I left work a little after 11:30 and as soon as I got on the road my phone started ringing. I normally hate (yes, I'm using that word) cell phoning while driving, but the commencement of the Summit Tour was in less than 30 minutes, and the hikers were trying to get a hold of me. Thankfully I wasn't moving very fast... having to drive through a "truck zone" can be slow at times (and they always go ridiculously slow when you're in a hurry).
Arrival meant introductions, greetings, distribution of clues and the obligatory group photo, taken by T Rex.Left to right, we have: Amyrica, Mark4, StarSAELS, Sandibox, Barefoot Luci, 123 Family, Oread, Mark and Sue, bookwormct, Sweet n Sassy and MyMojo.
We set off with a reading of the story of Scottie MacIncheese, the intrepid drunk Scotsman who stormed Stone Mountain one day back in October. StarSAELS provided live narration, complete with Scottish accent AND singing "Beer, Beer, Beer" (and is still wondering why no one else wanted to sing along... geez!) all the way to the first box on the itinerary — 99 Bottles: Highland Gaelic Ale. On a sad note, barefootluci had to turn back before we arrived at the first box. She had wrenched her knee the previous day and walking sideways on an uneven slope was unbearable (been there, done that... it's painful!!).
I had suspected that ice was going to be a factor, as it had rained two days earlier and nighttime temps since then had been in the 20°s. Ground water seeping from the stone in many places had frozen in its rivulets, necessitating extra caution and slowing our progress. I pointed out a safe, sunny open area where the group could gather while Nate retrieved the letterbox.
Nate also retrieved -- permanently -- the 99 Bottles: Bass Ale letterbox. While everyone stamped in, I went to get a few photos of the incredible icicles on a ledge nearby. The grandest of these icicles was over three feet long!A quick scouting of the slope ahead revealed significant ice coverage, so I decided to detour from Scottie's route and take the path that parallels the Walk-Up Trail. It's shorter, mostly dirt and an easier ascent, which turned out to be a good thing for Mark's back (more on that later).
So while I was spared live narration — and singing "Old Dun Cow" — while ascending the Cherokee Trail on the north slope, we missed Scottie's dance for the train passengers and his doggie doodie dilemma. We picked up the story at the next location, but it didn't have the same charm.Amyrica volunteered to tiptoe downhill and retrieve the 99 Bottles: Breckenridge IPA box (with tongs???) while the rest of the gang waited in the sun. Nate retrieved (permanently) the 99 Bottles: Wild Hop Lager box from the rocks you see behind Mark and Sue.
While everyone stamped in, Sweet n Sassy regaled the group with the story of how they were able to find a letterbox that only one other person was likely to find!Onwards and upwards, along the longest uninterrupted section of the trail, we hiked. I saved the narration of Scottie's trail mishaps until we reached the proper stage: a landmark in the clues to the Devil's Crossroads box. This allowed conversation to run freely, and it varied widely from one end of the line to the other.
Once the wee devil had been properly tucked back in its hiding place, we caught up with Scottie as he had a big slapstick moment (read the story, you'll get it), and then the story continued, sans song. By that point Scottie had finished singing "The Scotsman". But that's okay, because once we reached the 99 Bottles: Breckenridge ESB box I retrieved an MP3 player and a set of small speakers from my backpack and played the songs featured in the story..."Beer, Beer, Beer" by the Pogues; "Old Dun Cow" by Brobdingnagian Bards and "The Scotsman" by The Irish Rovers (though why it came up as being performed by John Denver, I don't know.).
Nate, 123F and I marched off to hunt down a Kitty and check the proximity of a geocache (no worries), and then it was, up up and away! Our interlude in the tale of Scottie MacIncheese (aka Soggy McCheeto (heh)) began with one less hiker, however. Mark had to, much to his and our dismay, take leave from the group due to a luggage-inflicted back injury. We offered to cut the summit off the route, but Mark, a true gentleman, insisted that we press on without him — you were sorely missed, friend! We learned later that Rex saved the day - he came up to the 'halfway house', gave Mark a pep talk and took him out to the gnarliest tree on the rock, the famed Dragon Bonsai.The second tricky triangulation test was the hunt for the Squeeeezebox, which is now safe in a new container. We quickly made our way up to Eagle's Home, which we yanked from its hide and brought up to the summit with us to save a little time. After a few minutes admiring the distant vistas and vernal pools at the summit (and hunting for those geodetic benchmarks!), we tracked down the first of the Top of the Rock boxes. With two boxes for most of the hikers to stamp into, I had time to compile this gorgeous 360° panoramic:
Box safely stowed, we moved on to pull 99 Bottles: Titan IPA from its roost atop the rock, and then went to find the third Top of the Rock box. Uh... okay... 123F, Oread and Mark4 went to find the third box... the rest of us caught up to them! ;-)
Now, you'd think that being at the summit means, "no place to go but down", but the eastern side of the top of the dome is a "few" feet below the actual high point. In the 30-45 minutes we were on the leeward side of the rock, a nasty, bitingly cold wind had whipped up. (This photo of Rubaduc's rubber duck, brought from CT to SMP, GA by Bookwormct, was taken prior to boxing the eastern dome... on the way back down, there were whitecaps on this water!)On the way down, I detoured from the group to replace Eagle's Home, and missed Oread's eagle-eyed spotting of a real Sex on the Trail incident.
At the 'halfway house' we learned that Mark had taken an early trip back down with Rex. The group continued on to the Dragon Tree (Bonsai, whatever) and got a taste of 123F's very fine wine, Uncorked: Gnarly Head.From there, with time running short (the 99 Bottles Brew Tour: Village Corner Tavern event was just 30 minutes away), we rejoined Scottie's tale and retrieved for later stamping the Breckenridge Oatmeal Stout and Troegs Dreamweaver boxes (and perma-pulled Sam Adams Pale Ale and Blue Moon).
Just after we had all four boxes in-hand, my phone started ringing. First Rex, wondering where we were. Then the restaurant, wondering where we were. Then Eidolon, telling me Beachcomber was worried the restaurant wouldn't be ready. Then my son, wondering where the remote was for a remote control car. Then Rex, telling me the restaurant wasn't ready. Then my son again, wondering why the car wasn't working.
There was barely time to rest at the foot of the Walk-Up Trail. Our tired feet, parched throats and sun- and wind-burned faces had to go to the Event!
