[at-l] Bristlecone update... half-way there

[Debbie_Smith@Millipore.com]

Hi everyone,

I've gotten a couple calls from Bristlecone... of course he came to MA for
the Mellencamp concert a couple weeks ago and passed through Harpers Ferry
just after that.  He really enjoyed HF because it's a great 'catching up'
point in the hike, and lots of folks leave each other messages when they go
through so he got info on folks ahead of him. Yesterday he called from Pine
Grove Furnace, where he was taking an early lunch break.  He was planning
to hike out in the afternoon and pass not only the half-way point marker,
but the actual half-way point!  So he's half-way to Katahdin!  He was
pretty psyched, as you can probably imagine.  Oh and he was NOT taking the
half-gallon challenge, but was enjoying watching others as they did it.

It sounds like there is a really large crowd of hikers in his general
vicinity (he saw 20-25 in Harpers Ferry) but I forgot to get a list of
names.  The weather has been clear and he has really enjoyed PA so far.  He
said it's because the undergrowth is thinner and he can see through the
woods, whereas in VA there was SO much lush undergrowth that you could only
see the Trail.  Yeah, well it's tough for undergrowth to grow when the
ground is so rocky!  I told him that just south of Duncannon (where he'll
be hiking tomorrow) is when the PA rocks (the ones of legend) really give
you their first taste.  We'll see what he thinks this weekend.

Today he'll be hiking through the farmlands around Boiling Springs and the
forecast is for hot, sunny weather.  I remember hiking as fast as I could
through those fields so I could get to the shade of the lone oak trees that
stood at the corners of the cow fields :-)  It felt like the air was
crackling and I was a little sausage cooking inside of my own skin (which
was burning even with SPF 30 on it).  But the fields were a nice change of
pace.  At times the cows were intimidating though...

I hope everyone has hiking plans for the weekend!  Have a great time.  As
always, let me know if you have any messages... I'll be hiking with
Bristlecone this weekend.  I told him he'll have to take it easy on me
because although I'm still in shape, I haven't just hiked 1100 miles.

Twilight
GA>ME '98


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