[at-l] Spiders, Poles, and Such

[icw@esisnet.com (Clark Wright)]

Great post - boy that brings back some silky thread memories!  Not only
of the spider webs, but also of the incredible number of gypsy moth
caterpillar silk threads that hung down from the trees in large parts of
VA - I did a lot of blessing with my poles, and a bit of cussing, too! :)

thru-thinker

Mara Factor wrote:

>> From: "Jim and/or Ginny Owen" <spiriteagle99@hotmail.com>
>> Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 04:27:11 +0000
>
> ...
>
>> On the AT, snakes, skunks and spiders are your friends.  Don't mess with
>> them.
>
>
> Well, if you're an early riser like me, you'll end up messing with
> spiders
> more than you ever thought.  First one out along the trail ends up
> with web
> clearing duty each morning.  This usually involves walking face first
> into a
> massive web.
>
> Blech!  Ptooey!  Cough!  Cough!  :-P
>
> And if that's not enough, then you get to wonder WHERE the spider is.
> Is it
> still on you or did it get left with the remnants of the web?
>
> Have a handkerchief availalable to wipe your face/arms/legs.
>
> Hiking poles are also useful in this situation.  You'll quickly learn to
> "bless the trail" with them.  Instead of using them to support your
> weight,
> there are areas where you may walk brandishing them in front of you at
> the
> almost invisible webs strung across the trail.  You'll learn that up and
> down isn't good enough, you have to go side to side as well.
>
> So, in the morning when you're walking behind someone who all of a sudden
> jumps, screams, and starts tearing at their own face, please be kind and
> give them a moment.  It could have been you if you were leading the way.
> LOL
>
> It's always a relief to pass the first hiker coming in the other
> direction.
> You just know they've had web clearing duty from wherever it was they've
> spent the night.
>
> Mara
> Stitches, AT99
>
> P.S.  It works really well to walk behind a taller hiker in the web
> infested
> areas...  Or so I'm told. ;-)  Us tall folks don't get much help from the
> web clearing of the shorter folks walking in front of us.  LOL
>
>
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