"Henry...stop working so much and get back to the woods"

Friday, June 03, 2011

I was managing the Cleveland Athletic Club in 1998 when a member and great friend, Henry Billingsley, was telling me about how he missed the days when he used to climb and backpack in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. I knew these mountains from my youth, but mostly from passing through them on the way to visit relatives to their north. He told me how he’d lost his climbing partner to a heart attack. “He was only 45 at the time. I took his ashes up to the top of one of those peaks and scattered them there. He loved that part of the country…and so did I,” he said. I told him how I’d camped there when I was 18 and if he ever wanted to go back, I’d love to go.

We spent the next couple of years kayaking and camping in Michigan and Pennsylvania, but finally in 2001, asked John to join us and made our way to the High Peaks and climbed Mt. Marcy, New York’s tallest peak. Like Henry and his friend, I fell in love with the area and have made over twenty trips back, often times bringing first time backpackers and helping them experience the joy of being in this scenic wilderness. Henry, on the other hand, has only made one return trip.

He called me the other day and I did what I do best…lay guilt on him. “I’m pretty good with eulogy’s Henry and I’d be happy to say at yours how much you wish you could have spent more time working.” I’d just asked him about taking our kayaks on the Upper Cuyahoga, but he thought he’d have to wait until 2013 when he wouldn’t be traveling so much. “Good thinking. You’ll probably be in much better shape by then…no wait…you probably won’t do a damned thing and work yourself to death. And how about getting back to the Adirondacks? There could be another Ice Age before you’re not too busy with work and then you won’t recognize them,” I said. I know I shouldn’t bug Henry so much, but I do it because he needs it, I like to go places with him and I owe him for getting me back in touch with my wilderness self. Sorry Henry…but I’m going to keep after you.

Speaking of the wilderness, I suppose people living in Twinsburg (John) won’t have to go to the wilderness…its coming to them. A black bear was spotted recently at the intersection of Routes 82 and 91 wandering the shopping areas…likely in search of an easy meal. There are 20,000 black bears in our neighboring state, Pennsylvania, and the young males tend to wander looking for mates and hunting ground not already claimed. Its only a matter of time before the Ohio population begins to explode (Pennsylvania’s is the largest in the world) and encounters like this become more prevalent. Hopefully, we will learn from our neighbors and adopt the necessary steps to keep them wild and roaming the woods of Ohio eating the food they were designed to eat.

Kim, Jack and I made our way to Columbus and had dinner with Savannah before spending the night at Alum Creek State Park. I was awakened by trains rumbling nearby and the sound of a garbage truck making pick-ups in the development nearby. It’s a far cry from backcountry camping, but beats sleeping inside. Tomorrow…the State Meet.