On St. Patrick’s Day our own Jim Warnock presented a program on his recent back pack hike with friends Bob Cable and Steve Foster to complete the entire OHT in sequence.

Before Christmas they hiked 5 days to reach 56 miles, then 6 days after Christmas to reach mile 125, and 6 days in mid January to the end at 180 miles. Some people only hike 165 miles and end at Woolum, but they hiked 15 miles farther to Tyler Bend. Of course they couldn’t have picked a chillier or wetter winter for their endeavor! His slideshow shows their camp sites, chilly wet crossings, beautiful rock formations, colorful fungi, old stone walls, abandoned homesteads and barns, icicles, old graves, cascading waterfalls, and a heart-shaped frost flower as well as some facial foliage!

Jim told us all about how he prepared for the trip. Always bearing in mind that less is better, they limited their packs to 35 lbs. They filtered water along the trail and ate many dehydrated foods because they needed to carry such essential bulky items as sleeping bags, trail tents, and warm dry clothing. When asked which sections of the trek were the hardest, he said the parts when the weather was bad! A bony, emaciated dog started following them later in the hike and would not leave them. They didn’t think the poor dog could keep up eating only a few small handouts and even manage some of the treacherous crossings in that weakened state. She was determined, however, and Jim now is the proud owner of a healthy canine named Hiker worth $300 due to vet care! We guessed she was going to find a good home when we saw her sleeping on his spare sleeping bag pad!

Thank you to Jim for the great program! Katie is also to be commended for ditching her St. Paddy’s Day party to join us – what a trooper!