[at-l] Tale of Trapper John Shelter

[lorac4491 at linkamerica.net (Coosa Donaldson)]

http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040822/REPOSITORY/408220399/1001/NEWS01

LYME - On a recent evening in mid-August, headlights penetrated the fog on Dorchester Road near the Dartmouth Skiway. The vehicles were headed toward the village of Lyme, with its cluster of stores and homes around the common, or farther south to Hanover, where the sidewalks bustled with people getting out of work, shopping on Main Street or enjoying ice cream at Ben and Jerry's. 

But a half-mile uphill from that stretch of road, off a wooded trail marked with white blazes, the scene was entirely different: About a dozen people were preparing dinner in a small clearing near Trapper John Shelter, a three-sided wooden structure that offers hikers some protection from the weather. Sparks shot into the fading light from a fire pit surrounded by stones, where someone was trying to dry a pair of hiking boots. The smell of pine needles mingled with pre-packaged meals cooking on backpacking stoves: Ramen and mashed potatoes, soup, hot chocolate.