miler applications, in part because he knew many of the hundreds of hikers each year who submitted trail completion reports.

Jack was a brilliant speaker. He knew exactly what to say and how to say it to move people, make them care, and make them laugh. Those who judged him by first impressions might have dismissed him. In appearance, he was ragtag, even by thru-hiker standards. But when Jack spoke, people listened. He commanded respect. Whether it was at a trailhead, a campfire, or a lecture on thru-hiking, a crowd would gather. Laughter was guaranteed to follow, but he always had an important message to convey.

A gifted writer and storyteller, Jack recently penned two memorable articles for ATJourneys: a story about Steve "The Ferryman" Longley, and an article about Bob Peoples and the Hardcore Trail Crew. He was an exquisite wordsmith and contributed content and ideas to ATC publications and documents and that are in use today.

Many ATC staff members developed a real fondness for Jack and a deep appreciation for his role in the A.T. community. In the words of Andrew Downs, who summited Katahdin with Jack on his ’02 thru-hike, “Jack was a lot of fun, and someone who cared deeply about the A.T.” Brian King called Jack “a walking grapevine.” Jack was often the first to notify ATC of new trends, challenges, and opportunities. ATC’s executive director Ron Tipton gave high praise to Jack, calling him “a passionate advocate for the A.T.”

The 35th annual ALDHA “Gathering” in Williamstown, Massachusetts October 7-9, 2016, will be dedicated to “Baltimore Jack.”

The family suggests that those who wish to make a gift in his memory choose among the following ways to honor L.A. “Baltimore Jack” Tarlin:

A memorial donation to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (https://www.appalachiantrail.org/home/ways-to-give/gift-in-memory-of)
A Memorial Brick in Damascus (https://www.appalachiantrail.org/home/promo/community-pathway-project), Virginia, as part of the Community Pathway Project
A donation to the Appalachian Trail Museum (http://www.atmuseum.org/support.html)
A donation to the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association (http://www.aldha.org)

If anyone would like contact info for Jack's daughter, email me at [email protected]

Driver8
05-22-2016, 03:27
I came across this post over on Reddit. Pretty cool read. Enjoy!



https://www.reddit.com/r/AppalachianTrail/comments/4hugbk/rip_baltimore_jack/

That's a great story! Thanks for sharing it, Rush. This moves me, and doubtless will move others similarly. I saw in Jack a lot of kinship. A love and attachment to the trail, the community and the land. Especially a deep attachment to its places and a love of sharing that attachment with others. That, plus being somewhat a philosopher-hiker, one who enjoyed expressing the love in words.

I have places like that I like to share - the craggy overlook on Talcott Mountain on an easy-to-miss spur off a herd path which, on a clear day, gives the only safe viewpoint off the mountain northward to Mount Tom in Western Mass when Heublein Tower is closed.

It's like the story, famed among hikers in Connecticut, involving the same mountain, when Metacomet, native American sachem, known as "King Philip" to colonists, during the skirmishes between natives and colonists known as King Philip's War, is said to have, fleeing pursuers after setting the village of Simbury on fire, scurried up the mountain and scaled the ridgecrest's cliffs up to a cave 60 feet above their base where no one could find or reach him. Legend has it he watched the village burn from that high cave, which bears his English name, as does the 100 mile-long ridge bear his native name, to this day.

That cave, for that time, was Metacomet's secret place, much as the hillock amidst the NOC was Jack's to share with friends as he saw fit and the perch on Talcott's north slope is "mine" to share, as I often do, with hikers I meet nearby it. There is something deeply, primally appealing to us as hikers about such "secret places" we claim. It is part of the magic of the trail, so much of what draws us to it inexorably.

If I drank anything near like what Jack apparently did, I'd long have been dead by now, and I don't turn 50 until October. Fortunately for me, I never much smoked, a bit of weed for 15 months in my 20s excepted. But with a deep genetic heritage of diabetes, the drink would sink me fast, so I have quit it almost entirely in the past 6 years, and God knows I need to lose a lot of weight - vegetarian eating seems to help of late, when I stick to it. If I don't, I'll check out quicker than Mr. Tarlin even without drink or smoke.

But whatever the case, Jack walked his own path, a path and an approach to it with which I find much kinship and much to admire. Heartened by his great love of the outdoors and fellow outdoorsfolk, I'm inspired to carry on in the way that works best for me, breathing as much fresh air and walking as much among the moss, the forest, the rocks, the water and the soil as I can. It nourishes the soul, and sharing it with friends and fellow hikers replenishes the wellsprings of the spirit. May Jack's breath long flow amid and among the Appalachians and may we always feel his spirit as we walk them.

ekeverette
05-22-2016, 09:00
I hate for this post to end..... On my 2012 hike I met B. J., he was behind the counter at neels gap. He bought me a soda pop! I met all the white blaze celebrities!! I stayed that night listening to jack tell his stories.... I stayed at "pirates" place down in the hole. I met the owner Winston porter? the author of just passing thru...... Then at Damacus I stopped at the silver fox? B&B and asked the woman if she knew a lone wolf? She said no. So then I asked her did she know a wolf guy who just had a heart attack, she said yes, but we just call him wolf, he will be at the pizza place tonight. So I met Lone wolf! and his new girlfriend at the time. I was drunk, but he was very nice...... Boy I hit the W.B. celebritie jack pot..... ! But meeting B.J. was just so cool. He was a very intellijent man.

-Rush-
05-22-2016, 17:57
That's a great story! Thanks for sharing it, Rush. This moves me, and doubtless will move others similarly.

You're welcome. I'd love to find and camp this spot next time I'm passing thru.

Tinker
05-22-2016, 20:09
I heard about this a couple of weeks ago from thruhiker Freebyrd (2015) a friend of mine that I dropped off (and hiked with) in Georgia last March. I met Jack a few times while he worked near the Trail (last March, in fact at Mountain Crossings, where he sold me some socks :-). He was one of the few people I met on the trail who was farther right than I (though his reasons were different than my religious ones), and he was pretty inflexible (I tend to be more open minded, though some closed minded folks might disagree ;-). Now that he is gone, I would like to point out that my song "The Ballad of Tinker" was actually based loosely on what I learned from him, and heard from some of his close friends, about his life. His fondness for the bottle is legendary, but I had the sense that he struggled daily to find a place of importance, worth, and true love on this Earth, and did, in part, in the AT community, most of whom could see through his gruff exterior to the lonely soul within. I wished that I could have reached out with the love that God had placed in my heart, but I was not in a good place, spiritually, to do that, so I would thank Jack for his company, cooking skills, and contribution to the Trail community (though he depended more on it than it did on him). With that, I would like to bid Godspeed to the spirit of "Baltimore" Jack Tarlin, and thanks, for everything.

greentick
05-22-2016, 23:48
Rest in Peace Jack.

greentick
05-22-2016, 23:57
He made a good impression on my buddy Hank and his son. Scroll down to "day 3" of this WB article.

http://whiteblaze.net/forum/content.php/193-Introducing-Your-Kid-to-the-AT

lemon b
05-23-2016, 03:59
Was just thinking how easily he would have solved two recent discussions we've had on this forum. The one one Trail Days and local LE officers. And the one on Begging on the trail.

mweinstone
05-23-2016, 08:01
Hiker walks into the doyel....
Drinkin?
Yesum
Do u make baltimore jacks here?
Yes we do and id be glad to serve you one if you have id and if i had all of the ingredients.
Unfourtunatly those hikers that just left drank the last jacks and im out of most of the ingredients untill pat my husband comes back from the store.
If your desprate i can make you one without the trimmings but it would really just be a glass of beam.
Oh no thnk you mamm. Ill definatly wait. I want the whole exsperience with the aujor sauce and the sprig of mint and the capers and chease. My friends told me its a pritty good drink.
Well, its popular i can tell you that. Since last week we've gone thru a heck of alot of m&m's just makein bjacks. So you know thats alot of drinks.
The hikers have been asking for us to add things to the recipie but we stick to the original and use real meatloaf juice in ours.

mweinstone
05-23-2016, 08:07
Matthewski standing just out of site overhears the hikers adorations of jack....
He pulls his mapdanna from his pocket, the same mapdanna jack once lifted a cornner of and wiped my face of his intangebly cooked offerings with his gentle hand....
Sobbing nearly scilently...
Blows hard....

From the baroom....
Who farted?

mweinstone
05-23-2016, 22:10
A secondary wave of grieving in the backwash of traildays has left some of the friends of jack , sinking in turbulent oceans of emotion.
Miss janet texted just to say she loves me and a few hours later, katie her daughter did the same thing.
She said her and her mom must be in touch on another level.
I felt it before either of them texted.
The whole inner family of jacks hiker friends will feel this awhile.

NickBrit
05-24-2016, 15:48
Been looking thru WB on and off over the last 5 years or so, but never felt the need to post a comment until I saw this very sad news a few days ago. I was lucky enough to meet Baltimore Jack several times during the 2012 season when I was just a tragic Limey AT virgin. I'd forgotten there was no water source at the top of Blood Mtn, was down to my last couple of sips and then managed to somehow wander off the Trail and get lost :-( by the time I'd bushwhacked back to the trail and had lurched down to Neel's Gap it was past dusk and I was in a real mess. The store was closed but Jack appeared from somewhere, scooped me up into a sitting position and worked his magic ...

"Water.... cola.... whiskey.... water..." ;-)
It worked well!! I seem to remember we spent the rest of the evening re-interpreting Monty Python sketches (with Winston Churchill thrown in for good measure) - pretty entertaining! Several times over the next few months we'd bump into each other randomly - once heard him shouting my name behind me at a Walmart in TN, turned round and there he was, all grins and shades. Another time I was still lurking in Damascus several days after Trail Days had moved out and it was all quiet again. I was dreading heading back out into that crazy heat and there he was. So I turned my final zero day into a zero-and-a-half day by getting him breakfast in a diner. He took my trail guide from me and spent 15 mins annotating the pages covering the following 60+ miles with his notes on blue blazes worth checking out, best spots to camp, etc... stuff I would have just walked straight past otherwise - and they were all spot-on.
After years of getting more and more cynical of life in general whilst working in London and Berlin, it was a real eye-opener to meet someone as genuinely thoughtful, helpful and knowledgeable as Baltimore Jack. I think I got more useful practical tips out of him in one 20-min conversation than from about four months of 'research' whilst sitting in an office in Germany! Can totally see why he was so admired and a proper Trail legend. What a guy. I just took a little break from my current self-enforced 'no drinking' status and raised a few glasses of the good stuff to him.
Who knows, maybe he's somewhere up there right now giving pack tips to Bowie, Lemmy, et al, then raising his hands and saying "But hey! It's YOUR hike!"

My sincere condolences to his family and close friends.

RIP Jack Tarlin. You won't be forgotten by AT hikers anytime soon......

-Rush-
05-25-2016, 02:16
He took my trail guide from me and spent 15 mins annotating the pages covering the following 60+ miles with his notes on blue blazes worth checking out, best spots to camp, etc... stuff I would have just walked straight past otherwise - and they were all spot-on.


Any chance you still have that guidebook? Scans?! :D

Ron Haven
05-27-2016, 02:03
As we have said, We are changing the Hikers Den Hostel in Franklin To The Baltimore Jack Tarlin Hiker Hostel (http://appalachiantrailservices.net/Havenshikerhostel.htm) We are donating a wall in his remembrance . We have had a few donations to add to it but if you have something to add we would be honored to add it on Jacks behalf. We will also be adding photos of Otto and Mala. Suggestion will also be considered.