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  1. #121
    Furlough's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lone Wolf View Post
    B Jack's Hiker Rest
    +1 To this.
    "Too often I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen." Louis L’Amour

  2. #122
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Haven View Post
    Me and my wife are considering naming our hostel in Franklin, NC after him. It was the last place he was on the trail before he was admitted into the hospital where he passed away. I don't know if it would sound better, Jack Tarlin Hiker's Den or Baltimore Jack Hiker's Den. Maybe Jack's Hiker Den. I really like it simple. Jack Tarlin Hostel...
    crazy thing is I was watching a YouTube series of a current thru hiking couple the day before he passed....Jack was on the shuttle from winding stair gap into Franklin...he is part of the trail and always will be...like your ideas..he will always be a legend on the AT.

  3. #123
    Registered User PeterPan85's Avatar
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    Even when I joined years ago, he would always chime in with great info. And after a few years absence, just last week gave me some good info on my first post back. Great guy. RIP!

  4. #124
    Registered User Speakeasy TN's Avatar
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    Any info from the funeral home yet Ron?

  5. #125
    Registered User Speakeasy TN's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by saltysack View Post
    Or like I said earlier....tear down a rat trap in his honor and do a memorial site...with a good stone fire pit to cook on and flat rock for your whisky...
    I am loving the idea of turning a mouse house into a memorial bonfire!

  6. #126

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    If this video doesn't capture him I don't know what would. I never met him but damn glad I found it on YouTube

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nAd6rlO2C-8

  7. #127
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    Quote Originally Posted by Speakeasy TN View Post
    Any info from the funeral home yet Ron?
    Not yet, as soon as I get info I will share it here.

  8. #128
    Ron Haven's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lone Wolf View Post
    B Jack's Hiker Rest
    this is an ok name,I am trying to get to Trail Days, see all of you there..

  9. #129
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    Quote Originally Posted by chknfngrs View Post
    If this video doesn't capture him I don't know what would. I never met him but damn glad I found it on YouTube

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nAd6rlO2C-8
    I added that link on the front of one of my site.http://appalachiantrailservices.net/

  10. #130

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    I was hiking along the trail near Hanover, NH in fall of 2000 on an SB thruhike when I saw him coming at down the trail. Moving fast, half a cig hanging out of his mouth, bandages on both knees. Looked like a scene right out of the 70's. We spent a couple days at the Tabard, the fraternity house at Dartmouth, shared a few smokes, made a few huge lasagnas together, and had some great conversation. I have not seen him since but followed his legend periodically.

    He never hammered me for going SB lol. Good man, great spirit. He will continue on for a long time.

    Hike in peace, Jack.

  11. #131
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    I met Baltimore Jack three times. - The first time was at Neels Gap on my 2015 hike, when I recall that he bought everyone in the Mountain Crossings hostel a load of McDonalds breakfast goodies.

    Then, just before Thanksgiving of last year, my son and I stayed a night at Standing Bear Farm where Jack was helping run the place. In the middle of the night, I moved from my upper bunk which was too hot due to its placement next to the wood-burning stove. There was a empty upper bunk next to mine, and I threw my bag over to that bunk to cool off and crawled in.

    The next morning, I discovered that I had slept on top of a large open-top sweet potato casserole that Baltimore Jack had put up in that bunk for safekeeping for some reason. My sleeping bag was totally slimed with the stuff. Baltimore Jack was apologetic, and said not to worry about it, because he never liked sweet potatoes anyway. He said someone had given it to him, and he had accepted it as a Thanksgiving gift that he would share with hikers.

    The epilogue to the "sweet potato" incident is that I indirectly lost a girl over it: When I got home, I took the bag to a laundromat to properly wash it. I had just pulled it out of the washer when my girl called, inviting me to dinner. So, I took the wet bag to her house to dry it. As it turned out, when I pulled my bag from the washer at the laundromat, what also came out, unknown to me, was a pair of red lacy panties that had been stuck to the washer drum from whomever had used it before. When my girlfriend found the panties in her dryer later, even though I was totally innocent, that was the beginning of the end.

    So, the third time that I met Baltimore Jack, just a few weeks ago in Franklin, I told him the story of the "Red Panties Incident", and how his sweet potato casserole cost me a girl. He contemplated that story, and probably to make it up to me, helped arrange a ride with Miss Janet back to Amicalola Falls, as I had completed my Georgia section hike.

    So, rest in peace, Jack. Thanks for the McDonalds treats, and the hookup of the ride with Miss Janet. And, giving me a great story to tell forever about your sweet potato casserole.

  12. #132

    Default Jack's given name: Leonard Adam Tarlin

    The family of Baltimore Jack has been in touch with ATC, and wanted to relay that his given name was Leonard Adam Tarlin, (not Lawrence, as it has appeared in some places). My sense is that he was best known by them as Adam before his Trail years.

  13. #133

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    Most people think of Jack as a hiker first, but he was also a volunteer, though certainly not a conventional one. While there are some hours recorded in ATC's volunteer database, most of the ways in which he gave back to the Trail were uniquely his own.

    Jack's participation in the Damascus Hardcore trail crew was part of the chemistry that made it so successful. The allure of his famous lasagna dinners as well as his unmatched celebrity, charm, and sense of humor were an important draw of this groundbreaking volunteer effort.

    When he was in Harpers Ferry, which was annually, he always offered to help us at ATC. We sometimes had projects that tapped his vast knowledge of the Trail, but when we didn't, he'd gamely empty trash or move boxes. He loved helping to process 2,000-miler applications, in part because he knew many of the hundreds of hikers each year who submitted reports.

    At the beginning of every Appalachian Long Distance Hiker Association (ALDHA) "Gathering," Jack was the faithful volunteer who asked ahead of time when the ATC cargo van would arrive, so he could be there with friends to help us unload boxes. He didn't have to be asked. He seemed to have an uncanny way of knowing what people needed, when they needed it. This is a theme that has been repeated in so many of the remembrances and tributes to Jack these last few days.

    During the Gathering, the thru-hiking workshop he gave distilled a lot of sound advice into a short presentation that was terrific for novices. He was always so eager to support and help the newbie.

    He was a brilliant speaker. He knew exactly what to say and how to say it to move people, make them care, and make them laugh. He made it look so easy and natural few thought of him as a "speaker," but there's no Toastmaster who couldn't learn or thing or two from him.

    No one ever gave a finer, more impassioned, and eloquent tribute to A.T. volunteers than Baltimore Jack did at Trail Days in Damascus, Virginia, the year that Bob Peoples was given an award to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Hardcore trail crew. I would give anything to hear that speech again.

    Jack was frequently the champion for others receiving recognition, especially Bob Peoples. Jack was instrumental in both Bob's award for Hardcore and Bob's recent ATC Honorary Member award.

    He was a gifted writer and storyteller, and recently penned two memorable articles for ATC's member magazine, A.T.Journeys: a story about Steve "The Ferryman" Longley, and an article about Bob Peoples and the Hardcore Trail Crew.

    Jack had so many different sides. He dressed like a ragged hobo, but could be one of the most gentlemanly people you'd ever meet. He was outspoken and could verbally skewer people he thought were pompous or doing a disservice to others, but the people he admired--especially the soft-hearted ones whose kindness knew no bounds--could do no wrong. He was fiercely loyal to them.

    So many people knew and loved Baltimore Jack, and so many of you here on WhiteBlaze knew him personally a lot better than I did. Since I avoid hiking with "the bubble" I never got to hike with him. I never sat around a campfire with him, because I'm just not big on campfires. But we had a kinship because of our shared love of the A.T. Our lives were very different, but what we had in common was that the A.T. became an all-consuming, never-ending passion.

    The last time I saw Jack was when I spent a day and half in the back seat riding with him in my car last July. My husband and I and a friend were driving north to hike a section of the A.T. in Maine and dropped him off at a friend of Jack's in Vermont. We had just seen an advance screening of the movie A Walk in the Woods together. If you know Jack's feelings about either the book or the movie A Walk in the Woods, you can imagine what that car ride was like. In a display of exceptional self-control, though, he honored ATC's request not to publish his review until the film had broader exposure. In some respects, discipline may not the word that comes to mind when you think of Jack, and yet he had it in great measure in some areas of his life.

    There are few who have cared as deeply about the welfare of the A.T. and the people who hiked it as Baltimore Jack.

    I will really miss him. The A.T. will never be quite the same.

  14. #134

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    Laurie you nailed it about Baltimore Jack's ability to speak and volunteer. He had a way to inspire and communicate that was subtle but got the job done. He wasn't one to covet center stage or easily accepting of long winded flattering of himself. He'd prefer lifting someone else up in recognition. I heard that speech he gave about another huge hiker and AT supporter Bob Peoples. That was a GREAT speech. Down to Earth Jack was.

    Matty early nailed it too:

    Quote Originally Posted by mweinstone View Post
    In my mind, jacks strong arm gently reaches over my shoulder from behind me and picks up the trimmed fat on the edge of my plate.
    In my mind, he stands over me with a spattula waiting to see if the incredible arrangement of different foods hes laid on my plate have made me happy.
    In my mind, hes snoring next to me in room 23 and im smileing.
    In my mind,hes come up to me, put his hand on my shoulder and asked," is everything allright matty?"
    Quote Originally Posted by mweinstone View Post
    Jack knew how to whisper in a troublemakers ear and cause them to vanish.
    Allways imagined the thinhs he may have whispered.
    In my head i hear jack in the very most polite voice ," um...it might be best if you slept a mile down the road, out of all the comotion of the law searching for you."
    He may have said....

    Jack was a compulsive giver.
    He would make up an excuse like," no, its fine.....i dont need it".
    When he did...

    Jack said you cant tell stupid people nuthin and that they would learn soon enough.
    a woman with burger size patties of thigh missing from chaffing asked if he thaught she would be fine to continue.
    Jack spoke calmly of her imediate danger of septic and she laughed and walked on bowlegged.
    It was those moments looking into jacks eyes, i had a friend who saw as i, the worlds woes.

    The inner family is cryin hard now.
    But we will stop .
    Jack was a big man. We have alot to cry about.
    We all feel lost.
    thats cause the biggest tree fell and were standin in shock.
    Later, and forever, we will dance.
    We will revere the place and make it sing with the laughter of hikerdom...

    He always had that guiding hand having a way to get me to see other considerations I had been missing. His resupply article listed here on WB became the cornerstone of so many resupplies on so many different trails.

    Jack is deserving of an AT shelter and possibly an Overlook named after him! He's right up there with the greatest of AT supporters that have touched so many lives.

  15. #135

    Default Baltimore Jack Passes Away

    rip Baltimore Jack

  16. #136
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    Good dude.

  17. #137
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lauriep View Post
    The family of Baltimore Jack has been in touch with ATC, and wanted to relay that his given name was Leonard Adam Tarlin, (not Lawrence, as it has appeared in some places). My sense is that he was best known by them as Adam before his Trail years.
    Yes, i thought I was wrong when I saw a post of Lawrence. I was sure it was Leonard Adam Tarlin. His last two initials were A T.............

  18. #138

    Default Baltimore Jack

    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Haven View Post
    Sad News,
    Baltimore Jack Tarlin passed away at Angel Mission Hospital at 6 am this morning in Franklin, NC
    One morning, many moons ago, while breaking dawn in a bunk room of a hostel, a hiker buddy of mine was in the top bunk and rolled into his hydration bladder which began to drip on the hiker on the bottom bunk, splashing onto his foil blanket, which caused the hiker to wake, thinking my buddy pissed himself, and angrily a ruckus broke out which poured outside onto the porch, and jack was friends with the pissed off hiker, and we all almost came to blows, but the situation calmed, which led to many more moons later laughing it off with Jack over beers and hot dogs. And my daughter made him a salad of grass and dandelions on Wilburn Ridge.

  19. #139
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    Deeply saddened. Had a couple smokes with him on trail in 90's. Seemed to me to be regular guy. Think his pre trail friends called him Adam. Obviously, he became part of the trail and was a wonderful caring human being. Huge loss. Kind of man wouldn't want any of us whining about his passing. But looking back and thinks to this modern thing called the internet feeling pain. The newer photos I see do not show the lean hiking machine Baltimore Jack was back in the day.

    Also his first thru he never counted cause he broke his leg in Maine. Most including myself would have walked that short section again and called it another not Baltimore Jack. Also obviously an intelligent man which makes me think his own personal last wishes are written by him in his hand and with someone close.If he shared those wishes over bourban with his closest friends that counts in my book. Those wishes need to be honored and respected. I trust his legal family will insure this happens and being 100 percent hiker I'm certain he did not have much material stuff. Spiritually he had the complete package.
    Last edited by lemon b; 05-07-2016 at 07:55.

  20. #140
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lauriep View Post
    The family of Baltimore Jack has been in touch with ATC, and wanted to relay that his given name was Leonard Adam Tarlin, (not Lawrence, as it has appeared in some places). My sense is that he was best known by them as Adam before his Trail years.

    Yep. he was Adam when I knew him in high school. I had reconnected with him briefly on FB through a mutual friend a few years ago, when he had long been Jack Tarlin. Neither the friend nor I knew about his AT life at that point, and she didn't know why he changed his name. I did the LT before he became involved with the AT, so I didn't make the connection. In fact, when I saw his posts on her FB page, I first thought "I wonder if he's related to Adam Tarlin?"

    In any event, it all made sense, since he loved walking. He walked EVERYWHERE, even if he could have gotten a ride.

    But yes, he was Adam throughout his childhood and for part of his young adulthood. You can verify with this the Brookline (Mass.) High School Alumni Association.
    Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing​ and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there. --Rumi

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