[at-l] The natives are getting restless

[bluetrail at aol.com]

Got an unexpected phone call from Jon Phipps, my sweetie, last night.? He's off for 10 weeks, 7 of which?will be?working with the AT S.W.E.A.T. Crew in the Smokies.? (Incidentally, SWEAT has dire warning about how fit you have to be to work with them; all tools, food, equipment, etc. have to be backpacked in.)? He'd left on Tuesday morning for the 5-day crew workweek, and I didn't expect to hear from him till late Saturday, 

The crew had backpacked into the Tri-Corner Knob shelter area.? They don't stay at the shelter, but typically set up a little distance away so as to leave the shelter for hikers.

Wednesday night there was a big storm.? During the storm, Jon's hiking stick-supported Nomad tent fell over.? He set it up again.? Then the worker in another tent hear a "snuff" and that person's tent was being toyed with by a bear!? They managed to make enough noise to scare off the bear.? The entire crew grabbed up their stuff and headed for the shelter, where they spent the rest of the night.? When Jon checked his tent yesterday morning, he found it was definitely claw-shredded.? He's not sure if he'll be able to repair it.?

The crew hiked back out yesterday and were back at HQ last night, deciding?where they'd work the rest of the week.???

In the 14 years I've known Jon, he's backpacked about 15,000 miles, but this is among the scariest stories I've heard from him--ranks right up there with the time he was sliding down the ice on a mountain on the PCT and had to do a self-arrest with his ice axe.? 

Anybody got a one-person Wanderlust Nomad tent they want to sell?

Joan
bluetrail at aol.com
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