Re[3]: [at-l] Good News...

[Bob C." <ellen@xxxxxxxxxx (Bob C.)]

>"... Beyond escape, I was never seeking a social experience.  I'm not a very
>social person.  My desire was to see and photograph 'the trail'," reports
>Saunterer.

Which pretty much describes my attitude and plans when I went to Georgia 10
years ago. Because I was both slow and into exploring a bit of the southern
Appalachians, I rarely was with the same cluster of hikers for very long.

 Regardless, though I've forgotten many of their names, I remember vividly
scores of hikers that I met during those first weeks -- their mannerisms, their
tales of past lives, their varied personalities. I found it most fascinating.

 A couple of years ago I was at a conference at the  Sunday River Ski area in
Maine. The kid at the front entrance was one of the  hundreds of hikers I had
met during those early weeks in Georgia and North  Carolina. We had spent at
most a couple of nights together in crowded lean-tos.  Though we were separated
by 50 years in age, and totally different life styles,  and experiences, we
recognized each other immediately.

 Weary