Date: March 31, 2000
Hello Adventurers !!!
This is the fourth e-mail (in a series) to help plan and prepare
for the
3rd Annual Tuckerman Ravine Hiking/Skiing Expedition...
Two weeks to go !!! Are we getting psyched or what ?!?!?! I have
good
news and bad news... which do you want first... O.K... we'll get
the bad
news out of the way...
BAD NEWS:
I don't think we'll be able to ski the Sherburne Ski Trail to the
bottom
of the mountain... the latest conditions which you can see at
(http://www.tuckerman.org/avalanche/index.html) say that the ski
trail
has lost alot of it's cover already because of the recent warm
weather... oh well, we'll just have to hike down like we did on
the
first expedition... don't worry about snow cover in the bowl though...
it's 20 to 80 FEET deep and in no danger of dissappearing before
we get
there... now for the good news...
GOOD NEWS:
We've picked up several new members and it looks like we'll have
between
13 and 19 people on the expedition... This should make it a nice
fun
social group and not too large to keep (somewhat) together... And
most
people are getting their plane/car/motel reservations in order
which is
good (see the 3rd letter for information on reservations)... Also
the
peak of Mt. Washington (and by proximity Tuckermans) just got several
inches of snow... and Sunday River (where we'll go to ski on our
non-Tuckermans day) still has 93 trails and 10 lifts open !!! ...
here's
the link for Sunday River if you want to keep track of their conditions
(http://www.sundayriver.com)
I'm leading a training hike this weekend for anyone in the
Balimore/Washington area... it will be on Sunday April 2 at 1:00PM
(don't forget to adjust for daylight savings time the night before)
and
will be in the Patapsco Valley State Park near Daniels... here
are
directions to get to the trailhead but if you plan on going RSVP
me at
410-379-2022 so I can let you know if there is any change of plans...
to get to the "Daniels" trailhead (from Columbia, MD area):
Take Route 29 North till it ends at a "T" with a stoplight just
past the Interstate 70 interchange
Turn right on to Rogers Avenue (go about 1/4 mile)
Turn left on to Old Frederick Road (go about 1 1/2 mile)
Go across a bridge over the Patapsco (go just a little bit more)
Bear left (actually kind of straight) on to Hollifield Road
(go a couple 1/10ths of a mile paralleling the
river)
At a "T" turn left on to Dogfield Road (go across a small creek
bridge)
Make your first left into the trailhead "parking lot"
The hike is about 7 miles and is mostly flat along the river (some
of
it's even paved - an old abandoned road)... it passes an old flooded
and
abandoned mill town with some neat ruins (and a few funky old rusted
out
50's cars)... it has one vertical part (for a mile or so) of several
hundred feet and sometimes I loop that twice... anyway it's a good
hike
to figure out how to walk with skis (and boots and poles) before
tackling Bob's Hill on next weekend's training hike (Sunday April
9th
1:00PM - directions will be e-mailed next week)...
Following is a list where I've attempted to figure out who's going
and
who's not... if I have you misclassified please let me know ASAP...
if I
haven't heard from you in awhile please let me know what you're
planning... and if you've made reservations and are "100% go" let
me
know that too... Thanks !!!
WILL BE THERE:
Allen Black (flying
in at 1:30PM Friday, staying at Royalty Inn)
Bob Sagusti (flying
in at 1:30PM Friday, staying at Royalty Inn)
Mark Miller (flying
in at 1:30PM Friday, staying at Royalty Inn)
Stuart Miller (flying in at
1:30PM Friday, staying at Royalty Inn)
Laura Gabanski (flying in at 1:30PM
Friday, staying at Royalty Inn)
Brian Skrenta (flying in at
1:30PM Friday, staying at Royalty Inn)
Greg Clark
(flying in at 1:30PM Friday, staying at ???????????)
Brian Vogel (driving
in at ????????????, staying at Royalty Inn)
Barb Vogel
(driving in at ????????????, staying at Royalty Inn)
Kim Vogel
(driving in at ????????????, staying at Royalty Inn)
Kim Vogel's friend (driving in at ????????????, staying at
Royalty Inn)
Anne-Marie Shipley (driving in at ????????????, staying at
???????????)
C.T. Edwards (driving
in at ????????????, staying at ???????????)
DEFINITE MAYBE:
Bob Walker
(driving ???, staying ???)
Kathi Durning
(driving ???, staying ???)
John Vranich
(driving ???, staying ???)
Paul Gewirtz
(driving ???, staying ???)
Bud Cavanaugh "The Snowboarder" (flying ???, staying ???)
Rich Vrabel
(flying ???, staying ???)
Dave Strack & Sons
(flying ???, staying ???)
YOU HAD INTEREST BUT I HAVEN'T HEARD FROM YOU IN AWHILE:
Mary Dunlay
NOT THIS YEAR, MAYBE NEXT YEAR:
Michael Lutz
Carmen Lane
Darrell ??? (Carmen's friend)
Ilene Reilly
Aimee Newhall
Jeff Vogel
I'm still interested in finding out if anyone else can bring any
FRS
two-way radios and if anyone can bring a lightweight plastic sled...
At
least we can take a few large garbage bags and slide around on
them but
a sled would be really cool !!!
If anyone knows of anyone else who'd be interested please forward
this
e-mail to them and have them give me a call or an e-mail so they
can get
in on the fun...
That's all for now... As always if if you have any questions feel
free
to e-mail or call me... and don't forget to check out the website
at
http://members.home.net/ablack/tucks3.html
for pictures, information, and links to relevant sites with even
more
information (like travel reservations, weather, and avalance
forecasts)...
See Ya Soon,
Allen