You see, as a child watching Airwolf starring Jan Michael Vincent and Ernest Borgnine, I dreamed of riding in a helicopter. Has it happened? No. Perhaps, as a man, it was never meant to be.And while local newspapers, and sometimes even the national media outlets, have already reported on the people I am going to share with you tonight, they need, no - they DESERVE, more.
It is because of their unflinching spirits, their unquenchable zest and their luminous courage that I took off on my own Appalachian Traile adventure. It is because of the following people that I tried everything I could to earn a free ride in a rescue helicopter.
Unfortunately, I didn't understand their ways. While I was out in the Woods, I brought more than just a cellphone. I brought food, for instance. And water. Warm clothes. A sleeping bag. Sometimes, even a map!
And in those times when the weather looked dangerous, I - like a fool - stayed indoors at a hotel, nursing my cowardice with a beer and promiscuous love-making! Sometimes, even a bag of Doritos.
The following awardees didn't do any of these things, nor do they plan to in the future. What they understand about adventure comes from somewhere deep inside of their souls, not from books or studies. These people clench life tightly by its lapel on a daily basis and scream into the faces of Mr. Logic and Captain Rationality: "I don't need your warnings! I will ride in a helicopter and that's final!"David Vanderwall, 33 - David is a special case, indeed. He was in the process of hiking the Appalachian Traile in June 2007, when after finding out that his water filtration system had broken on him, he kept walking right past roads and other hikers without asking them for water. Nor did he drink any water from out of small streams that littered the pathway.
Understandably, Vanderwall being from Chicago, IL (where it is illegal to ask for water), did what any logical person would do. He climbed up to the top of a mountain (where water comes from) to get better cellphone reception, from where he called for help (many Chicagoans can order bottled water online, too). After being rescued by six vehicles and drawing a large crowd of people from the small Virginian town of Bland - all of whom have hoses and taps and wells, Vanderwall reportedly responded with: "All this for little ol' me?"
Yes, David. All of it for you. Congratulations, my boy. Tax money hasn't ever been spent on a better cause!
Brian Gagnon, 24 - If you realized that a free Blackhawk helicopter ride was within reach (better known as two days spent freezing in a sleeping bag), you'd take it, wouldn't you?
Gagnon was hiking with two other people in mid-January atop Franconia Ridge (of the dangerous White Mountains in New Hampshire), but he knew that if he just kept ignoring the weather conditions or the pleas of his companions, he would soon be riding an all-expense-paid swirl in the local military's whirlybird.
His silly mates, who abandoned their own chances for glorious fame and prizes, contacted rescuers when Gagnon failed to make it down the other side of the mountain. They had turned back when the temperature dropped ferociously. Later, Gagnon in a moment of sheer genius decided that he would abandon the shelter he had created to protect himself from the winds and walk out in the snow, bushwhacking his way one mile into the Woods. This made it necessary for rescue workers to get out of their posh chairs and actually "track" him down.
Seems like walking into the forest would decrease your chances of actually being seen be a helicopter, much less the odds that one could properly land ... Oh well, they say hypothermia dulls the senses a bit. Congratulations, anyway, hero. And here's to more adventures in the future.
As for me, I'm signing off for the night. I have something outrageous to do, like standing naked on my roof, twirling an iron rod around my head and yelling at the lightning bolts. It's as close as I will ever come to Vanderwall and Gagnon. A mere dwarf I am, eating fallen crumbs from their beards, crying in their rotary-bladed shadows ...
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2 comments:
perhaps you should try that from someone else's roof- or better yet, a public building. It's much more daring, and may even elicit a helicopter!
Or perhaps he should actually know his facts concerning other's situations. In the case of David Vanderwall... his water filtration system works just fine until this day! There was, however, a dead animal that had contaminated the only water supply in a 20 mile stretch on the trail... so asking another hiker for water was useless as they were ALL thirsty that day!
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