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If You Missed It,
Then You Missed the Passion,
Camaraderie and
Magic
of Another Great ALDHA-West Gathering!
By Greg Hummel, Presentation Coordinator & ALDHA-West Board Member The 2005 Gathering
We
all came from distant points, hurrying along to arrive as soon as
possible to enjoy the surroundings, to explore the Sierra Pines Camp
and to meet all of the familiar faces once more.
Friday
afternoon the gathering got into full swing and early arrivers began to
ask about registration and the presentation lineup. After a great
dinner (the food at Sierra Pines was roundly applauded for being great,
varied and plentiful!) Scrambler, the youngest ever PCT thru-hiker gave
a great talk on her trek with her mom and dad chiming in occasionally
with stories and memories of their adventure.
The
accommodations, besides camping, were small cabins with bunk beds and a head and heater; simple, clean and
functional for our needs.
Saturday, Jerry
Goller conducted a great roundtable
discussion of
www.backpackgeartest.com and the all of the products evaluated
and how anyone can become a tester. Peter Haskell gave
a presentation on “Publishing Your Hiking Journal as a Booklet” and
gave out a pamphlet with valuable supporting info. A talk on
“Tales and Tips from Seasoned Women” miss-started when the presenter
didn’t show up in time, yet true to the “There are no rules” form a
spontaneous roundtable discussion broke out amongst the many women
at the gathering on this subject.
The famous “Switchback”
held a roundtable discussion on his “secrets of gear and backpacking
techniques” that he lamented later should have been scheduled for
two hours, as they were just getting going when the lunch call came. Jeff Gillarde and I gave a talk
with Jeff’s two llamas on the basketball court at the same time that
Switchback’s roundtable was ongoing. We discussed the Youth
Outreach Programs that each of us are independently working on and
the incredible benefits and feedback that just a little bit of
effort that direction brings back to the trail.
Following lunch we all
gathered in front of the main hall for a group picture and, for some
reason, our great and fearless leader, Mad Monte Dodge, could
not be found at the opportune moment, despite our calls and yells.
Scott
Williamson started off the afternoon presentations with his incredible
Yo-yo success and before and after series of pictures. Scott claims
that Brian Robinson inspired him and Brian claims the exact opposite!
Triple Crown
awards were presented to
several “monsters” of the National Scenic Trail System, and yet, you
couldn’t have discerned these fine people from anyone on the street.
We all then honored the incomparable, rock foundation of ALDHA-West,
trail maintenance and hiker extraordinaire, Brice
Hammack. The history of his youth
in athletics and constant drive for experiencing the outdoors and
wilderness came resounding through.
Linda Hunt, not a thru-hiker or even a long distance
hiker, gave a presentation on “Bold Spirit”, a book she wrote about a women,
Helga Estby, who in 1898 was challenged to hike
from Spokane, Washington to New York City for $10,000 and did it! Victorian
skirts and all. This, we all agreed, was a testament to the idea that
it is solely passion that gets you from Mexico to Canada or from point A to
point B and not your gear, your conditioning, your pack weight or the quality
of your shoes. 
And, then, with a slight
adjustment of the LCD projector, a bit of fiddling with the sound
system, Weathercarrot again presented
his highly spiritual “2004 PCT” DVD to a packed room, even though
most of us had seen this many times before.
More pictures from
the Gathering 2005