[at-l] I forgot...Bear Grylls copycats on the AT this weekend

[Dennis Gass]

I forgot to include this in the earlier trip report.  How many of you have
seen the made for TV survival show Man vs Wild with Bear Grylls?  I think it
is a bit insane myself with the antics he does...but here's how it relates
to the AT.  I didn't see this myself, just got the story from some of the
folks that hiked up the approach trail Friday night.  I heard it from three
separate sets of folks so I think it is accurate.

Apparently there were 4 college fraternity members sitting in their
fraternity house watching the show.  They decided to go live out some of the
things they saw Bear Grylls do on Man vs Wild so they drove 2 and a half
hours to get to Amicalola and head out into the woods for the night with
nothing but a big knife and a canteen this past Friday night.  It was cold!
I was told that they were chopping down small trees with their knife and
built a shelter.  They successfully started a fire.  They were described as
"running around crazy full of energy"  I'm not sure what else they were full
of!  They actually built a fire sometime around 2am for Alex and Jason that
I mentioned in my weekend trip report.  This was just a couple of miles into
the approach trail from the falls.

I'm not sure if they got bored, got cold and decided to get some creature
comforts or if they did something else, but I am happy to say they didn't
catch the mountain on fire.  So much for Leave No Trace.  

I'm hoping no more folks try this or we have another threat to the AT.