Appalachian Trail Relay May 2001
From the beginning the first ever Appalachian Trail Relay did
not go smoothly for the eight hikers Aaron, David, Erin, Jesse, Katie, Matt,
Nate and Robin. The first problem came as soon as David and Jesse started
hiking from the Connecticut border. After hiking a short way along an access
trail they reached the Appalachian Trail. However, instead of hiking North like
they were supposed to they turned South and headed into Connecticut. After
hiking for several miles and over Bare Mountain, they realized that they were
not where they were supposed to be. After checking out a map that some Boy
Scouts had they turned around and headed back to where they started from.
After several hours of misguided hiking they began their hike of approximately
10 miles for real. Eventually they reached the car and drove to the Tom Leonard
Shelter where they met up with the two other members of the Southern team, Nate
and Matt who reported no problems on their hike. All four then had dinner
and went to bed assuming that the North team was doing the same.
The next morning at around 7:00 Robin, one of the members of the North team, arrived at the shelter announcing that Erin and Katie did not show up at their campsite the previous night. When Robin and Aaron realized that the other two members of their team were not going to arrive, they began an intensive search for the missing people. They split up and combed all of the trail that Erin and Katie had hiked, finally abandoning the search after a very long day of hiking around midnight. They then caught a few hours of sleep in the car. Early the next morning Robin drove to find the Southern team while Aaron remained at one of the trail heads in the hope that Erin and Katie might arrive. Once everyone was back together Matt, Nate, Robin and Aaron continued the search for the missing girls by searching the trail again with the help of daylight, while David and Jesse searched road crossings by car. After more unsuccessful searching Aaron finally managed to get a hold of Erin's roommate who revealed that she and Katie had returned to UMass late the previous night.
It turned out that the map that Erin and Katie had was slightly different than the one that Aaron and Robin had, leading the girls to hike several miles too far to the location where they believed that the shelter should have been. After realizing that a mistake had been made they waited at the road for a while, believing that they would be found by Aaron and Robin. Eventually the police came by and Erin and Katie went with them and told what had happened all the while being worried that something had happened to the other members of their team. Eventually after 3 hours at the police station Erin's parents came by and brought them back to UMass. It turned out that Aaron and Robin ended up searching the spot where the girls had waited shortly after they left, nearly sparing a great deal of searching and anxiety. After a photo at the Cheshire Cheese Press the group headed home. In the end everyone made it back okay even though the trip was not completed which only provided more inspiration for the next year.
Most of the group at the Cheshire Cheese Press
University of Massachusetts Outing Club - 2002
The next morning at around 7:00 Robin, one of the members of the North team, arrived at the shelter announcing that Erin and Katie did not show up at their campsite the previous night. When Robin and Aaron realized that the other two members of their team were not going to arrive, they began an intensive search for the missing people. They split up and combed all of the trail that Erin and Katie had hiked, finally abandoning the search after a very long day of hiking around midnight. They then caught a few hours of sleep in the car. Early the next morning Robin drove to find the Southern team while Aaron remained at one of the trail heads in the hope that Erin and Katie might arrive. Once everyone was back together Matt, Nate, Robin and Aaron continued the search for the missing girls by searching the trail again with the help of daylight, while David and Jesse searched road crossings by car. After more unsuccessful searching Aaron finally managed to get a hold of Erin's roommate who revealed that she and Katie had returned to UMass late the previous night.
It turned out that the map that Erin and Katie had was slightly different than the one that Aaron and Robin had, leading the girls to hike several miles too far to the location where they believed that the shelter should have been. After realizing that a mistake had been made they waited at the road for a while, believing that they would be found by Aaron and Robin. Eventually the police came by and Erin and Katie went with them and told what had happened all the while being worried that something had happened to the other members of their team. Eventually after 3 hours at the police station Erin's parents came by and brought them back to UMass. It turned out that Aaron and Robin ended up searching the spot where the girls had waited shortly after they left, nearly sparing a great deal of searching and anxiety. After a photo at the Cheshire Cheese Press the group headed home. In the end everyone made it back okay even though the trip was not completed which only provided more inspiration for the next year.
Most of the group at the Cheshire Cheese Press
University of Massachusetts Outing Club - 2002