The Dirty Sole Society Spring Barefoot Fling '95 Information Filed by: Paul J. Lucas, Mike Berrow, Richard Frazine, & Maggie Scott Location: Centre County, Pennslyvania, USA Dates : April 28-May 1, 1995. Note: Interspersed through the text are JPEG filenames for photos taken during the trip. These photos can be accessed from the Dirty Sole Society's home pages located at: http://www.barefooters.org/1995-spring/ FRIDAY, APR 28 ============== Maggie Scott met Mike Berrow at State College airport at 10AM. They went to Ye Olde College Diner for breakfast and had grilled stickies, a local delicacy. Maggie took Mike around State College for a mini-tour, part of which included seeing albatross.eec.psu.edu, the former home of the DSS mailing list server. After a short flight plus a puddle-jumper, I arrived at State College airport after 2PM. I walked off the plane barefoot to look for Mike and Maggie -- they were pretty much right there. We left the airport and ran a few errands: got film at Walmart, Maggie picked up a copy of Mutant Message Down Under at a bookstore, got beer, then went back to Maggie's place for dinner. Maggie had rented a mini-van very similar, coincidentally or otherwise, to the one Mike owns. After dinner, we sat around in front of a fire waiting for Richard Frazine and company to arrive from Connecticut. [ The following section was contributed by Richard Frazine. ] >Joe Huntington arrived by car from Rhode Island to collect Frazines at >about 3:15PM at [their] Thomaston CT home -- but of course we were not >ready to get underway until about 4:00PM. > >We stoped at a McDonalds in Lords Valley PA -- all barefoot -- and guess >what? No sign! A barefoot friendly McDonalds? Can this be? > >We arrived at Maggie's house well after ten. It was such a welcome >sight to see barefoot friends coming out onto the porch to greet us. Paul >and Mike and Maggie came down to carry in our gear for us like we were >family. It felt that way anyway -- really brought a smile -- almost >wanted to hug them and dance around! Richard's children are Charlie (age 6) and Beth (9). It took a while for the children to get settled, but the adults sat around in front of the fire for a while and imbibed. SATURDAY, APR 29 ================ A sunny day greeted us. Maggie's choice for our hike location was Mt. Nittany. According to Maggie, "You haven't hiked Happy Valley unless you've hiked Mt. Nittany." The initial part was a gravel road (~200 FT), but wasn't too bad. After that, the climb up (~770 FT) was moderately steep and rocky [mtn_trail.jpg]. We did stop to rest and take a photo [mtn_breather.jpg]. Charlie Frazine, an energetic 6-year-old, was often far ahead of us, scrambling over rocks with ease and often found time to play while waiting for the rest of us to catch up. Richard's children, who had always hiked barefoot, were never told you "needed" boots to hike. The trail was much better once we reached the top: for one thing, it was level; another thing was that large stretches of the trail were covered by plush carpets of moss -- it felt very nice. The view from up there was also very rewarding [mtn_valley.jpg]. We came upon a campsite where a fire had been; remaining were soot and ashes. Of course, we took full advantage of this and blackened our soles for a group photo [mtn_dirty.jpg]. After a bit more hiking, we stopped for lunch which consisted of sandwiches, celery, and carrots. After lunch, we continued walking and eventually realized we were slightly lost, so we opted to turn around and head back. It turns out we had missed a hairpin turn. We met a young couple along the way with brand new, matching hiking boots (eeck!). We availed outselves of their map just to make sure we were going the right way. We also proceeded to get into a conversation about barefoot hiking (of course). They did seem to express genuine interest. We also picked and ate winter berries. We were still blessed with moss-covered trail...then it got rocky with rocks buried in leaves. We parted company with the couple who went on ahead. We eventually got back to the point where we reached the top of Mt. Nittany, having done a loop at the top, and started down. Going down is always harder on the legs. On the way down, we did come across others. Four guys asked us "Why barefoot?" Our usual responses of "It feels nice," "We see no reason to wear boots," and (somewhat sarcastically), "So we get asked 'Why barefoot?'." I was the first one down, followed by Charlie; Maggie and Beth were last. I was told that after they had passed me and were approaching Maggie, a woman of a couple exclaimed, "Oh God, there's more of them!" Just as we were all down back on the coarse gravel of the roadway, a large group of shod hikers passed us. Richard told us all to "smile and don't let them see you flinch." Ordinarily, such gravel would not be much of a problem, but our feet had just taken a pounding coming down Mt. Nittany. We probably looked silly to them. We all piled into the Foot-Mobile and Maggie took us for ice cream at Meyer's Dairy despite the "No bare feet" sign. Maggie has been in and out of there for six years and never noticed the sign nor has anybody ever said anything to her about her being barefoot. We probably got a few more glances than we ordinarily would have since our feet were a bit dusty and muddy from the hike. One woman saw Mike's feet and looked appalled. It's her problem -- deal with it. After we finished the ice cream, we went to the Alan Seeger Trail where the "Foot Path Only" sign is complete with bare footprints! [ast_group.jpg] A short way along, we came upon a bridge spanning a stream. I was asked to take a group photo standing in the water, but it was way too cold for me! There just so happened to be a small peninsula out into the water. I manged to climb through bushes and out onto it to take a group photo [ast_bridge.jpg]. Mike's and Beth's tolerance for cold is better than mine since they both got out into the cold water and didn't complain. While walking, we came upon a middle-aged couple with whom we proceeded to have a lively exchange about bare feet in general. We cited historical facts, but he kept trying to come up with counter arguments. We explained about footware being ornamental, about not catching diseases, etc. He then claimed that you couldn't run fast if a wild animal were chasing you at which point I took off into a run on the trail ahead over mildly rocky ground without difficulty. He tried to save face by saying that my "heart wasn't in it." They parted, presumably after they realized they couldn't win their argument. The trail was a short one and we had reached the end. Maggie went on ahead to get the Foot-Mobile to pick us up. Since we had a full day of hiking, we were tired and the ride home back to Maggie's was quiet...except for Richard's snoring. After we had return to Maggie's, we were treated to a delicious lasagne. During dinner, we got a call from John who had seen one of the Barefoot Hiker fliers Maggie had posted around town. He said that he and two friends would be joining us for Sunday's hike. Great! After dinner, Beth instigated a Monopoly game with Mike wile we all relaxed in front of a roaring fire in Maggie's living room, warming our toes. SUNDAY, APR 30 ============== Apparently, Maggie's ability for bringing good weather works only when she goes someplace else. Sunday morning was overcast, a bit on the chilly side, and damp -- drizzling, misty sort of damp. Joe, Richard, and his kids decided to go to a local mass. I tried to convince them to go barefoot citing Exodus 3:5 as a set precedent. They weren't persuaded. This was the only time that anyone wore shoes the entire weekend. Meanwhile, Maggie, Mike, and I went to Weis Market for some supplies. Got a few silly looks about our bare feet, but were not prevented from shopping. We got a call from Theresa who said that she would like to join us, but that she would need to be picked up in order to do so. It does seem strange how both Maggie and Theresa lived in the same area for years but had never met. We arrived at Bear Meadow and the weather hadn't improved. We were expecting John and his two friends. We waited a while and there was no sign of them. We decided to go on without them. Before that, of course, we had to take the obligatory group photo [bear_group1.jpg and bear_group2.jpg]. Shortly after we had done this, a car pulled up with three young guys in it. They remained in the car doing something or other. We were trying to decide if it was John and his friends; they didn't do anything to communicate with us, but then, finally, one held up a boot inside the car. A moment later, one of the doors opened and a pair of bare feet came out -- it was them. John's friends were Eric and Rafer. The three of them had hiked barefoot previously, Eric in particular. He says he really likes to walk barefoot in the woods. It turns out he's another C++ programmer who's moving to California (like me); perhaps we'll meet up again once we're both out there. Of course we had to take a full group photo [bear_group3.jpg]. The trail was, of course, quite damp and very muddy in places, muddy to the point where your entire foot was covered. It was also a bit cold, but, once you get moving, you feel all right. After walking and talking for a while, we came upon a clearing. Although we had see nobody else out nor cars back in the lot, someone had been here recently since the ashes and soot from a campfire were still hot. We enjoy lunch, soggy though it was, and conversation. It seems that many barefooters have similar thoughts. Rafer was talking to Joe about having some sort of a foot covering for warmth in cold weather. The tops of the feet would be covered with a strap running under the arch to keep it on, but the heels, balls, and toes would remain bare. Rafer had unknowly described a "barefoot gaiter" as described in The Barefoot Hiker. We finished lunch and pressed on. Rafer does martial arts. One of his exercises is to walk on all fours (hands and feet, not hands and knees). We got a demonstration. I, for one, was impressed with how quickly he's able to do it. Watching him, it looks like he's "climbing horizontally." We came to a gravel road; the gravel wasn't too bad. We walked along for a little while when an alternate path through the woods came up. Maggie said the road was shorter. All but John and Eric opted for the road. After walking, and walking, and walking, I wish I had taken the woods back. Richard's children were tired, cold, and wet (their feet were fine, though); Rafer was kind enough to run ahead to get the car for them. (Yes, he ran over gravel with apparent ease.) The road continued on and on and on. Rafer passed in his car, picked up Richard and his kids, and returned to where we originally parked. The road continued on some more. We finally got back to the parking area. We exchanged information (addresses, phone numbers, etc) with Rafer, Eric, and John in the hope that we would hike together again some day (hopefully with better weather!). We then piled into the Foot-Mobile and left. Theresa offered tea, hot chocolate, etc for us, so we stopped by her place and met her family. (They were probably a bit overwhelmed with all these barefoot people descending on them!) After tea and saying goodbye to Theresa, we went back to Maggie's for yet another good dinner. Maggie took some time to show us some of the quilts she was making: all were exquisite and expertly crafted. Rich, his children, and Joe took a little while to get all packed up. We bid our new friends goodbye. Maggie, her cats, Mike, and I stayed up for a while and talked in front of a fire. MONDAY, MAY 1 ============= For breakfast, Maggie and Mike took me to Ye Olde College Diner. Again, there was no problem with us being barefoot. (Cool!) After breakfast, we did manage to get Mike to the airport on time (just!). Hugs were exchanged. Mike stood in line at the gate. When it was his turn, the attendant asked him, "Are you traveling with shoes?" Mike : "Traveling with shoes?" Woman: "Yes, traveling with shoes." Mike : "I have them in my bag." Woman: "You might want to put them on for health reasons." Mike : "That's ok...I'm would take them off as soon as I get on the plane." Mike then walked on. The woman gave him a "Whatever!" look. Maggie and I waited a bit to watch the plane. The same woman walked by us and gave us a "look." After seeing Mike off, Maggie took me on a tour of Penn State University since I had a few hours before my flight. We wandered around campus, sat on the Nittany Lion shrine and took photos [psu_lion_maggie.jpg and psu_lion_pjl.jpg], went to Maggie's office and saw albatross.eec.psu.edu, the former home of the DSS mailing list [psu_office.jpg], wandered back near the main part of campus where we sat for a bit and people- watched, and eventually had lunch at a local pizza joint. During this whole time, we noticed no barefoot students aside from those who had layed on the grass to sun themselves. The time had come to get me to the airport. Once there, Maggie and I exchanged hugs. Unlike Mike, I wimped out and put on my Birkenstocks (I don't like getting hassled much).