My son Aaron and I, hiking Smugglers Notch to Hazen’s Notch, realized that we had brought much too much cheese, too heavy and too constipating. I said, “As soon as we get to Critterbush we’ll give away most of this cheese. Upon arriving we saw a young couple to whom I said “Hi. Want some cheese?” The young woman screamed. The last thing she had said before someone heard Aaron and me coming was, “Gee, the one thing we didn’t bring was cheese.”

1977 I decided to hike with only trail mix. “You’ll be sorry” people warned. First night out I shared the Sunrise shelter with two NY bums who were spending the summer living out of boxes on the LT, staying at one shelter till ordered by authorities to move, when they’d move to the next shelter. They treated me to a big spaghetti dinner. Next night, at Skyline shelter, two women hiking the whole trail had gone into town for laundry, showers etc. For their first night back on the trail they had fresh chicken and cold white wine which they shared with me.

After my hike friends would ask mockingly, “Have fun?” “Sure” I answered. “Oh yeah? Have enough to eat?” “Sure. Nature provides.”

Dick McCormack