Don and I were joined by Bob, Wayne and John. Bob hiked with us to the first overlook, due to an injury sustained on trail maintence. This was Wayne and John's first time hiking Welch-Dickey. The weather was sunny and warm. But when we got to our lunch break on the summit of Dickey the wind picked up and slightly shortened it because the wind was very strong.

Lunch is also when John realized he did not have his pack! We backtracked a bit and met someone, who met someone, who mentioned they saw a stray pack on the way up Welch. But we all headed back down Dickey the usual way; the pack did not have anything valuable. At the trailhead after the hike, John talked to a family just heading up the mountains. They happily agreed to bring the pack down if found. Even better - the family lives near John! I can't wait to hear the conclusion to this story.

From John: "My backpack has made it safely to Arlington.  Just enough of a wait for word to suggest it had been smuggled out of the country.  How great to meet such nice people and then to have them go out of their way for me!  Yet another highlight of my weekend :-)"

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