[at-l] Greetings from Pipestem

[Tom McGinnis]

--- On Fri, 10/10/08, Art Cloutman <Art at crystalacresnh.com> wrote:

> I cannot tell you how much I want to be at the Gathering. 
> The last time I was able to attend was in 2005.  Dartmouth was easy
> for me to get to but PA and WV require multiple days away from my 
> responsibilities.  I certainly do miss seeing my hiker friends.>

### I think it's especially hard for me on Columbus Day itself, as it's an almost unsought, unexpected holiday (for us current/former public employees, at least), and caught by surprise, lots of fun memories are produced. And certainly around the Gathering.

### One entirely bittersweet memory is from 2003, when the boys and I were unable to get in a summer vacation. We took some extra time coming home from New Hampshire by playing tourists in the Whites, which had pretty amazing weather that year, sunshine mixed with some rain, mixed with some 20*F temps here and there. We had lots of fun along the Kancamagus Highway, but our return to North Woodstock was kind of spooky as there were Sheriff's deputies and police cruizing all over. That, of course, was the year a youngish boy (9-12yo) had wandered away from one of the resort condos at the foot of the Liberty/Franconia ridge, to eventually expire from hypothermia ~1 mile/1500' up northeast of "civilization". The ALDHA post-Gathering maintenance volunteers had volunteered to help (along with others), but to no avail. The boys and I didn't know any of this, as we proceeded through town on a sunny/blue sky day, a beautiful Phish piano tune playing on the car's
 tape deck, all gathered in by my camera in "movie-mode". Boy, there's some bittersweet viewing. Spooky. 5 years ago.

Hope you and yours are warm and doing fine today.

dadtoe