We got a bit of a late start and started down the long haul of 3 miles of flat terrain. Craig Ewing and myself made the Trek alone this year but we did run across two of the gents hiking Mt. Garfield. I believe their names were Bob or Bill, LOL that’s what they kept calling us anyway.
We finally made our way to the steep part where a ranger was standing by to let us know that it starts to get steep from here. Now this was my second time out as the weekends have been mostly a washout and I’ve been a bit busy. 1500 feet of straight up with a short break at the hut.
We made the summit and flew our flag about 30 mins late. we did however bring a very large extendable pole. We’ve used painter/window washer poles our two years and we were told on the way down our flag was visible above the wooded Mt. Galehead. We couldn’t be happier.
While on top we had a moment od silence for the victims of 911. Then I did a quick memorial to the fallen soldier (William Evans of Hallsted PA) I was honoring this year (another 911 victim after the fact). I read a bit about this young soldier that gave his life 9/19/2005 and a personal message from his mother. It was a very moving moment. Next year I will honor another fallen soldier and contact his family as well to let them know their sacrifice is not forgotten.
David “No Pepper” Chasse
