Robert J. Sutherland & Max Forester

05/10/2025

Yup
Decided on a name for my "new" boring-white Honda CR-V, that God provided when Max Forester got old.

Didn't know what to call it.

Not Max was too disrespectful.
Max 2.0 was close.

It's a fine car for adulting.
Not a fine car for muddy ruts in the wilderness they pretend are roads.

Not that I'm too cool for a not terribly cool ride. I'm passionate, not cool.

But ... the thought of stepping out of my new wheels in my decades-old, beloved duster just doesn't seem right.

So, to my old Alaskan self ... to the guy who's loved thrashing motorcycles on a hundred swoopy highways ... to my old mostly faithful companion Max Forester ... I cannot pretend that the new ride is manly, macho, a chick magnet or remotely studly.

Therefore, the name I have selected is ...

(ready???)

Maxine.

Yup
Even the sticker with the ancient Sutherland Scottish clan motto on the back of Maxine is in lipstick red.

May dudes in pickup trucks with absurdly giant tires understand that, at 75, it's time to act my age.

At least until my Spectral AI stock goes up by 1000%, as did my investments in Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac in the past year.

If it does ... I might raffle Maxine off to one of my daughters.

May God be honored by all those Maxine & I serve along the Appalachian Trail.
🤔😳🥸💪👋🙏

05/10/2025

03/10/2025

Updated Saturday, 10-4

Added pix of a father & daughter hiking up to Preachers Rock. She was fabulous: "Dad, should we be taking candy from a stranger?"

Gave them Max Forester's business card and was too tired & ditsy after a long day on the Trail to seem dangerous.

They were great.

~~

The Grand Opening of Trail magic on the Appalachian Trail with ... Not Max(?).

Max Forester is no longer with us. But let me introduce you to Not Max (unless you hate the new name).

We met our first hiker at Woody Gap. A friendly traveler named Budge, on his way to: as far as he gets.

The paperwork to put Max's vanity tag on the new car got skronked. So, Budge held it up for the pix. One of these days I'll pop the tag on permanently.

Budge also kindly snapped a shot of me too. Nice of him.

It's always a special day when my path crosses with Ron Brown in his famous Yellow Blazin' shuttle (with 650,000 miles on it). He was a bit sad to hear of Max Forester's demise & he wondered why I didn't get another Forester, but he'll accept Not Max (Max 2.0?).

After arriving at Horse Gap, Not Max & I put out some chairs and asked God for Divine Appointments.

Didn't take long for that prayer to be answered.

Very nice guy came down, sat down, had some water, a granola bar, a Tootsie Pop and a dozen stories from an old guy who was thrilled to meet him.

From Orange County. Living in Florida. Huge pack. Fabulous attitude. Hope you meet him.

A minute later, two more gentleman arrived, heading northbound (NoBo).

One is from Ohio, one is in either North Carolina or Florida -- but was definitely in Alaska before moving.

They were all psyched to be on the Trail on a perfect fall day.

Even the automatic gunfire from the Ranger Camp in the valley below won't faze these guys.

Probably.
I mean they might be captured by friendly forces before being released, with a great story to tell. But that hardly ever happens.
Probably.

Wonder who's next?

And ... four guys from middle Georgia happened along.

Well packed. Experienced.
Enjoying beautiful weather, the Trail and their bond of friendship.

When ... two ladies headed southbound toward Springer Mtn graced us with their smiles, conversation and company.

Tough gals, at first. Didn't need nothin', no-how. Or so they thought! Hah!

Yup
They accepted whistles (in their choice of colors), hair thingys (in their choice of colors), surveyors tape, double-sided sticky tape, a pair of socks, band-aids ... and more. Happily.

We had a fabulous time together. Took pix, shared hiker hugs, bumped fists, stared at each other, and off they went on their hike and their lives in North Carolina.

The lady in the white top suggested the name "Max 2.0" instead of Not Max. Whattaya think?

Thank you, Lord, for Divine Appointments.
👋😎❤️💪👍🙏

As I was about to leave??

Two yoots -- engineering students from Atlantaland -- arrived, needing water snacks and a lesson in saying "please."

They were fabulous.

Almost as fabulous as Luke from England (who doesn't know the Beatles) who joined us and laughed along with us.

What an incredible day.

The kind I pray for all year long, to see God's amazing kindness to us all, wherever we may be.
👋🙏

03/10/2025

In the famous words of Inigo Montoya: "Let me explain -- no, there is too much. Let me sum up."

Max Forester (the Subaru) grew too old to survive many more trips to remote spots along the Appalachian Trail (within my budget).

So, with tremendous regret, I traded Max in for something newer & spiffier: a boring Honda CR-V.

I'm going to transfer Max's vanity tag -- MAX4STR -- to the new vee-hickle. I'm going to stick with my personal Trail name, Max Forester. And, I'm going to continue linking MAX4STR,com and MAXFORESTER,com to this page.

Not sure what name will be given to the new vee-hickle, but I'm leaning toward NotMax. Your thoughts and opinions are invited.

Pix of our first foray will be posted soon.

Not Max looks forward to meeting you, where + when you least expect it.
😎👋👍💪👌🙏

26/09/2025

Update

With a screwy blend of sadness & glee, I traded Max in today for a 2017 Honda CR-V.

Swapped many of Max Forester's stickers onto Not Max -- if only to add a bit of bling.

Took a nice ride up to the Tallulah Falls Opry House to burn hot dogs & go all Grampa on the yoots who share the joy with everyone.

God provides.

Please ... try to understand why I'm considering trading Max Forester for a more reliable vee-hikkle -- even if it won't drive me, a mom, dad and four kids (with all their long-distance gear for an Appalachian Trail hike) over a tree in the road during a violent rogue storm on a dirt road.

Max & I are getting old.

No, the front-wheel-drive CR-V won't yank trees off backroads.

Maybe we could add manly decals or paint flames on this bland Honda?
😳🫣😔

20/09/2025

The Tallulah Falls Opry House potluck supper & bluegrass concert is fixin' to commence!

The storms passed by. The bonfire is cranking and the water bottles are on ice.

Mary Beth's store will be open if ya get a hankerin' for a milkshake, a cool T-shirt or dee-licious red licorice.

Bring some vittles and a few bucks for the contribution jar and have a real-fime time with real-fine folks!
👐🎻🪕👋👋

19/09/2025

Updated to include Pathfinder's second visit.

Looks like rain is expected around Horse Gap on Saturday, so Max Forester & I drove up to Suches, waved toward Lucky and his crew at Above the Clouds Hostel as we passed by, and turned left onto Cooper Gap Road.

Not far past where the pavement ends and the path to paradise continues is Gooch Gap, where the Appalachian Trail crosses the road.

Used to be packed with tents & hammocks and weary hikers trying to catch their breath.

Fridays in September aren't exactly peak season there, but it still seems empty when I pass by and it's empty.

No hikers at Cooper Gap, as Max & I took the scenic (and more flat) way to Horse Gap, our usual destination.

Before unloading our seven chairs (in your choice of colors), a hiker from Atlantaland stopped to say hello.

Nice guy. Trail name: Pathfinder.

Crushing miles on a round-trip dayhike. He expects to hit Hawk Mtn before reversing direction and visiting me & Max a second time ... before crushing more miles.
🥴

Little while later, Sean from Kentucky gave himself a break and accepted a bottle of cool water and a granola bar prior to tackling Sassafras.

He was tired. Didn't sleep well the night before. Deserved a quick rest.

Former military. Not out of shape. Well packed. Excellent gear.

You won't be too surprised to hear that his knees were giving him trouble -- especially on downhills.

Shaky knees, indeed. Sore shoulders and upper back too.

The perfect guinea pig for an idea I've been wanting to develop.

Petite ladies often have sore shoulders and painful collarbones, especially when their packs are heavy or not fitted properly.

A few times, Max & I have helped ease their pain by offering padded automobile seat belt thingys. (Easy to find them online for $6-10 per pair.)

When I saw a tube of pipe insulation recently, I wondered if that could be a super-cheap, easy fix to cover backstraps.

Only took a couple of minutes for Sean to cut the soft tubing in Max's Goodie Bins and place it on the straps to his backpack, where he needed extra padding.

We secured it with duct tape (a standard item in the Goodie Bins) and adjusted the foam as he put his pack on again.

Do I know how it worked?
Nope. Not yet.
If I hear from him, I'll let you know.

Just thankful to be of help ... to another friendly former-stranger. On another perfect day at Horse Gap.

Sharing God's abundance.
👋😎

And who returned to Horse Gap?
Pathfinder!!!

His 20-mile hike took him to the cemetery by Hawk Mountain ... where he expected to find water.

But the creek was dry.

And he didn't think it was necessary to carry some that I offered back at Horse Gap.

Didn't panic.

Told me he prayed that Max & I would still be here -- with water -- for him.

Didn't take much to convince Pathfinder that I pray for Divine Appointments.

Two bottles of cool water later, he said:

"Well, this was definitely a Divine Appointment!"

Amen...
🙏