[at-l] If a tree falls in the forest...

[Debbie_Smith@millipore.com (Debbie_Smith@millipore.com)]

<<Does anyone ever get creamed by a falling tree while they innocently and
peacefully sleep at night?
Is this a stupid question? Go ahead, tell the truth, I can take it...  :)>>

My 2 cents... I've never been that close to a falling tree, although in '98
at the Toms Run shelters one night there was a HUGE tree that had been
severely damaged in a storm, and all night we could hear it twisting and
snapping a little as it slowly broke.  It still hadn't fallen by morning.

And on my '98 hike I hiked with another thruhiker a while who had been a
trip-leader when a tree had fallen onto a tent in his group in the middle
of the night.  One of the kids on his trip was hurt.. can't remember the
extent of the injuries but definitely broken bones.  I knew because he had
to keep checking in when we got to town... he was being sued along with the
company and he might have had to leave the trail to testify.  They had
scouted out the area before tenting, but sometimes storms bring down stuff
that you'd never expect to fall.  I don't think he actually did have to
leave, but I know it was a pain for him.

Twilight
GA>ME '98