Turtle Don on Mount Whitney
Turtle Don on Mount Whitney
But you would be very, very wrong.
He wasn’t in a hurry so we stopped and talked a bit – and he shared parts of a story that I eventually discovered he shares with everyone he meets on the trail. He goes by the name of “Turtle Don,” a trail name he said he gave to himself while thru-hiking the Appalachia Trail (yes, that’s right!) recently. On a day when everyone seemed to be passing him he came upon a little turtle – the first thing going slower than he was on the trail.
I didn’t quite catch the whole story, but he has apparently hiked several other major thru trails in the US. Now he was/is working on the Pacific Crest Trail. He’s not exactly thru-hiking it (e.g. doing the whole thing in one uninterrupted rush) but he had already completed a good portion of the Southern California desert section and was now working his way north through the Sierra in 8-9 day segments, and meeting his wife between these intervals to stay in a motel and resupply.
Don is 74 years old. He gives me hope that I have more than a few years of backpacking left in my legs and lungs! Don is slow, but he seemingly cannot be stopped. After I left him – finally tearing myself away as he continued his stories – I continued on up the mountain thinking I wouldn’t see him again. Not so. As I took a break at the junction to the final two-mile traverse to the summit of Whitney there he was, slowly and steadily working his way up this very high and very exhausting trail. He arrived at the junction – where I made this photo – and we talked a bit more before I continued on to the summit. Later, as I was descending back to the trail junction, I found him still working his way towards the summit where he planned to spend the night!
Photography and text copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
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August 20, 2008 -
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Turtle Don on Mount Whitney
Turtle Don on Mount Whitney
But you would be very, very wrong.
He wasn’t in a hurry so we stopped and talked a bit – and he shared parts of a story that I eventually discovered he shares with everyone he meets on the trail. He goes by the name of “Turtle Don,” a trail name he said he gave to himself while thru-hiking the Appalachia Trail (yes, that’s right!) recently. On a day when everyone seemed to be passing him he came upon a little turtle – the first thing going slower than he was on the trail.
I didn’t quite catch the whole story, but he has apparently hiked several other major thru trails in the US. Now he was/is working on the Pacific Crest Trail. He’s not exactly thru-hiking it (e.g. doing the whole thing in one uninterrupted rush) but he had already completed a good portion of the Southern California desert section and was now working his way north through the Sierra in 8-9 day segments, and meeting his wife between these intervals to stay in a motel and resupply.
Don is 74 years old. He gives me hope that I have more than a few years of backpacking left in my legs and lungs! Don is slow, but he seemingly cannot be stopped. After I left him – finally tearing myself away as he continued his stories – I continued on up the mountain thinking I wouldn’t see him again. Not so. As I took a break at the junction to the final two-mile traverse to the summit of Whitney there he was, slowly and steadily working his way up this very high and very exhausting trail. He arrived at the junction – where I made this photo – and we talked a bit more before I continued on to the summit. Later, as I was descending back to the trail junction, I found him still working his way towards the summit where he planned to spend the night!
Photography and text copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
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August 20, 2008 - Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary