Hotspur.us

Summer Solstice.

It was dark and heavy clouds gathered in the sky

Ten brave souls arrived at the desolate church, hovering around and waiting…waiting…waiting…

Ahem! Pony Girl….you are in charge. Why does no one ever tell me these things? Having been properly apprised of my role as leader, I gave the “Let’s Go!” and off we headed to stage one. (we will not discuss that someone had already been poking around ahead of time and had already found stage 1).

The woods were filled with chaos of flashlights and headlamps and disembodied shouts. Thorns tore at our explosed flesh, attempting to impede our quest. Bravely we fumbled forward trying to forget the whipping trees and flashes of lightening that blinded us.

At long last and before the evil sky unleashed its vengence 60 Cent gave a victory shout and the prize was ours. Huddling beneath the canopy we shifted impatiently, fearful that the denziens of the woods would begin to pick us off one by one.

As the wind howled louder and the unmistable sound of rain echoed around us, we sounded the retreat and hastily made our way for the grave to pay our respects.

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the fellowship had not yet gathered when we lost one of our own. Loyal sidekick little wooden boy announced his decision to stay home to guard the mighty fortress from the impending doom of rain.

Thus one man down, the fellowship, now numbered at Seven [wvhunter, wvcoalcat, Rock_Rat, Country_Rat, Gentleman-Carpenter, 89SC and myself], gathered at the parking coordinates to begin our mighty journey. We had high hopes, as 89SC had already completed this quest and would guide our path.

With a short respite to view the falls and other natural wonders we gathered supplies and headed up, seeking the elusive ammo can of goodness.

First to fall to the treacherous mountain pass was Gentleman-Carpenter. We mourned our fallen (or resting as it was) companion and pushed upward.

Word soon reached the leaders of the fellowship that we had lost a second when Rock_Rat admitted defeat at the hands of WvGeoTreeO.

And still Country_Rat, 89SC, wvcoalcat, wvhunter and myself pushed onward. Soon the group spread out with Country_Rat leading the way. The ever spry 89SC bouncing from rock to rock, taking photos of our epic journey and delighting us with tales of his original ascent.

Soon, Country_Rat, 89SC and I found ourselves ahead of the group and realized that it was likely at least one more of our companions had fallen. Soon wvcoalcat communicated the demise of his dear brother wvhunter. Still we trudged onward.

The three of us had crested the climb when Mother Nature opened the heavens and let forth a soaking rain. Still we pushed on, the wonders of the ammo can of goodness within mere hundreds of feet.

Under the relative safety of the bountiful flora, we found the hidden treasure and were making fast work of affixing our names to the log when wvcoalcat appeared, bedraggled, but alive.

As the downpour slackened and then increased, we scrambled to find a better way down, certain that our path upward would in no way be a fit descent. And it was then that we truly struck gold, for in the pouring rain we discovered the better path.

Our ascent measured 1.5 hours. Our broken fellowship descended in 25 minutes.

Our beleaguered comrades gathered at the pic-nic table of rest while we regaled them with stories of our victorious climb.

Then we staggered back to our transportation and set out for easier tasks.

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in 2006 sidekick and I missed our chance to go after Slopping at the Trough. Which turned out to be good since the South Branch of the Potomac River was running UNDER the minimum height required to actually float. And while the adventure was probably awesome and we heard lots of great tales about portage and patience….if I’m gonna be in a canoe, I’d prefer not to have to carry it.

So this year when ScoutingWV sent out a call for brave souls to take on the Trough again and Mother Nature (who is really a Mother) decided to send storm after storm our way, I said “heck yeah!”

The river was still running at a nice depth of around 3.5 feet when we set out, so there was no portage. And somehow we managed to not capsize.

And now, courtesy of ScoutingWV with additions by yours truly, Some highlights to ask about the next time you see anyone from this trip:

• SKIPPER!!!

• That was a RACCOON that jumped in the river?

• How many paddles do Frogs need in a canoe?

• Where oh where did my maple paddle go?

• Mike was right??? What’s up with that?

• Heeere fishy fishy fishy!

• Has anyone seen my sunglasses?

• This cache was found only twice in the last two years, but now it’s had to be found twice in 20 minutes.

• “So I was scratching and felt this thing hanging there – there was a tick on my butt!”

• You drove into town for a coke? There’s a vending machine over at the bath house …

• Can’t I just bring an Italian to the festivus?

• They’re gonna put 160 kids in the river? Well, where are they gonna go?

• The Grey Man (who we truly hope is out of the hospital and home recovering.)

• MOOOO….MOOOOOO….MOOOOO…hey, the cows came home! (Great Cattle Drive of 2008)

• The hellcat that chased the raccoon into the water

• Nature is a Mother

• Help, I have two right feet. Now I’m going to row in circles.

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So the torrential downpour of the last few days finally stopped and the sun came out. It came out with a vengance too. So much for our two days of Spring. Summer’s here!

I’d been wanting to get some nice shots of Villain since it started to warm up and he’d sheded out most of his winter coat. Wait too long and he looks remarkably less black. Since the beginning of May he’s been spending most of his time outside and is starting to get “highlights” so he looks more like a bay and less like a black paint with a white sock.

No matter, he’s still terribly handsome!

And so, for your viewing pleasure, more pictures of Villain.

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