~*~ Hunt for the Buried Treasure ~*~

Altoona, PA

Date: April 30, 2005

Hikers: Ardwick, BroodX & lilmountaingirl

Mileage:

Elevation Gain/Loss:

After arriving in Altoona, PA on Friday evening around 9:30pm, we discovered DEOperator wasn’t going to be able to make the trip because of work. BroodX went about cooking dinner for all of us…pad thai with peanut sauce. YUM! The boy can cook! A couple of beers and some tequila later, we headed down to the Knickerbocker for the evening. What I learned that night was that BroodX IS the best man…and he magically transforms into an Irishman (accent and all) after a few beers. We called it a night around 1:30am and went back to his house to crash.

Saturday,

We sort of rolled out of bed around 9’ish. I was excited to see the view from BroodX’s that I had been hearing so much about. I ran to the door, swung it open and…!!!???!!!???!!!!???...all I saw was fog. To which he said “there is a huge mountain right there! Trust me!” Okay, if you say so. We had a good breakfast with cereal, French toast sticks & eggs before heading out into the dreary day.

It was a cool, fog-ridden morning in Altoona, PA. BroodX, ardwick and I found ourselves at the base of a vertical climb…ready to seek out the buried treasure we had heard so much about. The treasure in this case was a plane wreck from a crash that happened in the early 90’s. I asked which way we were going and BroodX pointed up the mountain and said…”that way”. Beki, ardwick’s pup, was ready and raring to tackle the mountain before us. We began our climb. Up. Straight the hell up. There were leaves, and rocks and blowdowns to negotiate. The fog that hung on the mountain made an eerie setting that was perfect for the hunt! BroodX, being the observant little hobbit that he is, found a fresh deer bed (I’m certain we scared it off). He also fell up the hill and in doing so, discovered some feathers (which we best-guessed to be grouse).

After an hour or so, we found ourselves on the top of the mountain and still, unable to see very far in any direction. BroodX suggested we fan out to begin our Search and Rescue-like mission. Brood took far left, ardwick & Beki in the middle and I went far right (no, not even close to being “politically correct”!) Our plan was for each of us to walk in a straight line and keep an eye on each other since field of vision was pretty much diddly-squat. We scoured the top of the mountain in one direction, turned around, realigned ourselves, and headed back the other way. We saw 2 newts and a few clawed up trees (presumably from bears). No plane crash. No twisted metal. No bones or black boxes. Had the weather been clear, we may have had an easier time of it. “Whose idea was this?” came up…and we decided it was DEOperator’s…and then cursed him for not being there.

After our return SAR mission, BroodX recommended we go find Misery, an old mining area. Off we went, over rocks, under blowdowns, through the thicket of things (haha!). Success! We found Misery! And it does, indeed, love company! We sat for a good 45 minutes playing a great game called “throw the rock at the rock”. BroodX introduced us to it (and I hit it on the 2^nd try) though he claimed that “Battleship” is much more fun. We found that hard to believe. The rock game…well…it rocked!

After another 20 minutes or so of aimlessly wandering, we decided to head back to the car. Beki was a little trooper, though she was exhausted. There were tons of downed trees and the steep descent made for slow going with the wet leaves, moss covered rocks and thorns. About ¾ of the way down, the rain came out to play. Poor BroodX, he was wearing…COTTON!!! <gasp> This 2004 AT thru-hiker was braving the elements in shorts, a cotton tee-shirt and a big cotton sweatshirt! He had no pack…just a ½ full platypus and 6 sour patch kids. No smartwool socks! No snacks! Nothing that wicked! It’s truly by the grace of God that the boy survived this extreme dayhike. <sigh> Upon reaching the base of the mountain, we followed a stream and came across a little cave where we decided to stop for a spell. Poor BroodX…shivering and huddling around a lighter in a feeble attempt to dry the <gasp> cotton.

We made it back to the car…we survived this treacherous adventure. Although we found no plane crash, we had a great time! The weather made the “hunt” that much better ~ the woods were eerie and the air was still.

After showers and some grocery shopping, we cooked entirely too much food for our BBQ! Grilled portobella’s, grilled pineapple, green peppers and asparagus. Ardwick insisted on eating something that used to be alive so he feasted on burgers. It was DELICIOUS! The three of us ate and then sat back and relaxed with a few <cough> beers. The night ended in the wee hours of the morning. 10 or 15 other people were in and out throughout the evening…we had a really good time.

Sunday morning we eventually got up and we discovered there really WAS a great view from BroodX’s house. We had breakfast again, and again, too much food (Beki helped us with that) before Ardy and I headed back home. Thanks, BroodX for being such a great hobbit host!

Most memorable one liner:

BroodX: “I’M the best man” <said only while poking himself repeatedly in the chest, and preferably with an Irish accent>

New buried treasure:

BroodX’s remote control for the TV…with these two fingers and by the grace of God…

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