Page Title

The 100-Year-Old Shaker Wooden Spoon

While packing for this trip and at the precise moment Gotta-See-A-Moose-Larry had his packin' fingers on his wife's most treasured antique (a 100-year-old Shaker wooden spoon), his darling wife called in from the TV room, "Oh Honey-Pie-Darling… Please don't take my 100-year-old Shaker wooden spoon camping with you."

"OK, my darling wife." responded Gotta-See-A-Moose-Larry in a convincing voice. To which the tool was then whisked off to his backpack.

Gotta-See-A-Moose-Larry was scheduled to cook one dinner for Whiskey-Totin'-Roger-the-Rock-Grinder and "g" on their trip. This was a nerve racking decision for Roger and "g" because of the tall stories from Larry's last (and only) attempt at cooking --A hiking adventure that predated them.

Apparently, Larry responded to his first call to cook dinner by purchasing some sort of C-rations at his local Army and Navy Store. Moving in untested waters, Larry and his hiking-mates of yesteryear were sorrowfully confronted with 30 year old, single servings of gray food in the wild. Too dangerous looking to consider eating, Larry's dinner was buried some 50 yards away from their campsite.

It was with trepidation that Gotta-See-A-Moose-Larry was invited to cook on the Katahdin trip. As it turned out, Larry was scheduled to cook dinner on that first night in South Basin. So, when Roger and "g" returned to base camp after hiking Knife Edge… Hungry as all-get-out… There… By the entrance to their lean-to, was Larry. He stood tall and boldly with a steaming pot of dinner in one hand and the 100-year-old-Shaker spoon in the other! Garnishing his efforts with a large smile, Larry rang out, "It's dinner time!"

Too tired to be picky, to thirsty to be apprehensive, Roger and "g" dove into dinner… "But wait!" thought "g," "This is good. No… This is really great! Hey Larry," called out "g," "This is really great! Nice job!"

As Larry reveled in the praise, he bent over his dinner plate to scoop-up some dinner for himself when the unthinkable happened… The handle on the 100-year-old-Shaker spoon broke and the serving end fell to the ground. "Oh-Oh…" muttered Larry, "I think I have a problem…"

"Come on," teased Steve-the-Knee from Jersey, "it's only a spoon!"

To which Larry proceeded to tell about the spousal warning while packing his gear. The Boys had a sobering moment. Fortunately, the silence was broken by High-Altitude-Joe's bellowing chant: "Where's my multi-tool! Where's my multi-tool! Who's got my multi-tool?"

(Never a dull moment…)

Final Thoughts:

It had been four months since the Katahdin Boys returned home. "g" learned at a soccer game that "Gotta-See-A-Moose-Larry" had some how (LaBella Karma?) been spared the discovery of the missing 100 year old Shaker wooden spoon by his wife. What a lucky guy…

There was news that Steve-The-Knee-From-Jersey had been in a car accident subsequent to the trip, and that his recovery, training and knee strength had progressed steadily.

Hydraulic-Legs-Warren picked up a great deal on a digital cam-corder on the 3W, and had some cockamamie plan to video tape their next trip west! Oh, geez...

And, there were plans on the horizons,for another trip. Merely six months after the Katahdin trip in June, The Boys looked forward to the next trip. Four days backpacking in the Grand Canyon was scheduled for October.

Regrettably and unfortunately, High-Altitude-Joe would not be in attendance due to the sensitive purchase of a really cool, 24 foot sailboat last spring. Additionally unfortunate, was the sudden news that Roger-the-Whiskey-Totin'-Rock-Grinder would be remaining home in preparation for a family trip to Europe later that year.

On the upside, Jim-the-On-Time-Eating-Machine (a kindred spirit to "g" in the world of psychotherapy) and "g's" (much) younger brother, RB-One-Kanobi (Jedi-Knight), would join the team for their first ever, backpacking trips.

As the October departure neared, there was increasing rumors that one or more of the Grand Canyon Boys would need to be hauled out by mule power. It seems as though…

(To be continued?)