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Virginia to Vietnam
Thu Nov 25, 2004
Listen in RealAudio 
Hi, I’m Bryan Yeaton for The Weather Notebook, with a story of Thanksgiving. Back in
1986, I hiked the Appalachian Trail, all the way from Georgia to Maine. Up on a
mountain in Virginia called "Dragon’s Tooth," Linc Vannah and I faced rain blasting
sideways across the exposed rock. Despite polypropylene and Gore Tex, we got
soaked. When you’re moving, it’s not too bad, but when you stop…
At the base was a little store on the edge of Catawba. The air temperature was about
50 degrees, and I was shivering so hard that I couldn’t work the zippers on my pack.
Linc was only slightly better.
Then a man all decked out in camouflage climbs out of his Jeep, and heads toward
the store. He looked at me, then asked, "What are you doin’, boy?" I think I said,
"Hiking, sir." "Yer #%@@*&% crazy." "Yes sir."
When he came back out of the store, he called me over to the Jeep, and offered me a
hit of his Sour Mash Bourbon. Feeling this was not the time to explain that alcohol
actually promotes hypothermia, I obliged. Then he said, "The coldest I ever been in my
life was in Viet Nam. It was 100 degrees out, but it was the monsoon rain season."
In the end, Ron Martin bailed us out. He took us to the cabin that he and another Vet
were building, where we dried out for a couple of days. We also heard tales what is
was like to be a foot soldier in Viet Nam, and have to try to kill other human beings.
What could have been deadly weather for me, turned into, perhaps, the most powerful
educational experience of my life.
The Weather Notebook is a program of the Mount Washington Observatory, generously
funded by Subaru of America.
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