Betsy Campbell - Mountains Along Our Path

Mountains

Along Our Path

Betsy Campbell Cleo Simon

Nancy Humphrey Nancy Fetzer

Laurie Chandley

Mountains Along Our Path

Copyright 2020 by Betsy Campbell, Cleo Simon, Nancy Humphrey, Nancy Fetzer,

Laurie Chandley

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

All photos courtesy of the authors.

Published by Hallard Press LLC

www.HallardPress.com

Info@HallardPress.com

Bulk copies of this book may be obtained by contacting Info@HallardPress,com

Cover Design: Betsy Campbell

Page Design & Typography: Hallard Press LLC / John W Prince

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN: 978-1-951188-15-3

Dedication

This book is dedicated to

Maurene Miller (Womanwithspirit)

and

Doris Graham (Dustcatcher)

We remember that you lived and that your lives gave us memories too beautiful to forget.

Prologue

The Gathering of the Hikers

F

our friends got together in 1992 and took a trip to New England. They toured historic Boston and hiked through the beautiful mountains of New Hampshire. It was an invigorating and fun way to see the area and all agreed that they would like to do more hiking. All had the same adventurous spirit. Each year thereafter another trip was planned with mountain hiking at its core. It became a yearly event with the only unknown factor being where it would take place and who would be able to make it.

Every year a new destination was chosen, and each trip consisted of at least four to five women. Those who could make it made their plans to meet in the designated place. We soon dubbed ourselves the Happy Hikers. Through the 27 years of hiking together, we added trail names, pink hats and matching colorful T-shirts. This became our hiking attire.

No membership required here. We are just a group of friends who have a common appreciation for mountains vistas, a deep respect of nature, and relaxing camaraderie.

We first began to write notes of our trips and then the idea was proposed of writing a book about our experiences. Each Happy Hiker contributed their memories for a few chapters and we compiled it in this book. With any luck, it just might inspire someone else to put on their hiking boots and make their own wonderful times out in the great outdoors. Hope to see you on the trail.

The Happy Hikers

Betsy Campbell

Cleo Simon

Nancy Humphrey

Nancy Fetzer

Laurie Chandley

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Beginning1992

Glacier National Park, Montana1993

Acadia National Park, Maine1994

Kenai Fjord and Denali National Park1995

Yosemite National Park and Mt. Whitney1996

Rocky Mountain National Park1997

Boundary Peak, Nevada1998

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona1999

Mount Rainier National Park, Washington2007

Banff and Jasper National Parks, Canada2008

Olympic National Park, Washington2009

Zion National Park, Utah2011

North Cascades National Park, Washington2012

Adirondack Mountains, New York2013

Shenandoah National Park, Virginia2014

Twin Lake Village, New Hampshire2015

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming2016

Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

Cape Breton Highlands National Park,

Nova Scotia2017

Epilogue

Biographies

Chapter One

The Beginning1992

Boston, Massachusetts

White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire

Ogunquit, Maine

by Betsy Campbell, AKA Cloudsplitter

T

he whole adventure started with Cleo Simon. Cleo and her husband, Ed, owned the tennis club Rio Paz in Punta Gorda, Florida. I had recently moved from New Hampshire to a town just over the river from Punta Gorda.

After looking in the phone book for local tennis clubs that I could join, my eyes landed on Rio Paz Tennis Center. Still, I called another club first, but the line was busy. Skipping over a few others, I dialed Rio Pazs number. Ed answered and was most inviting. He lined something up for the next morning and told me it was just over the river past the farm store. A farm store, I thought to myself, well that sounded wonderful! I envisioned an open-air farm stand with lovely fresh Florida produce. Sounded great! In reality, Rio Paz was 21 miles from my house, and the farm store turned out to be a Farm Store. It was a run-down convenience store in the middle of nowhere.

Rio Paz Tennis Center made up for any disappointment the Farm Store caused. Ed paired people with players of the same level so worrying about a partner was never a problem. All I had to do was show up and I could play the mornings or afternoons away. It was here that I met his lovely wife, Cleo. Soon, I was playing five days a week and had met many nice people.

There were four courts at Rio Paz and the better players were on 1 and 2 which was in one section. Most of the members on those two courts were the ones that I knew best. Cleo happened to play there, too.

Eventually, some of the beginners from courts 3 and 4 worked their way up to 1 and 2, so there was a rotation of sorts. One of the ladies that made it to court 1 was Nancy Humphrey. Cleo, Nancy, and I were soon playing frequently together.

After the members were done with their games, they could sit under a covered open-air patio, relax and visit. That was a perfect way to cool down and get to know each other better. Turns out that Nancy and Cleo taught school in the Desoto County school system for many years. They had much to talk about, and I got to know them well through listening to their conversations. It was nearing fall when they were discussing flying up to North Carolina to visit Cleos sister, Maurene, and see the foliage. I was headed the following month to New Hampshire for the same reason, so I could appreciate their upcoming trip.

While relaxing after tennis, they relayed their tale of another trip they had done in 1985. Cleo had found tickets to Cancun for 4 days and 3 nights, including airfare, for only $135.00 per person. Nancy, who was always ready to take advantage of a good deal, was happy to go along. Unfortunately, they had to drive three hours to Miami to catch their flight.

After arriving in Cancun, they decided to take a boat to another island to do some snorkeling. The boat was $30.00 per person which they felt was way too expensive, so they found a boat that transported the local people for only $2.00 each (which they thought was great). They arrived at the port to find a boat that should have held 40 people, but was carrying about 200.

Cleo looked at Nancy and said, I hope you are a good swimmer. They did make it over and back on that boat without anyone falling off, not that it couldnt have happened at any time as there were people, children, and chickens squeezed in everywhere, even on the outside of the railing.

Another side trip they took while in Cancun was to see the Tulum Mayan ruins. They again caught the bus for the local people which took hours on a crowded, dusty, and bumpy road. They arrived back in Cancun tired, very thirsty, but with a great adventure under their belts.

Of course, while traveling in foreign countries, one must be very careful about drinking the water. In spite of being extremely careful, Nancy was attacked by a grueling bout of Montezumas revenge. It took her 3 weeks and $200.00 for medicine to get back to normal. Meanwhile, Cleo had been guzzling Pepto-Bismol in hopes that she wouldnt get the same malady. The Pepto worked! Still, years later they were fondly remembering the upbeat moments despite the minor setbacks.