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[at-l] Re: shelters close to the road (was Ted Bundy well groomed)

>Seriously though, how many of us have had less the great experiences in
>shelters that were "close" to the road compared to shelters that were
>at least 5 miles from the nearest road?  I'm just curious. =20

Well, when I was hiking in the Smokies, I had an unsettling
experience.  I had hiked from Icewater to Tri Corner all day through a
steady, light snow.  When I got to the shelter late in the day, there
were several people there, two of which were some characters named
Bill and Boyd.  As we settled in for the evening, these two started
making "observations", such as, stories about how they took a gun and
blew away a dog with great relish, and in very graphic detail;   how
they went from shelter to shelter and cut down all the mice strings
with their long, sharp knives; and then, the talk shifted to how
people often got on their nerves while in the Smokies, and how
isolated we were in the shelter, so that if something were to happen,
it would be a long time for someone to find out.  A thru hiker couple
were from New Hampshire, and the man had a very pronounced accent.
This seemed to aggravate one of the pair, and he mocked the man most
of the night, since he was from the South, and appeared to want to
fight the Civil War again. In turn, the hiker was getting pretty
steamed, and would argue back.  Things eventually calmed down, but as
the temperature dropped, we all shivered and slept with our eyes open
all night long.   It was pretty miserable, and it did give me pause
regarding how isolated one can be on the AT.  The next day, we all
hiked out and we went our own ways.

                               Marshall
                               "Tarkus"
                                                              =20
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