People Are Awesome

20th I took a zero…day stunk and I was so sick I could barely get out of bed.

Now, the situation is this, I realized yesterday, although I was sick, this is a holiday weekend which means the post office where I am supposed to get my snow shoes, home made cookies, Outdoor Source Sponsor fund and other goodies is going to be closed on Monday and Tuesday, which means I am forced to do a 44 mile day.

I figure I can do it if I hike all day and night with eating in the three towns I pass on route, as long as I get to them before they close, I can stay well energized and well fed and warm up every four or five hours.

The toughest part will be the after midnight stuff. And I am not sure if there are any services in Doniphan when I get there in which I can camp, so…it’s a gamble, but if I don’t do this, I will be stuck in Doniphan for 3 extra days with no funds, no food and no place to stay. So I begin my 24 hour death march.

And it looks doable.   I did the Maryland Challenge on the Appalachian Trail in 22 hours, and almost all of it in about 17 hours one other time before a major ankle roll, so why not?
I am feeling a little better and the day is supposed to be in the high 30’s which is a nice change. Sun is already shining!

I eat a ton of waffles at breakfast and a bowl of fruit and drink about 6 cups of coffee and prep to Ieave at 7 a.m. I am still sniffling, but hey…I have no choice now.

The first part of the day is nice, just getting down to Road 6, which by the guides we don’t pick up until Giltner NE., 30 miles away, and hike as straight as an arrow on these old gravel farm roads. I hit the Arby’s here and eat two BBQ Sandwiches as well.

The first 10 miles is a breeze. I see one truck, a couple and their dogs, and three possums. The stubby corn fields look like the Alaskan tundra. Just level beds of white for as far as you can see. The only thing that takes me out of the moment is the ice on the ground below my feet and the line of telephone poles that stretch as far as the horizon, which once again, is prepping to be a beauty!

I get to Henderson NE and go the ¼ mile into town off Road 6 and eat at the Dutch Kitchen. This is a Mennonite town with two churches and no bars. Very nice folks here.   My Grandmother once said you can tell the decency of a town by the amount of Churches to the ratio of bars. Makes sense I suppose.

My waitress, Kari Ann Paul, is excited and interested in my journey. She sits with me and we chat for a while and after my delicious burger, I go to pay and she already took care of it. I hand her three dollars as a tip, and she pushes it back into my hand refusing to take it. AMAZING!

So I bid farewell and make my way down the CR6 once again. The sun is now gone and the gray clouds are rolling in slowly. Didn’t hear about any snow but the locals did say the wind is supposed to pick up around midnight to gusts of about 40 MPH and temps are going to drop down to around 10. That may suck.
My feet begin killing after about 24 miles. I realize I haven’t taken off my shoes once today. So I look for a place to stop. Its dark and the places are not many, as the snow is high and the ice is hard. I decide to stop in a turn out and I lie down and remove my shoes and socks. I look into the sky and see the clouds are moving pretty fast higher up, but the wind at my level is very little.

Once again I move on and as I hit the 30 mile mark after 8 p.m. I am shuffling along but I feel better after the rest. I have my headlamp in my hand and only use it when I see an approaching vehicle, which I haven’t yet since dark struck.

Ahead my first vehicle of the night approaches me. It slows and a gentleman looks out his window and asks me where I am heading.

“Heading to Glitner to eat and then hiking into the night and on to Doniphan by noon tomorrow.”
“What?”, he asks.   “You need a ride there?”
God yes I do, but I don’t say so.
“Hey, my Mother and I are heading out to dinner, how about this…get in and join us for dinner and I’ll drop you back here. That way you can warm up.”
I never expected that, but I decide the warmth of the truck and the promise of a hot meal sound really good right now.

I get in and meet Edgar and Alice Tucker. Edgar is a big fellow with a heart that is bigger. His mother is 94 years old and a fire spark of entertainment. She has a sweet demeanor and a heart of gold, which obviously was passed onto Edgar.

We drive back East to a small town and eat at a steak house and I have the BEST steak I remember ever eating. During dinner Edger tells me of his new business Tox Wastech Inc…remember that name.
He is the VP and the basic idea of this company is that they entomb toxic waste in giant vats that are in leak proof, unbreakable, earthquake ready ‘boxes’ for a lack of a better word. They are never in the air, water or ground, but in a giant building much like a mausoleum, where they are left forever. Safe for the environment and the US is about to begin using this system.

I got a special tour of his Plant, no one has seen this technology and he wouldn’t allow me to film it, which I totally understand, but I got to see the molds that are going to be used for the actual vats. His design and they are impressively large. Almost small swimming pool large.

I ask about stock, as I see this as lucrative, and he said there aren’t any as it is all privately owned. There was stock, but BAM…gone to the investors in a flash of an eye.

Alice and Edgar then tell me to just come over to their home being that it is so late and to sleep there till the morning and he would make sure I go to the Post Office and back before they closed.

We return to their home and I am given the old Davenport to crash on and I sleep like a baby (After Alice shows me her pictures and tells me many stories of family) The wind is roaring outside and I think to myself…man…so glad this little miracle happened, otherwise I would walking in this cold insane wind.

People are awesome.