Sunday, May 25, 2008

Moon Pie
Moon Pie is hiking the Pacific Crest Trail this year. Here is how her journey started from the Chattanooga Times.

I drifted off to sleep … only to be woken up by a U.S. Border Patrol helicopter with searchlights a few hours later, circling overhead looking for illegals. I hoped they wouldn’t land near me, and rolled over to cover my face from the light and the noise. Two hours later, on the train tracks near where I was camped, a U.S. Border Patrol truck drove along with another spotlight, also searching for illegals.

Needless to say, after a fitful first night’s sleep, I woke at 6 a.m. to pack up camp and get a few miles on before the sun came up and began to heat up the day.

I had a helicopter hover over me my first night. No lights though, it probably had heat imaging. I did not move or run. I guess immigration figured I was a hiker and moved on. Although the next day I did see some aliens.

Well the next morning, as I was getting close to Hauser creek, I hear what sounds like a heard of horses coming down the trail fast. Remember the PCT is graded for horses. So I stopped and stepped off the trail to see five illegal aliens running down the trail in heavy work boots, jeans, and flannel shirts. At ten or so it was already ninety degrees or so. The men ran by covered in sweat, smiled and waved. They crossed the dry creek and disappeared into the underbrush like a flock of turkeys.

Welcome to America, I thought as I climbed out of the canyon.


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