[at-l] what i did today.

[Art Cloutman]

Actually it was the hot weather that was responsible for him being in 
the fix for which he found himself.  He was planning on hiking 17 
miles of trail most of which was on the AT but because of the hot 
weather a great deal of snow melt caused uncrossable streams.  He 
tried to take short cuts/long cuts around these streams but got 
himself into even worse condition.  What was suppose to be a one day 
hike ran into the fourth day  when rescuers spotted him about 45 
minutes from reaching the summit.  He was walking in a very 
methodical but slow pace toward the weather observation station. 
Scott Mason, a recently inducted eagle scout, would have made it to 
the summit but rescuers with a snow cat brought him down the auto 
road before he could make it.  None of the many articles that I have 
read have mentioned his specific hiking plan.  His father said on a 
local tv broadcast that he was hiking a part of the AT.  So what 
might that be if he started at Pinkham Notch?    Could it have been 
along the AT up past Osgood Campsite over Madison?  I know there 
would have been very fast a full streams in that area since I have 
experienced some of the horrendous flooding that occurs in that area. 
Also, the last article I read mention him coming out of the Great 
Gulf.  My guess is he was to return down Tuckerman Ravine or the 
winter Lion Head trail.  Maybe he was going up Nelson's Craig but 
that would not have given him much of the AT to hike.  He is 
definitely a survivor.  He knows a lot about hiking and camping but 
made a mistake in judgement.  Of course none of us have ever done 
that.



>On another topic the teenage dayhiker that was lost in the Whites has been
>safely found and brought down from the mountains today. This was 
>after spending
>Sat, Sun and Mon night in the woods, lost & without overnight gear. 
>He's got to
>be very thankful that the hot weather hit during these last few days, starting
>the day he started his hike. His mother said he "looked older". 
>Being lost might
>do that!
>
>I was birding as well but didn't score as high as you Felix & Stoat.
>Brown thrasher
>Blue-gray gnatcatcher
>Catbird
>Towhee
>Black-throated green warbler (heard)
>Ovenbird
>Blue-winged warbler
>Yellow warbler
>Pine warbler
>Palm warbler
>Yellow-rump (many, now in breeding plumage, they are a winter bird here in
>places)
>Black and white warbler (many)
>Northern parula warbler
>Common yellowthroat
>Swamp sparrow
>Blue Grosbeak (solitary female)
>Blue-headed vireo
>Warbling vireo
>Meadowlark
>Wilson's Snipe
>Least bittern (heard)
>The best bird of the day for rarity was the blue grosbeak. We're too far north
>to expect to see them. The best for me personally was seeing the blue-winged
>warbler again, it's only my second time. The catbirds and towhees just arrived
>about 3 days ago and the gnatcatcher is at least 2 weeks early this year. They
>have all come in on the tremendous heat wave that struck the area on Saturday
>with winds from the south and west. Not a single flycatcher has been 
>sighted yet
>this year and the phoebes arrived only 2 weeks ago. Still no peewees here.
>
>A report's come in about a yellow-throated warbler hanging out near 
>Boston since
>the weekend. I might go chase after that one in the morning. It's 
>unusual enough
>so it's not even listed on the Massachusetts bird list but it's seen 
>about once
>a year somewhere in the state. It would be a new life-bird for me.
>
>--rockdancer
>
>
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: at-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:at-l-bounces at backcountry.net] On
>Behalf Of Felix J
>Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 9:05 PM
>To: at-l
>Subject: [at-l] what i did today.
>
>My good buddy Stoat and I were rained-out today. That didn't stop us 
>from having
>one fandamntabulous afternoon. Here is a fairly complete and accurate list of
>the birds we positive-IDed today. (Some only by song/note. Not visually)
>
>Brown Thrasher, Blue-gray gnatcatcher, Catbird, Towhee, Louisiana Waterthrush,
>Black-throated green warbler, Ovenbird, Scarlet Tanager (heard only), Wood
>Thrush, Veery, Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Pileated
>Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Mourning Dove (heard only) Robin, hummingbird, chipping
>sparrow, Flicker, Indigo Bunting, White-eyed Vireo (heard only), Blue-winged
>warbler, Yellow-rumped warbler, Redheaded Woodpecker, Buzzard, White-breasted
>Nuthatch, Tufted Titmouse, Black-capped Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Bluebird,
>White-throated Sparrow (heard only) Crow, Chimney swift, Great Crested
>Flycatcher (heard only) Northern Parula Warbler, Cardinal, turkey (heard
>only)  and Killdeer (heard only). There may have been a couple more. We didn't
>see any starlings/blackbirds to speak of. And, only saw a couple 
>that we weren't
>able to ID at all.
>
>That sounds like a pretty good afternoon to me....
>
>--
>Felix J. McGillicuddy
>ME-->GA '98
>"Your Move"
>ALT '03 KT '03
>http://Felixhikes.tripod.com/
>
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-- 

Life is Good!!!
Art Cloutman