The latest on Dan Smith

Just to let you know tht Dan Smith called on Christmas Eve.  Although he was recovering from a terrible case of poision ivy, he now has (had?) the same bug that is ravaging the Orlando area--horrible cough, fever, headache, runny nose, etc.

For various reasons, Dan has decided to postpone his thru hike of the FT.  He will come back in February and do a bit more.  He did have some very nice things to same about his FT experience, and he does plan to eventually complete the FT.  He'll be calling us when he decides exactly what his plans will be.

He said that in all his expereience (PCT, CDT, AT, Arizona Trail and numerous other long distance hikes amounting to far more than 10,000 miles of backpacking) he has never experienced so complete a wilderness--no jeep trails, no barbwire fences, no lights, no sounds, etc.  He loved the wilderness he encountered on "our" trail and really does want to finish the FT. He was also very appreciative of all the help and assistance he has gotten from various FT members.  I think we can eventually expect some very good publicity from Dan's writings.

We also put another pair of backpackers on the trail at Paisley on the 26th.  They will be doing the Ocala section.  She has thru-hiked the AT and was looking forward to her first FT experience.  It was a gorgeous hiking day, and I expect they'll have a great experience.

Joan
bluetrail@aol.com

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