8 minute read
Meet Roger and Gail Stairs
Meet Roger & Gail Stairs
Their background story on how they came to live in TGO is pretty much like the rest of ours. It was 2013 when Roger and Gail met a couple who owned a lot on Oak Cove which they were able to rent. After a short time,they fell in love with this place and eventually purchased a port on Coach Club. Sound familiar? Their RV adventures started in 2011 after Gail retired. They knew they didn’t want to spend their retirement in a couple of rocking chairs, so they sold their house and all their furnishings and bought an RV. Gail was an elementary teacher for nearly 35 years. She has a masters degree in teaching reading and became a district reading specialist for the Mount Pleasant, PA, School District, splitting her time working at fi ve diff erent elementary schools. Roger was a Navy man who worked as an aerographer and, after serving four years, went to Penn State where he studied meteorology. He worked for NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in Albuquerque, Chattanooga, Atlanta and Pittsburgh. He retired in 2009, just a bit before Gail.
Their fi rst motorhome adventure took them out to the Grand Tetons in Wyoming where they worked inside the National Park. They were part of a camp work program which allowed them to live in the park for that summer. Gail worked at a fi rst come, fi rst serve park while Roger worked at the Coulter Bay RV Park, where he managed reservations. It was a great opportunity for them to experience what it was like to live in a National Park. When winter arrived, they headed back east, parked their motorhome and hopped on a plane for Germany to accomplish one of Roger’s goals - to run the Berlin Marathon. Roger is a marathoner! In fact, he has run 22 marathons over his lifetime. This obviously explains why it’s so hard to keep up with his daily schedule. Back in the states and back in their motorhome, and now living in TGO, R&G have spent their time crossing the country working at a variety of RV parks in places like Branson, MO, Chickasaw, SC, and Rapid City, SD. While in Rapid City, they heard about a sugar beet harvest that was happening on the North Dakota/Montana border. It sounded like a diff erent adventure so off they went. Roger ran the harvest equipment while Gail was the “sampler taker,” which meant she monitored the sugar content and weight of the beets - all while working in the cold, the rain, and the mud. Like others in TGO, they spent some time in Campbellsville, KY, working for Amazon as “stowers.” It was a 10 week stint where they worked from 6 am to 4 pm, fi ve days a week. Stowers basically load product into a drawer so the pickers can pull orders and load it into tubs, all the while being rated on their productivity. Now, Gail will tell you she’s is not a competitive person, but we wouldn’t suggest asking her who had the best rating between her and Roger. Their RV trips have taken them to all 48 contiguous states, with maybe the exception of Wisconsin... they can’t quite recall being there, but 47 states is still an impressive feat. As we mentioned earlier, Gail was a teacher for 35 years. In her retirement, she wanted to do something that would make an equally big diff erence in her life. She had heard of the Appalachian Trail and decided she wanted to do the hike as a “thru-hiker,” which is someone who hikes
the entire trail in one trip. When she told Roger about her plan, he tried to talk her into doing the trail in smaller sections, over a few years. She said no, she wanted them to do the whole trail over the course of one trip.
“I had little or no desire to hike the AT,” said Roger. So I proposed this idea to Gail... How about we section hike the AT over a four year period... that’s over 500 miles a year.”
“No,” said Gail.
“How about over a three year period... that’s over 700 miles a year.”
“NO!”
“Gail’s desire was to be a thru-hiker of the AT. I told her it would take us 5-7 months. She looked seriously into my eyes and said... ‘I know.’ I immediately recognized her determination and together we started preparing for the trip.”
Hiking the Appalachian Trail is a serious endeavor. First off, its 2,190 miles long. It starts in Georgia and ends in Maine, winding through 14 states. The terrain constantly changes elevation, anywhere from 124’ to 6,625.’ You’re mainly sleeping in tents or hostels, with an occasional motel, B&B or private home. And just like the postman, you hike through the rain, sleet and hail - with a whole bunch of humidity thrown in. The Appalachian Trail is not for sissies!
They started their hike in March of 2017, but they started training a year earlier. You could find them training throughout TGO, walking with 30 pound backpacks, day after day, mile after mile. They would drive to the Max Brewer bridge in Titusville and hike across that just to experience elevation changes. On Thursdays they would go to Titusville High School and run up and down the bleachers. No, Gail’s not competitive!
When you hike the AT, everyone adopts a trail nickname, and since Roger was already known as The Rocket from his marathon days, Gail decided she would be Rockette. Many hikers start in Georgia, the southern terminus of the AT. Rocket and Rockette decided to start in Virginia, then went through West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. Then they went to Gail’s Dad’s 90th birthday in Pennsylvania, flew to Georgia and hiked through North Carolina, Tennessee and the section of Virginia they hadn’t hiked. After finishing Virginia they drove to Pittsburgh to visit family. A week later they rejoined the trail they had left in New York and hiked through Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. 2,190 miles later, they completed the entire trail on September 14, 2017.
They especially wanted to acknowledge Charlotte and her exercise classes, which they say made a huge difference in preparing them for their AT hike.
Today, you’ll find Rocket and Rockette all over TGO, usually volunteering for one of the many great groups in the park or partaking in golf lessons and Sawdust Club projects. Both Roger and Gail were instrumental in organizing and building the TGO Retired Flag Box which now resides outside the CSA office. Roger’s beard was looking good as they crept closer to the finish. We did it! Mt. Katahdin - Baxter Peak -5,267 feet - the northern terminus of the trail. The Rocket and Rockette sticker (left) was Roger and Gail’s trail log signature.
The Appalachian Trail
So you want to hike The Appalachian Trail?
Hiking the Appalachian Trail may not be for everybody. It takes a lot of preparation and conditioning, not to mention it can be an expensive endeavor. Roger and Gail spent a tad over $16K including their air fl ights, camping/hiking supplies, food, some overnight accommodations, some local shuttles and a trip to an urgent care. The one thing they always made sure of was if they ever left the trail, they returned to the exact spot to continue their hike. They wanted to hike every inch. Some of the problems they encountered on the trail were allergies, which created breathing and sleeping issues. Blisters - especially on their big toes - and then little toes. This was alleviated by purchasing new boots along the way. Lots of your basic aches and pains in the knees, hips, shoulders, ankles, swollen bursa sac - you name it. A hyper-extended ankle, a few tumbles, and a crown that fell off . Two encounters with Bigfoot. (Okay, we made that up.) Lots of mosquitoes, insect bites, and mice that invaded their backpacks at night. Then there was the weather. Rocket & Rockette said their weather was fairly good, but they did have a lot of rain - one time for four days straight - which added weight to already heavy backpacks. As we said earlier, hiking The Appalachian Trail is not for sissies!
Roger and Gail produced a 334 page book that documents their adventures hiking the AT. A fun read! The license plates show the states and the order the AT trail traverses. These are hanging in R&G’s garage.
This medal was presented to R&G at the summit of Mt. Katahdin, ME, by their good friend and mentor, Ted (Lucky Dog) Graham, who thru-hiked the AT in 2016.
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