Smokies Hike to Spence Field

Brenda Cummings writes under the headline "Rain no bother on hike to scenic Smokies bald" in the Huntsville (AL) Times on 22 July 2007. She describes a hike to the Spence Field Shelter with some friends. Her opening sentences clearly point to her Trail experience:

"The three people ahead of me on the trail put on their rain gear. Then they took it off. Then they put it on again. I just walked in the rain.

"The weather was warm, and I knew my clothes would dry quickly when the rain stopped. I'd rather be wet than bother with rain gear."

She goes on to describe the wooly adelgid devastation of the hemlocks and the Park Service attempts there in the Smokies to deal with the invasive predator by using soap solutions, injected chemical treatments, and importing an insect predator.