Appalachian Trail

Dennis Quinn talked about his brother to a group of mostly strangers. He spoke in a matter-of-fact way made easier by the passage of 18 months: "Kyle Quinn was my younger brother, and he was murdered at Kutztown University. " That cold reality was delivered over omelets and hot coffee at a breakfast meeting of the Horsham Rotary earlier this month. Later, it was the unavoidable truth underlying a visit to fifth graders at a Warminster school. Dennis Quinn tells the story with what seems like an emotional ease, but in his case, the demeanor doesn't signify acceptance.

In this tired river town - 15 miles north of Harrisburg, on the west bank of the Susquehanna - there are several churches, two laundromats, a couple of bars and an old brick boarding house called the Doyle Hotel. There are 23 rooms in the three-story hotel and about half of them are occupied, in the words of the proprietress, "by permanent guests, fellas in town who don't have families. " The rest of the rooms, this time of year, are occupied by Appalachian Trail hikers, who seek hot showers and cheap beer.

Bubbling springs forcing their way through rock, scenic vistas, and good fellowship are all just parts of a hike along the trail - the Appalachian Trail, that is. No, we didn't "through hike" the 2,000-plus miles that many trek from Georgia to Maine, but we hiked about a 50-mile section across Maryland, including side trails. My 21-year-old son, Brandon, and I backpacked this beautiful section of the trail over the summer. Traveling south from the Pennsylvania border, we entered Pen Mar Park with its beautiful view off the western side of the park.

Maybe it was the promise of lunch and granola bars at the top that encouraged the children to race ahead. Or perhaps it was the adventure of hunting for butterflies and toads along the way. Or it might have been the age-old challenge of getting to the top that made them hustle. Whatever the reason, our family hike up to the Pinnacle, one of the most spectacular lookouts on the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania, was one of those amazing days. The children didn't complain, and the grown-ups got some peace and quiet.

Caught in an early spring storm, Rick Maerker and Sam Beyer trekked toward a log shelter miles ahead, high in the mountains of North Carolina. The winds blew the snow sideways and elbowed them off the trail. The winds whited out their vision and dropped already-freezing temperatures off the wind-chill charts. Walking produced enough body heat to survive. To stop was to die. They reached the shelter and awoke the following morning to a misty forest sanctuary blanketed white.

A hiker's cellular phone brought a rescue crew to the aid of a 14-year-old Blue Bell boy who suffered an apparent asthma attack while climbing one of the highest mountains in New England, authorities in Rumford, Maine, said yesterday. David Andrew O'Hara was a couple of hours into a four-day hike along the Appalachian Trail from Maine to New Hampshire on Sunday night when he became short of breath and his arms went numb, said Paul Fournier, spokesman for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

His legs a mass of red welts and cuts, one of his ribs broken, a blind man is stumbling down the precipitous 500-foot drop of a trail not far from here, tripping on rocks, feeling his way with a green ski pole. His guide dog, Orient, usually leads on harness 18 inches ahead of his master, but the rocks are too sharp here even for the big German shepherd's paws. So Orient is bounding down the incline, leaping six and eight feet at a time, pulling the blind man tumbling down after him. Later, after the day's 15-mile hike, the man will sit in a small hotel room near here, slip his size-14 feet into soft dry slippers - the feet battered, the toenails falling off for a third time - and humbly discuss his quest to become the first blind person to conquer the entire Appalachian Trail, 2,146 rugged miles from Georgia to Maine.

Don Carey, Princeton University Class of '51, returned to his alma mater for his 60th reunion last weekend. Carey, 81, a retired physician, and his wife, Barbara, 82, traveled from their home in Gilford, N.H., a distance of 540 miles - by bicycle. This was the fourth time the Careys (no relation) pedaled to a reunion at Old Nassau, but this trip was different because they followed the East Coast Greenway, which bills itself as the nation's premier intercity long-distance trail.

A caption in the Sunday Travel section misstates the first name of Earl Shaffer, considered the first person to hike the entire Appalachian Trail in one season. The section was printed in advance. The Inquirer wants its news report to be fair and correct in every respect, and regrets when it is not. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, contact assistant managing editor David Sullivan (215-854-2357) at The Inquirer, Box 8263, Philadelphia 19101, or e-mail dsullivan@phillynews.

Area residents who want to explore the wilderness but don't know where to begin can receive instruction in an eight-part program, Basic Backpacking and Wilderness Survival, beginning Sept. 7. This is the 16th year that the Outdoor Club of South Jersey has offered the semiannual course, said Mark Kravitz, a member of the club and a volunteer instructor. The program, which is offered in fall and spring, is for beginning backpackers, although others are welcome. "We also have a lot of people who have . . . backpacking experience, and decide they want to know how to do things the right way," Kravitz said.

Dozens injured at Va. parade DAMASCUS, Va. - An elderly driver plowed into dozens of hikers marching in a Saturday parade in a small Virginia mountain town, and investigators were looking into whether he suffered a medical emergency before the accident. About 50 to 60 people suffered injuries ranging from critical to superficial, but no fatalities were reported. Three of the worst injured were flown by helicopter to area hospitals. Another 12 to 15 victims were taken to hospitals by ambulance, and the rest were treated at the scene.

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Former Republican South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford revived a scandal-scarred political career by winning back his old congressional seat Tuesday in a district that had not elected a Democrat in three decades. The comeback was complete when he defeated Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch, the sister of political satirist Stephen Colbert. With 87 percent of the precincts reporting, Sanford had 54 percent of the vote. Sanford, who turns 53 later this month, has never lost a race in three runs for Congress and two for governor.

Ian Sarmento thought he was ready to walk the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail from the Mexican border to Canada. After all, hadn't he already hiked the 2,184 miles of the Appalachian Trail? The Chester County 21-year-old had made that trek as a teenager, without compass, GPS, or locator beacon, which beams a hiker's location to a satellite and down to authorities. Not even a cellphone. So in May, he set out to do it again, on the big daddy of Western trails. He wanted to confront nature with a natural tool kit - his wits.

WEYBRIDGE, Vt. - One of the longest hiking trails in the United States stops 40 miles short of its most famous cousin, but a group is trying to bridge that gap. The North Country National Scenic Trail runs 4,600 miles from North Dakota to New York's eastern border. From there, it's about 40 miles across Vermont fields and mountains to the Appalachian Trail, the 2,170-mile hiking trail that runs from Georgia to Maine. Seeking to bring them together are a push from the organization that runs the North Country Trail; a changed attitude from officials in Vermont, where the connection was blocked decades ago; and a growing movement to connect the nation's longest hiking trails.

It took five months and 2,200 miles, but siblings Kate and Brandon Imp and their sidekick Emily Ginger - a.k.a. the Ringleader, Monkey, and Lightning - hiked the length of the Appalachian Trail in 2010. It's taking a similar sort of determination to make and promote Beauty Beneath the Dirt , Kate's feature film of their adventure. "I've probably put in thousands of hours on this," says Kate, 26, a lawyer in Chicago. "And that's not counting the hike. " The executive producer/director and her brother will be back home in Burlington County this weekend for two screenings, part of a two-month series of 50 buzz-building presentations in theaters and other venues on or near "the AT" between Georgia and Maine.

What do you think is a great summer read - new or old? We asked you recently to share your recommendations with us online. Here are a few of your suggestions. The readers are identified by their Net names. To see more - or tell others about your favorites - visit . Save Me , by Lisa Scottoline (St. Martin's Press, $27.99) and Becoming Odyssa: Epic Adventures on the Appalachian Trail , by Jennifer Pharr Davis (Beaufort Books, $24.95). "Two great ones. " - David W. Webber Immaculate Deception , by Scott Pruden (Codorus Books, $19.95)

WE'VE BEEN hearing it since we were old enough to be held responsible for our behavior but weren't: "Boys will be boys," they say. Then they shake their heads slowly side to side. We heard it the first time we ate a bug or picked a scab or brought a lizard to the table. Someone said it when we dismantled the toaster or smeared mud on our church clothes. There is no equivalent phrase for girls. At the earliest age, girls are expected to be little ladies. But after 100,000 years of evolution, the male of the species still has not been socialized enough for people to expect us to have as much impulse control as women and domesticated animals.

With apologies to Rudyard Kipling and "If. "   IF YOU CAN keep your briefs when all around you Are losing theirs and Tweeting photos, too. If you conduct yourself so none will doubt you And Andrew Breitbart can't make you the news. If you can hire a nanny for the children and not increase their number by a son. And turn your back on "Annies" who are eager to come and get a close-up of your gun.   If you can sic the law on pimps and hookers and rid New York of filth, oh bright white knight.

Don Carey, Princeton University Class of '51, returned to his alma mater for his 60th reunion last weekend. Carey, 81, a retired physician, and his wife, Barbara, 82, traveled from their home in Gilford, N.H., a distance of 540 miles - by bicycle. This was the fourth time the Careys (no relation) pedaled to a reunion at Old Nassau, but this trip was different because they followed the East Coast Greenway, which bills itself as the nation's premier intercity long-distance trail.