Bull Moose at Moxie Gore Outfitters

Hey there!

Just want to share a small part of my day with you... I had a delivery to Ken Christopher up to C. Moxie Gore Outfitters up in Moxie Gore Twp., (Go North of Caratunk on Rt. 201 to "The Forks", turn right...).

This area has to be one of my favorites. Any delivery North of Solon, Maine makes me a happy camper. Above Solon is Bingham...getting happier! Then, of course, is Caratunk! There, the A.T. passes through, and also crosses the Kennebec River (via canoe, it is the only official ferry on the whole trail!). Above Caratunk...The Forks. Turn right to get to Moxie Gore, Moxie Falls, and of course, C. Moxie Gore Outfitters.

During my forays North (lumber deliveries...), I am always on the lookout for moose. I hadn't seen one for awhile, and had my hopes up, as this was a prime area. Well, I was quite disappointed on the way up there...no moose. I did see a few signs of moose such as this one...




...but no moose.









However... while bringing the materials across the deck and into the camp, Ken stopped me... "Look, there's a moose.", he said, quietly. I didn't hear it moving, which is surprising, as it is such a huge animal. It was also VERY close... about twenty feet, or so, off the deck. A big Bull, it walked slowly, and quite gracefully, by us, through a short patch of woods between us and the stream. Then, Ken surprised me. He started calling the moose to try to coax it back to us. (No, he did NOT say "Here moose, here moose."!) To my delight, the moose turned from the stream, coming back a ways towards us, to meet the challenge. Ken explained that during "rut", the big fellas are competing for the affections of their favorite cows. It stopped, and Ken made a few more attempts... but Bullwinkle turned toward the stream, and slowly waded across. Ken surmised that he might have been too bold in his calling, portraying a dominant Bull, and chasing the poor fella off.

So, that was the highlight of my day. I am not able to share a photo with you, as I had no camera with me... On the other hand, I also enjoyed my time with Ken, and I did go online to their website. I found this nice picture of Ken with his wife, relaxing for a moment on the porch. I don't think he'll mind my sharing.




Thanks, Ken, for another great visit with you, and thanks to all of you that continue to share my blog. God Bless you.

Stickman

Phreak completes John Muir Trail...

Hi everyone!
Just came in from working on the last, straggling, vegetables in our garden, and found I had an e-mail from Brian (Phreak). He has completed the John Muir Trail! I will include his e-mail, as follows...


"From: brian@hikes247.com Sent: Tue Sep 30 15:55

Subject: John Muir Trail - COMPLETED

Hey everyone!
Just a quick note to let everyone know I'm safely back in Atlanta. The trip was awesome! We finished early in the morning on the 20th day of the trip.

Naturally, I'll be heading back out next year to see how fast I can speed hike it. Shooting for 7 days or less.

Weather was great... average high 65, average low 35, less than 2 hours of precipitation throughout the trip (all on day 6).

I took roughly 2300 photos and 60+ minutes of video clips. It'll take me a couple of weeks to get everything sorted, optimized, re-sized and published to the web. I'll send a link once everything is online and ready for viewing."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As always, a hearty congratulations goes out to Phreak, for a safe and successful hike! I will be sure to post his link when he gets his pictures up for viewing...
So... back to the chores! 'Til later... God Bless!

Stickman

Careful where you step! (Don't put your foot in your mouth...)

Hello folks!

It's been crazy busy (LIFE) lately, but I determined that I should take just a few minutes to say "Hello", and share something I've been chewing on...

I've titled todays entry "Careful where you step! (Don't put your foot in your mouth...)". Which, I suppose, could also be, "You have to "walk the walk", if you're going to "talk the talk"... and, hence, you should also be careful (how) to "talk the talk" if you are truly "walking the walk"... yeah, OK, NOW I'm confused! Did You follow that?!? I hope so...

Well, here we go... If you say that you are a Christian, you should be walking through your life as a Christian. IF you are a follower of Christ, your path,(actions in life), should follow the path He has directed for you, and reflect the conduct that He not only desires, but requires. Now, of course, we occasionally stumble, and fall down, but the key is to get back up, dust ourselves off, ask forgiveness, and keep trying to stay on the path. So, there we are... our actions should be pleasing to our Lord... and also be a witness to those who do not know Him. They say "actions speak louder than words". Maybe so...

...Our walk IS very important! Folks should be able to see Christ in us! We should be "walking witnesses"! ... And, many of us are. We just mess it all up when we open up our mouths and insert foot. When we proclaim to Jesus that He is our Savior, and we walk the walk, that's awesome! But, when we walk the walk, and then open our mouths to talk the talk to our unsaved brothers and sisters, things often go awry. We often are very harsh, insensitive, and judgemental. It is awful easy to spout out all the do's and don'ts to people, (even gently), and seriously offend the majority of them. If someone is watching your walk closely, and wants to know why you are walking (hopefully) different than others, it may suffice, initially, to just tell them that you are a Christian. It may not be advantagious to rattle off that you are a Born-again Christian, saved by grace through the shed blood of Jesus, etc., and if they don't accept Him too, they are all condemned to Hell! ...oh, and the list of "do's and don'ts"... whack them with that for good measure. ...Do you think maybe we Christians sometimes give Christianity a bad name? Well, I do. ...even when we are trying to do it in love. I know that most of you have heard of "WWJD" (What Would Jesus Do?). OK! My point tonight comes down to this... "WWJS" (What Would Jesus SAY?!?). Let us not only ponder the paths of our feet, but also the ways of our tongue, and not let it go wild. Let's be sure to tame it so that it, too, will be an effective witness for our Lord.

There... now I just want to say, (carefully), to all of the folks out there who are'nt Christians, that I will try to choose (chew) my words carefully. I understand why, at times, I have had the start of a possibly great relationship with someone, only to have it disconnect as soon as that person found out I was a Christian. However, I DO ask you to overlook, or tolerate, some of my shortcomings, to the end that you might see (and hear) past me, to Christ, Himself. If, by some chance you should see me out walking, and are interested in the path I'm on, look beyond me, up the trail... that's where Christ is... that's where I'm headed...

There... Now, although I've enjoyed this time with you all, it's getting late. I'm getting sleepy... sleeeppyyy ...ssslleeepppyyy... Yah, I know, it IS obvious that I'm overtired! But, I'm not too tired to ask God's blessings on everyone of you. God Bless!

Stickman

New Portland Fair, and such...

Good morning!

The day is off to a wonderful start! I was up and moving by 5:00 AM this fine morning, which would be considered a late start for many of the thru-hikers out there. But, whereas I am not on trail, it's not a bad start time. I do have a busy day, though, as I'm sure many of you do also. I first headed out to the Church to tear down, and carry off, the big signs that I had put up for our recent Motorcycle Church. By the way, that is a "way fun" ministry, with lot's of bikes, bikers, music, food, and messages. It was our third year of this ministry, and was awesome... and it seems to get better each year! ... so... see you there next year!

Busy... oh, yeah! Speaking of busy... I had a call a few days back from a friend at Church. I had told him to call me when he needed help putting up his new garage. Well, Andy called me, and today is the day. I said yes! Of course I will be there!... and I will. I just happened to forget that this weekend is New Portland Fair weekend. We have been attending it these last few years as vendors, with our ScriptureSticks. We never expect to sell any, are not dissapointed if we don't, and are pleasantly surprised if we do! Actually, we end up giving a few away, which serves to accomplish our intended goal... to have people be exposed to a little bit of scripture, and then carry it around for others to read.

Well, I best be getting going... while I did the sign demolition, Cari got everything together for the fair, and had it 99% loaded in the truck. About all I had to do was load a cooler, give her a kiss, and wish her well. Yup, she is going to go to the fair alone... I will help Andy for a good part of the day, then head for New Portland to help. Should be done around 8:00 PM., and come home. Tomorrow we do the Fair together, which will be fun.

So it goes... we run around, doing things, and hope we don't forget someone important (anyone...). We also hope that we don't lose sight of someone most important... God!

So, gotta go help Andy, and the crew. You all have a good time at the New Portland Fair, and stop by and say "Hey!", to my wonderful wife, Cari...

God Bless!

Stickman

The Hiking Hugger!

Hey everyone! Boy, hardly a day goes by, that I don't get some kind of a Blessing... a "Hug from God", if you like. (I don't always get time to sit down and tell you all about it). Well... this past week, while returning to Madison from a lumber delivery in Fryeburg, I stopped for a quick break in Bethel. As I headed toward the entrance of the convenience store, I noticed some familier "trail sign"... a couple of well-worn backpacks, and two sets of trekking poles! I instantly slowed my pace, realizing that there MUST be two (or more) thru-hikers in close proximity... they never stray far from their packs. I glanced around the area... THERE THEY WERE! They appeared to be friendly, so I approached them. I made small talk, and one responded that he was "GRIZZ"... Thank God he was friendly! The other hiker was known on the trail as "TREAT". Real friendly. I caught them during a rest break/feeding time, but they were more than happy to chat. They were having a wonderful hike, looking forward to more of the better weather to hike in. They had their sights set on getting to the hostel in Andover, for a bit more rest and food.

My spirits were lifted during the brief encounter. I wished them well on the remainder of the journey, and gave them contact information, should I be able to assist them in any way up the trail. They also were an encouragement to me, that I might find a way to get back on the trail, (someday, soon).

I always find hikers to be fascinating, each in their own unique way. Almost anyone, given opportunity, will share with you something that they have done, are doing, or are planning to do. This encounter was no exception. TREAT shared with me that he is also known as "THE HIKING HUGGER". Yes... THE HIKING HUGGER! Now, I can't say that I was a recipient of any hugs, but on investigation, I found that he has hugged... (wait...please go to the following to find out!)

http://www.thehikinghugger.com/

...As you can see, he isn't afraid of hugging! As you can also see, he is "hiking for a cause", as many of us do. What do you MEAN, you didn't check out the site! OK, while you do that, I'll close, while asking God's Blessings on all of you! Take care, ponder the paths of your feet, and let all your ways be established. GOD BLESS!

Stickman

Phreak... going for a hike!

Hey everybody!

All is well up here in the beautiful State of Maine! The weather has finally taken a turn for the better, and we have been blessed by several wonderfully sunny days. Believe me, that IS a blessing for all of the hardy hikers who have been slogging through seemingly endless miles of rain, "stream trails", and mud, mud, mud! They're going to have to learn to walk again... on dry ground.

I like to take opportunities to share the little blessings that occasionally come my way, and one of those blessings came my way today. I got a very brief e-mail from Brian "Phreak" today, (see following), and felt very blessed that he thought of me!

Here is Phreak's e-mail...


"From: brian@hikes247.com Sent: Mon Sep 1 17:27

To: Priority: Normal

Subject: Month of September Type: HTML Msg


Hey everyone!
I'm flying out Wed morning (9/3) to CA to hike the John Muir Trail from 9/5 to 9/27. I'll have no access to email, voicemail, cell phone, etc.

I'll return all emails and phone calls as soon as possible after my return on 9/28."

I'm praying for his safety and a wonderful hike as he ventures out to the left coast. Be sure to check out this trail, looks like a SUPER hike!

Well, everyone, just a short post to touch base and say "hello". ... ...

So... any of you folks out there Prayer Warriors? Great! Could you include Phreak in your prayers? Thanks! While your at it could you think of me? Awesome! I will keep you all in prayer too! G'night, and God Bless!

Stickman

Memphis Tim, "On top of the world"

Recieved confirmation from "Memphis", that he made it to summit of Mt. Katahdin! Here is his e-mail ...


"From: 'Tim Tache' Sent: Fri Aug 22 8:14

To: hikerhostel@yahoo.com, KHIBB57@beeline-online.net, ... Priority: Normal

Subject: 2,175 miles...and so it went.... Type: Attachments


"I'm a through hiker, a one way hiker yeah, it took me so long to find out, but I found out...."
Well, what can I say? The last week of my journey was better than I could ever have hoped. A million angels in golden chariots lassoed the rain clouds and pulled them away- or maybe it was a high pressure system- no, definitely angels. In the wilderness I was able to meet up with Jukebox, The General and Loafy and we were actually able to slack pack thanks to vehicle support from Jukebox's dad, Dave.
I summited Katahdin August 20 with my cousin Josh and my uncle Eric along with Loafy, The General, Jukebox, Bunz & Roses, Spock & Twiggy, Hearts, Tupperware, Crush and Beershake. It was cool and very windy with the sun peeking through the clouds, in other words, perfect. Then I hiked down the spectacular Knive's Edge with Josh.
This hike has really been about all of the fabulous people I met along the way, too many to even try to list right now. I am now headed back to PA for a bit and then- who knows. If any of you know of any jobs for a guy with a BA in History and basic woodworking skills I would be willing to walk any distance to relocate. Thanks so much for all the wonderful support you have all given me along the way. I hope our paths cross soon. -Tim
--
After the first few thousand miles,
a man gets limber with his feet.
Sgt. Buster Kilrain, 20th Maine"

I'm sure that Memphis has come away from the trail with a pack full of sweet memories that he will savor for a lifetime. As many of the hikers will echo, Memphis emphasized that his hike "has really been about all of the fabulous people I met along the way, too many to even try to list right now." . Wow!... Not to take anything away from all of the beautiful views... the satisfaction of taming 2,175 miles of trail... or those joyous moments of solitude... Memphis, I believe, got it right! It IS, for many, the people encountered along the way, that are the "icing on the cake".

So... Congrats go out to Memphis, on completing a wonderful journey. There are so many others, also, that have completed this year, and to them a big "WOO-HOO!". Let's not forget the rest of our hiker friends out there, who have yet to finish... let's help them in any way we can.

Memphis... Thanks for letting me be some small part of your journey. It was wonderful to meet you, and share a fine meal. God Bless you in ALL your journeys!

And God Bless ALL of you too!

Stickman