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The Grand Canyon Boys gradually slipped into hiking-hibernation upon their arrival home late in October (2000). Their e-mailing, once fast and furious, dwindled to a spotty and occasional reminiscing about their last adventure; jokes about one and other stopped sounding so funny. Despite an apparent withdrawal from the excitement of hiking camaraderie, the Boys quietly and religiously kept their own internal "hiking-flame" burning.

October gave way to November, and November brought a reunion of sorts in December. Needing an excuse that sounded official (for their wives), the Boys planned to dine at the Ripe Tomato and discuss their plan to hike the White Mountains in May. Although not able to cross certain spatial and time barriers Steve-the-Knee from Jersey and RB-One-Kanobi (Jedi Knight) in AZ participated in the event via (spiritual) simulcast.

Sitting around a large table (covered in paper for drawing upon) were Roger-the-Wiskey-Totin'-Rock-Grabber, Gotta-Have-A-Lighter-Pack-Larry, Cecil-B-DeWallis, High-Altitude-Joe, Jimmy-the-On-Time-Eating-Machine, and "g."

The evening was energizing for the wanna-be-hiking-again buddies. DeWallis brought his White Mountain Guidebook and accompanying map, there was "gear-talk," and a promise from "g" to launch an upgraded version of G-WeBconnect later that month. The Boys had a temporary and satisfying fix of Guy-Bonding-Hiking-Talk:

(1) DeWallis had amusing visions of the 210 anticipated vacationing stops he and his wife were planning for their 6-week, family cross-country trip scheduled for June. To top it off, he was heavily into techno-land as he tried to configure the means to get live-feed of their trip onto G-WeBconnect .

(2) Jim had tremendous success with achieving hiking Nirvana. When he calculatingly proposed a 45 to 15 pound pack ratio for he and his wife to hike the Grand Canyon the following October, Jim's wife became warmly "inclined to make the decline."

(3) Roger shared family plans to travel in France and Italy come June. He had high hopes of sandwiching such a vacation between The Boys' trip to the White Mountains and the Second Annual Canoe Invitational.

(4) Gotta-Have-A-Lighter-Pack-Larry presented to the Boys his editor's copy of a rough draft entitled, 100 Canned Meals For Backcountry Camping.

(5) "g" regrettably admitted that his awesome plan to hike a rim-to-rim-to-rim trek in the Grand Canyon with Part-Two of the Jogging LaBella Brothers, was in fact, only a great idea. With G-WeBconnect uploads constantly on the horizon, co-planning for this year's Canoe Invitational with Jim, and a yet to be ironed out return to the Canyon in May with RB, "g" had a winter of out-of-doors planning to keep him warm and out of trouble.

At the close of dinner, and over a rather emotional testimony to the Boys in Hiking Boots, High-Altitude-Joe vowed to never miss another trip, Gotta-Have-A-Lighter-Pack-Larry promised to attend weekly meetings of HWCTM Anonymous (i.e., Hikers Who Carry Too Much), and a commitment was offered by all to keep the "internal hiking flame" alive until spring.

Over the dark months that followed, a cold March eventually shoveled its path into April. Spring turned into a long, cold thaw. Time crawled. High-Altitude-Joe and Jim celebrated birthdays, and Cecil B. DeWallis introduced "g" and his family to his annual Seder.

A pause here is well deserved. "g" had been long on the tongue with teasing DeWallis about his cooking disability over the course of their short backpacking tenure. DeWallis had cornered the minimalist's market in a pursuit to eat simple on the trail. For example, during the first Canoe Invitational (7/00), while taking a lunch break during a portage, DeWallis' paddling partner (none other then High-Altitude-Joe) made the following (very telling) comment. While the other 4 groups of paddlers were toting ice