... apparently missing in Massachusetts since the 12th... thru hiker from Texas. Last seen on greylock.
... apparently missing in Massachusetts since the 12th... thru hiker from Texas. Last seen on greylock.
Lazarus
Probably got trapped or distracted by a magical spell. After all, Mount Greylock is not necessarily as it appears to us non-magical types.
I found this entrance on one of the side trails off the AT last November while hiking up there. I'm 6'4", and that's me in the tree. Nothing happened when I stepped in, but that is probably because I'm not magical.
greylock door tree.jpg
Also, go ahead, tell me there isn't somehow something kinda mysterious or magical or otherwise just not quite pedestrian about this tower. Just look closely at that crystal globe at the top. There's no way that's not some kind of magical orb.
greylock tower.jpg
I'm not lost. I'm exploring.
Here are some more details. Hoping he's okay.
I'm not lost. I'm exploring.
Actually, I don't think there is anything magical or mysterious on Greylock.
This was posted:
UPDATE: WE HAVE MADE CONTACT WITH MARK NEAR RUTLAND, VT AND ALL IS OK. HE HAS MADE CONTACT WITH HIS FAMILY. THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE SHARES AS IT WAS A HIKER ON THE TRAIL THAT BROUGHT THE SITUATION TO MARK'S ATTENTION.
Looks like another hiker gets the trail name "Milk Carton."
bizarre story on many levels. guy has made it all the way to almost the VT border by june 12th and then it takes him 2 weeks to go a little over 100 miles? dude was not just hiking along that whole time.
whatever he was doing not sure why he thought radio silence was better than just telling his family a story about his whereabouts.
Thank goodness he's safe and his folks aren't terrified anymore. I don't wish to see judgment on how a guy 4 months into his thru hike spends his time in town.
This is a valuable network for sharing information that may help us find a hiker. It's sad that outside speculation brings his motive into question. That's why most of us hit the trail in the first place, to leave judgment behind.
The guy took some time off. Period. Let his family admonish him for not staying in touch. It used to be a sabbatical, a break from constant contact....
oh i'm with that 100%, trust me. but this guy apparently made a habit of being in contact and had an arrangement with his family where they were obviously expecting to hear from him. and then he vanished and didnt just worry his family, but caused people to start searching for him. thats not exactly ok behavior that should get a pass. learn to lie to your family if you dont want them knowing your business. or never agree to be talking to them all the time in the first place.
i take all of the above back if, by chance, his family over reacted and this was a simple matter of "we hear from mark every week and this week we didnt." and there was actually no formal arrangement and agreement to be in touch at a certain time.
We don’t know enough details, as is typical in such cases, to start assuming anything, or being critical of this hiker. The article said he had been making Instagram posts every few days, and quit on the 12th, but it doesn’t say whether he did, or did not, tell his family that he would always post every few days. We simply do not know the facts.
A person 1600+ miles into their thru is NOT using the same logical thinking as the person that is operating in our normal world. He has been removed for months now. He probably has a different view of communicating.
I hope other LD hikers can back me on this, sometimes things get kind of weird. I don't endorse scaring the crap out your family, I just have empathy for this hiker at this point in his journey.
to me this is the key sentence- "Mark Langston Jr., of Houston, has missed all family check-ins since June 12 and his phone is off"
if this means "mark said he'd contact us every friday and we have now not heard from him two fridays in a row" thats one thing.
if this means "mark usually talks to us on friday. i'm worried we haven't heard from him." thats another.
in either case its a shame the police had to be bothered over nothing
Geez... are y'all parents? I dont have a “formal arrangement” with my kids but if weeks went by with no communication, I’d be freaking out.
Thank goodness it was “nothing”.
You did more than call it a bizarre story. Taken all together it sure looks like a criticism.
EDIT: To be more clear on what I mean. You called the story “bizzare”,said “the dude was not just hiking along that whole time”, and suggested he should have just told his family a story (i.e lie), thus implying that he was up to something he didn’t want to tell his family about. Sure sounds like criticism to me.
Last edited by gpburdelljr; 06-23-2018 at 21:38.