[at-l] A year ago today - hiking on the AT

[KinnickinicHere@aol.com (KinnickinicHere@aol.com)]

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In a message dated 9/11/2002 8:30:02 AM Mountain Daylight Time,
RET33@PRODIGY.NET writes:


> it was the quietest trail I had
> ever been on - no air traffic at all.

We in the Colorado mountains knew we were insulated to some degree once it
was apparent that the activity was probably going to be limited to the East
Coast.  Still, it was a horrible day for us too.  The reality was always just
a little beyond me, which is one reason why I took my grandson and me to
Ground Zero last April.

At the time I was sure that at least one person SURELY had watched it from
the overlook that I had understood would give a view of the NYC skyline.
Apparently not.

You probably had the ultimate experience among the trailsters who were not
there--bearing the news, checking with relatives.

Those who are on the trail today have much to be thankful for--it is still
there, free for our use, a corridor north to south that could be viewed with
suspicion by those who are paid to conceive in advance all possible plans for
our destruction.

Thanks for the account.

Kinnickinic

<<I was putting my pack together for a day hike through the Grayson
Highlands section of the AT and watching the TV news out of the corner
of my eye when it happened. Of course, the magnitude wasn't
immediately apparent so I went ahead and packed and listened to it on
the radio news while I drove to the trail. That was when the buildings
collapsed. Then I found out about the Pentagon and I realized that my
brother-in-law worked there. So I called my wife (in Florida) on my
cell phone, and she said she had heard about the World Trade Center
but when I said it was the Pentagon too, she thought I was making a
bad joke. I finally convinced her she should call her sister in
Washington D.C.and find out what happened and I said I would stay off
the trail until I heard back. It took a while to find out, and when
the news came it was third hand, through other relatives, that he (my
wife's brother-in-law) was OK. We found out later he was only three
doors down from the edge of the blast. So I went ahead and got on the
trail, where I met people who had been out hiking for days and while
some had already heard, some had not and thought I was a real sicko
making bad jokes on the trail.>>