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  1. #1
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    Default Pancake Madness?

    At the Hurd Brook lean-to (at the northern edge of the 100 Mile Wilderness in Maine) a few weekends ago there was a shady character who called himself "Pancake Madness." He talked a lot about setting up a barter system on the trail, checking in with his mother, and Rainbow Gatherings; he had never heard of the AT, Katahdin, or inflatable sleeping pads, and he definitely wasn't outfitted like a hiker (sweatshirt, cargo pants, construction boots, enormous pack). He also seemed to be a pathological liar. In general, he was creepy enough that my traveling buddies and I hiked on, despite the pouring rain and our original plans to stay in the shelter. We ended up staying at the AT lodge in Millinocket that night, where the owners told us that that guy had been kicked out of town the night before (there was an altercation with the local police) and that he had had a rifle in his pack. We ended up talking to the park service about him.

    Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone out there has seen or heard from this guy? I'm curious about what happened to him.

  2. #2

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    Quote Originally Posted by toemaetoe View Post
    At the Hurd Brook lean-to (at the northern edge of the 100 Mile Wilderness in Maine) a few weekends ago there was a shady character who called himself "Pancake Madness." He talked a lot about setting up a barter system on the trail, checking in with his mother, and Rainbow Gatherings; he had never heard of the AT, Katahdin, or inflatable sleeping pads, and he definitely wasn't outfitted like a hiker (sweatshirt, cargo pants, construction boots, enormous pack). He also seemed to be a pathological liar. In general, he was creepy enough that my traveling buddies and I hiked on, despite the pouring rain and our original plans to stay in the shelter. We ended up staying at the AT lodge in Millinocket that night, where the owners told us that that guy had been kicked out of town the night before (there was an altercation with the local police) and that he had had a rifle in his pack. We ended up talking to the park service about him.

    Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone out there has seen or heard from this guy? I'm curious about what happened to him.
    "he definitely wasn't outfitted like a hiker"... ROTFLMAO... You just described 99 PRECENT of WB...

  3. #3
    Registered User Pumba's Avatar
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    Damn, and I thought this topic was going to be about panckaes. I love me some pancakes.
    -------------------------------------------
    ~Brian

    “I don't know what lies around the bend, but I'm going to believe that the best does.”
    -- L.M. Montgomery

  4. #4
    Registered User Tumor's Avatar
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    I hiked with this person for 2.5 weeks. Although he had all the wrong gear he was a great person. He did the wilderness with over a 70lb pack. As for the incident in Millinocket it was largely blown out of proportion. The owner of the AT Lodge insisted on going through his pack. There was one item in there that the owner didn't like, he called the police. The police discovered a legally owned, legally broken down in a carrying sock seperate from and ammunition a single shot .410. The cops told the owner and "Pancakes" that all was legal. The owner of the AT Lodge had every right to ask him to leave his hostel, and must have felt obligated to make sure all was legit. Then things went weird. The owner of this hostel called ahead to all other towns in Maine telling people not to let this poor guy stay there. He turned a misunderstanding/ difference of opinion into a make-believe huge story of lies. The hiker in question is a character no doubt, but he's a great guy and it's horrible to see what one ******* hostile hostel owner can do.
    2012 SOBO section Abol Bridge to Rangeley

  5. #5
    Registered User Wise Old Owl's Avatar
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    Wow - not surprising - we get the rest of the story.... Another http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_McCandless
    Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.

    Woo

  6. #6
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    Default Mystery solved?

    DSC00747.JPG Are you talking about this Florida boy? Known for making pancake breakfasts for trail friends, he made it to Monson about three weeks ago and gave away about 30 pounds of his gear. Seemed like a nice guy to me. Here he is embracing his new backpack, purchased in Greenville.

  7. #7
    PCT 2013, most of AT 2011, rest of AT 2014
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    Can't wait to check back on this thread in a few days and see where it's ended up.
    "Hahk your own hahk." - Ron Haven

    "The world is a book, of which those who do not travel read only a page." - St. Augustine

    http://www.scrubhiker.com/

  8. #8
    Coach Lou coach lou's Avatar
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    I thought this was going to be about a thru getting way-laid{?} at Upper Goose Pond Cabin!

  9. #9
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    Default Pancake madness was misunderstood

    I hiked with this guy for seven days in the 100 mile wilderness. I heard the rumors about him while still on the trail. Stickman caught up to us on chairback and told us the rumors he heard about him from the park rangers, they said to look out for him, he had a shotgun, thought he might be a serial killer and should be avoided. He didn't believe the rumors himself and rightly so. Pancake madness already told me he had a shot gun and how he got kicked out of the hostle in millinockett for it. He didn't threaten anyone there, the owner just freaked out about the 410 and called the police and apparently the park rangers and other hostles in main. I guess he thought he was doing a service for everyone but it was a disservice. This guy pancake madness didn't have much food but was willing to share it with anyone and was good company on the trail. He was different, wanted to trade his way down to Georgia instead of using money, which he didn't have much of, and he certainly was not dressed well for hiking with the cotton sweatshirt and cargo pants. But this guy was misunderstood, he was a real character and a good guy. I could understand why some people would be cautious about him if they didn't get to know him but in my opinion these people spreading the word about him were all over reacting. I was a C.O. For over five years and know a bad guy when I see one and he wasn't one of those.

  10. #10
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    That's two testimonials from people with a single post here on WB.

  11. #11
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    I am curious why the owner of the AT Lodge insisted on searching the pack. How would anyone know if I had a broken down .410 anyway?

  12. #12

    Default Pancake Madness?

    I stayed with him at wadleigh stream lean-to on the second day of my thru. I didn't get any bad vibes from him until some other guys at the shelter explained some of the stories he had told and told me that he had thrown cannon fuse in the fire before I got there. That night a girl I had been hiking with said he was saying some really dark things in his sleep like "kill" and "murder them". I didn't hear this, but the girl is trustworthy. We know that he made it to monson, but that's the last that my group heard of him. He still had his 70lb backpack and carried 5lbs of pancake mix but no syrup! I will say one other thing and that is that Ant Man(the name he called himself when I met him) can make a mean campfire! We never had to tend to the fire at all the night I stayed with him.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Meg Wilson Author View Post
    DSC00747.JPG Are you talking about this Florida boy? Known for making pancake breakfasts for trail friends, he made it to Monson about three weeks ago and gave away about 30 pounds of his gear. Seemed like a nice guy to me. Here he is embracing his new backpack, purchased in Greenville.
    This is not the guy that you are all speaking about. I was hiking in the 100 mile wilderness during that time. I heard about Pancake Madness--a 410 toting gentleman that marched to a different drummer--though I think he had a different trail name when I was up there, but I did not meet him. I would have liked to have met him, however. The guy in the picture is a very nice fellow.

  14. #14
    Registered User Wise Old Owl's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mudhead View Post
    I am curious why the owner of the AT Lodge insisted on searching the pack. How would anyone know if I had a broken down .410 anyway?
    Practicing for the job opening at the TSA?

    tsa-groping.jpg

    Honest I am amazed... whats next baggage search at the local motel?
    Last edited by Wise Old Owl; 07-06-2012 at 19:15. Reason: add
    Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.

    Woo

  15. #15
    Registered User Tumor's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Meg Wilson Author View Post
    DSC00747.JPG Are you talking about this Florida boy? Known for making pancake breakfasts for trail friends, he made it to Monson about three weeks ago and gave away about 30 pounds of his gear. Seemed like a nice guy to me. Here he is embracing his new backpack, purchased in Greenville.
    No that is Shambo. I did a coupledays with him between Stratton and Rangeley.

    Sorry Rocket Jones that I'm not a big poster, more of a lurker. When I saw the post I felt a need to defend the person I met and hiked with and then gave the heads up to a couple other people I hiked with. Figured some might want opinions from people who actually hiked multiple days with the guy and actually got to know the person before all the rumors spread everywhere.
    2012 SOBO section Abol Bridge to Rangeley

  16. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by Wise Old Owl View Post
    Practicing for the job opening at the TSA?

    tsa-groping.jpg

    Honest I am amazed... whats next baggage search at the local motel?
    Quote Originally Posted by mudhead View Post
    I am curious why the owner of the AT Lodge insisted on searching the pack. How would anyone know if I had a broken down .410 anyway?
    Generally the only way that others know about a hiker carrying a gun is if he opens his big mouth to tell everyone he has a gun. In these times of nut jobs if I owned a hostel and a guy had a weapon and struck me as a little different I would ask him to leave too. Why risk it? The flip side is that a guy freaks out and goes postal and shoots everyone in the place and then the rest of the world wonders why no one was warned. Does a broken down .410 have a place on the trail anyway?

    We all know those who are a little odd. But few of us feel comfortable when these types make it know that they have a loaded weapon. Add to that is a guy who carries a ridiculously heavy pack. That ain't too smart! And a gun + lack of intelligence would make me take notice!

  17. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by Supreme Being View Post
    Does a broken down .410 have a place on the trail anyway?

    We all know those who are a little odd. But few of us feel comfortable when these types make it know that they have a loaded weapon. Add to that is a guy who carries a ridiculously heavy pack. That ain't too smart! And a gun + lack of intelligence would make me take notice!
    You all forget that people with 70lb packs are pretty common during thruhiker season in Georgia...this is a function of inexperience and not lack of intelligence. Someone hiking southbound should get the same leeway and benefit of the doubt.

    Secondly, think back and remember how many people come on this forum and their first post is asking if it would be possible to "live off the land" and hunt/gather your way up the trail. We all laugh at them, and most realize the folly of their thinking, but the fact is that many people do have these kinds of fanciful notions. So it doesn't seem all that strange to me that someone would carry a shotgun in their 70lb pack thinking they could shoot a squirrel or a rabbit once in awhile for dinner.

    There is something seriously wrong with a society that automatically becomes afraid of someone carrying a weapon, especially when said weapon is designed for hunting and is disassembled, not ready to be fired. Funny how the same crowd that openly encourages people to hike alone, touting the safety statistics of the trail, can turn so quickly on someone who has committed no crime.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tumor View Post
    Figured some might want opinions from people who actually hiked multiple days with the guy and actually got to know the person before all the rumors spread everywhere.
    Real experience is always more important compared to the number of posts. I can understand you getting tired of second hand rumors and deciding it was important enough for you to post.
    The trouble I have with campfires are the folks that carry a bottle in one hand and a Bible in the other.
    You never know which one is talking.

  19. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by Meg Wilson Author View Post
    DSC00747.JPG Are you talking about this Florida boy? Known for making pancake breakfasts for trail friends, he made it to Monson about three weeks ago and gave away about 30 pounds of his gear. Seemed like a nice guy to me. Here he is embracing his new backpack, purchased in Greenville.
    I met this guy a few years ago, we both did Americorps together. He's an interesting guy, but not one I would think would be packing heat.

  20. #20

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    Ive carried pancakes openly with a permit hiking .
    Ive used many exotic loads from nestlies to geardellies , coconut to almond.
    I pack heat but use denatured when available.
    You need pancakes and exotic loads to take a trophy wife from a herd of hikers.
    I for one plan on being prepared.
    Ive used come on lines but pancakes is more humane.

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