Re[2]: [at-l] interesting commute...was"Driving" the AT

[Bob Cummings <ellen@clinic.net> (Bob Cummings)]

"it works wonderfully IF you remember to
hand off the keys when you meet."

Well. Not always. Once I arranged with a friend to hike the Bigelow Range. He and friends would
start from one end. I and others from the other end of the 20 miles range. We would exchange car
keys in the middle. They started a day early, because they were less experienced.

Unfortunately it was raining hard when I was supposed to start. After sitting around until noon, I
finally took off, despite a massive thunder and lightening that seemed to be developing. I figured I
had committed my self to exchange keys.

Electricity was everywhere as we crossed Cranberry Peak. But we reached the Horns Pond shelters by
dusk anyway -- our scheduled exchange place. No one was there. The next morning we headed to Avery
Col. Again no hikers and no messages. Not wanting to end up at the Long Falls Dam Road and not
finding a car, we decided to escape via the fire warden's trail, heading for Stratton where I had
parked my car.

About 9 p.m. we struggled into Stratton, walking most of the way because few people pick up hikers
in the rain. No car. I called my wife. "Oh," she said. "They came off the mountain yesterday. They
figured you wouldn't hike because it was raining. When I told them you were on the trail anyway,
they jump-started your car and moved it to the Long Falls Dam Road.

Well, Long Falls Dam was 20 miles away by trail -- 80 miles by highway. It was near 10 p.m. when we
discovered all this. My buddy was supposed to be at work at 6 a.m. the next morning in a city 150
miles away in the opposite direction.

We finally talked a forest warden into driving us around. My buddy just barely made it to work. I
finally greeted my wife about 10 a.m. and promptly slept away the day.

Weary