Author: David Stith

No Name Peak

The Long Trail runs the length of Vermont, 272 miles, and, as many Vermonters know, it has its own presidential range.  It’s less lofty than the more famous one over in New Hampshire, but four peaks between Breadloaf Mountain and Lincoln Gap bear the names Mount Wilson, Mount Roosevelt, Mount Cleveland and Mount Grant.

And right in the middle, between Roosevelt and Cleveland, according to the Long Trail Guide, is a lesser summit, a summit that had no name.

Rob Waters, a retired newspaperman who used to be my editor at The News & Observer, wrote this story and, just this one time, I got to edit him.

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In the summer of 1970, Rob worked on a crew to improve the Long Trail, in the Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont.  That four-man crew, three college students and a Navy veteran, went out on Monday mornings and returned late on Fridays, staying in trail shelters or camping during the week to be near their work.

Pat Stith (L) and Rob Waters on the A.T.
Pat Stith (L) and Rob Waters on the A.T.

The week they worked north of Breadloaf, they carried a bag of, Rob didn’t remember exactly, it might have been chocolate bars, that contained a hand puppet.  The puppet, basically a plastic bag printed with a face and with hands sticking out, was named “Little Hans.” It said so right there on the package.

Little Hans
Little Hans

Rob said he and his friends played with Little Hans, waving him around and making dumb jokes.

As he and the others trekked between their camp and their work sites they repeatedly crossed the summit with no name.  As the week progressed, a consensus emerged that the hump between Presidents Cleveland and Roosevelt was worthy so, one evening, Ray Secor, the Navy veteran, carved a small sign that said “Little Hans Peak.” Next day, the crew attached the sign to a tree on the summit.

Rob is a lifelong hiker – in recent years I’ve hiked with him several times on the A.T. — but he hadn’t been back to Vermont much and had never revisited that section of the Long Trail.  So imagine his surprise as he leafed through the September 2016 issue of “Backpacker Magazine” and saw a reference to that peak.  The article recommend a peak-bagging walk in the Green Mountains from Cooley Glen Shelter to Mount Wilson and back. That hike, the article said, would take you across the summits of Cleveland and Roosevelt and, in between, a place called “Little Hans Peak.”

The name had stuck.

NOTE:  See for yourself. Google “Little Hans Peak,” go to Peakbagger.com and there it will be: Little Hans Peak, Vermont, elevation 3,348 feet. Peakbagger.Com calls it an “unofficially named peak.”

Coming Friday: The Real Navy

 

I Shoulda Kept Notes

I don’t have a lot of regrets but this is one: I wish I had kept notes on of all the – what should I call them? – unusual, things I’ve seen at weddings.

Here are some I remember:

  • A wedding in which there were no religious songs, no prayers or verses from the Bible — no mention of God. That’s unusual?  It is in this neck of the woods and, besides, the groom was the son of a Baptist preacher, and he was there.
  • A reception with a “Baptist” punch bowl that was full and a “Catholic” punch bowl that was empty. You know why, don’t you.
  • A couple that allowed photographers to hover around them at the altar — one even laid on the grass next to the minister, snapping away — while they took their vows. Why?  The bride was a photographer.  They were her friends.
  • The bride’s much beloved dog, Zoey, sitting next to her, barking, during the marriage ceremony.
  • Zoey, assisting at the marriage of Mandy Locke and Alex Granados
    Zoey, assisting at the marriage of Mandy Locke and Alex Granados

    A bride, standing outside the church in 90 degree heat, sweating along with scores of guests waiting to throw rice, while the groom combed his hair.

  • A rock-ribbed Baptist father-of-the-bride holding a bucket of holy water for the priest.
  • A wedding with a “Best Woman” instead of a “Best Man.”
  • A fall wedding where the groom announced the wedding would be delayed a few minutes. He and his bride had made it to the church on time but some guests had not — they were caught up in football traffic.
  • Police at the reception, investigating a theft at the wedding.
  • A popcorn machine next to the reception line so guests could snack while they waited to greet the wedding couple.
  • Two grown men, a brother and a cousin of the bride, serving as flower girls.  Did a good job, too.
  • Bouquets of honey suckle in mason jars sitting beneath the pews to make the church smell good.
  • Baptist weddings that were much shorter than the last two minutes of down-to-the-wire University of North Carolina basketball game.
  • Chelsea and Jim Waddelow
    Chelsea and Jim Waddelow

    A bride who wore a patch over one eye, like a pirate. She had injured it a few days before the wedding.

  • A groom, a former Marine aviator with more than 200 combat missions in Viet Nam, with his hair in a pony tail, adorned with baby’s breath.
  • A bride and groom who washed each other’s feet during the ceremony.
  • Bridesmaids wearing masks. Oh, yes, remember the pandemic of 2020?
  • And, top this: A bride and groom who married themselves.  They exchanged vows; signed the marriage certificate; had it witnessed, and then pronounced themselves man and wife.

Coming Monday: No Name Peak