Hiking Destinations and Best Trails

I'm following up on the debut of BucketTripper.com: That's where my destination stories will be placed from now on. I'll continue to place how-to hiking articles here: So stay here for gear, food, hike planning, skills, etc. And go there for trails.

Here's a sampling of hiking stories. These are all by me. There are a ton more by other writers, as well.: I'll put them in another post next week.

Tramping Tongariro and Climbing Ngauruhoe in New Zealand

The North Island of New Zealand's most popular day hike -- and a four day circuit for the hard core. 

Hiking Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park

The Continental Divide passes through the park, but there's so much more, including geyser trails and opportunities to see Yellowstone's famous and abundant wildlife.

Hiking New Hampshire’s Mt. Washington

What's it like to hike a mountain where trailhead signs warn: “STOP!” (in all caps.) “The area ahead has the worst weather in America. Many have died there from exposure, even in the summer. Turn back now if the weather is bad.”? 

Walking Coast-to-Coast in England via Wainwright’s Route

This two week trek takes in some of the best of Britain's scenery, including the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales, and the North York Moors. You can imagine Heathcliffe in the fog. .

Hiking the High Sierra Trail in California

Crossing the "Range of Light" from giant Forest in Sequoia National Park to the John Muir Trail. 

Heli-Hiking in British Columbia

Heli-hiking in big Canadian Rocky Mountains is, in a word, awesome. And the adventure course? Could you? Would you? 

Hiking Among the Redwoods in California’s Muir Woods

 Day-hiking among the tall trees is a peaceful experience. This park has some of the biggest groves anywhere. 

Trekking Mt. Kenya: Chogoria, Naro Moru, and High Peaks Circuit

One of the world's best hikes, bar none. Unbelievable scenery, plant life that looks like it sprang from the imagination of Dr. Seuss,  and the possibility of see monkeys, hyraxes, and even cape buffalo and elephants. 

Tramping New Zealand’s Milford Track: The World’s Finest Walk?

It earned the moniker "finest walk in the world" a century ago. Is it? Find out here. 

Hiking in the French and Spanish Pyrenees

From the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. This is a summer-long hike that brings you into western Europe's wildest landscapes and quaint mountain villages. And the food is fantastic! 

Trekking the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal

A three week trek around the Annapurna Massif gives views of some of the world's highest peaks. An additional trek into the Annapurna Sanctuary brings you to snow-covered base camp. 

Climbing Mt. Rainier in Washington’s Cascades

This is a classic climb of Washington's highest peak. if you tackle it, be in top shape: it's a rugged climb, complete with ice axes, crampons, and ropes. 

Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro on the Machame Route

 At 19,340 feet, Kilimanjaro is Africa’s highest peak, which means that it’s one of the so-called “seven summits” — the highest peak on each continent. The Machame Route is a good way to climb it and avoid altitude sickness.

Hiking Arizona’s Grand Canyon, Rim to Rim

The Grand Canyon, Rim-to-Rim. 21-ish  miles, 5000 feet down from the South Rim then another 6,000 up the North. HIking it reveals two billion years of geologic history. 

Introducing BucketTripper

I am thrilled to announce the launch of www.BucketTripper.com.


BucketTripper is a new multi-authored travel website focusing on bucket-list-worthy activities, attractions, and adventures worldwide, written by professional travel writers from around the world.. All articles are based on been-there done-that experience.

From shark diving in Fiji to shopping the souks of Egypt, from hiking the High Sierra to exploring the ruins of ancient Jordan, BucketTripper covers everything from scuba diving to historic sites, hiking to city tours. 

Organized by activities and destinations, with maps on every page, the site is easy to navigate. If you're looking for a hike, we've got them organized by types of hikes and destinations. We've also got a UNESCO World Heritage Site section that gives personal insight into the sites UESCO has chosen to recognize for their importance to human culture and the natural environment
.
So visit, please, and read about some the coolest adventures on the planet!
 
Site mission: great writing about great activities in great places. 

Lessons on Altitude Sickness from the Himalayan Rescue Association

Annapurna Sanctuary

The Himalayan Rescue Association was founded in 1973 as a collaboration among volunteer visiting doctors, Nepali health officials and doctors, and representatives from trekking companies. The founders recognized that Nepal’s trekking routes were drawing more and more tourists to the high altitudes of the Himalayas – but at a cost.

The most common trekking routes reach dangerous altitudes for inexperienced hikers: up to nearly 18,000 feet at Everest Base Camp and at the Thorong La on the Annapurna Circuit, and more than 16,000 feet on other popular routes. Because many trekkers had no idea how to recognize and respond to the symptoms of altitude sickness, some became seriously ill and sometimes died.

Himalayan Rescue Association Aid Stations Near Mt. Everest, Annapurna

The first station was opened in 1973 at the hill town of Pheriche in the Khumbu region, on Nepal’s Mt. Everest Trek, at an altitude of about 14,000 feet. During the trekking seasons, it was manned by volunteers who lived in yak herders’ huts and tents.

A second station was opened in 1981, in Manang, a town on the Annapurna Trek, a two-day walk from Thorong La, the 17,800-foot pass that is the Annapurna Trek’s highest point. Temporary posts have also been opened at entry points to popular trekking routes, including Rolwaling, near the start of the route into the Annapurna Sanctuary, the start of the Gokyo Trail, and Gosaikunda Lake on the Helambu-Langtang Trek near Kathmandu. At the aid stations, doctors provide education, screening, and treatment; if necessary, they also aid in rescues of afflicted trekkers

Educating Nepal’s Trekkers About Altitude Sickness

Nepal's High altitudes are a potential

Where altitude sickness (also called acute mountain sickness) is concerned, prevention is always the best course of action. This is particularly true in Nepal, where rescue is difficult because there are no roads into the trekking areas. Air-rescue is expensive and often impossible because of weather conditions and terrain.

So the Himalayan Rescue Association program focuses on prevention. They publish a series of educational pamphlets, available in Kathmandu hotels and trekking agencies. And during the trekking season, doctors hold a daily lecture on altitude sickness at the hill-town aid stations. By screening trekkers as they come through the high hill towns, the Himalayan Rescue Association has been able to decrease the incidents of mountain sickness.

The lectures teach trekkers to recognize symptoms of altitude sickness, and stress the importance of gaining elevation slowly and taking rest days. This advice is particularly important on the Annapurna Trek, because the Thorong La reaches such high elevations, and on the Everest Trek, because today, many Everest trekkers fly to the airstrip at the high-altitude village of Lukla. They therefore forego some of the essential acclimatization that is one of the main ways to prevent altitude sickness.

Himalayan Rescue Association doctors also stress that Nepali porters and guides are also susceptible to altitude sickness. While many Sherpa people native to the Sol Khumbu region near Mt. Everest are well-acclimated to the high altitude, porters and guides from lower elevations near Pokhara or Kathmandu are often just as susceptible to altitude sickness as trekkers – but may be less likely to admit to it, since their jobs depend on their strength. Trekkers therefore, need to be alert not only to their symptoms, and those of their trekking partners, but to symptoms of porters and guides as well.

Volunteer Doctors Contribute to Local Communities in Nepal's Trekking Regions

In addition to providing preventative care for trekkers, guides, and porters, the Himalayan Rescue Association has done comprehensive research on the subject of altitude sickness. It also provides free and low-cost medical care to local villagers who live near the stations (sometimes, even, trying to treat sick animals brought in by villagers!). These are remote towns, far from any roads, and the health care provided by the volunteer doctors is the only western medical care available.

Thus, the Himalayan Rescue Association has made a big contribution, not only to trekkers, but to the local community as well. Safe tourism boosts the Nepalese economy. And donations collected from trekkers are used to support the medical care given to local people.

How to Thru-hike the Appalachian Trail

I think I've probably written about one million words about long-distance hiking and the Appalachian Trail. And there are probably another 100 million words spread all over the web by others. In this post, I'm going to gather some URLs together from stories I've written on different aspects of thru-hiking. If you have a question that isn't addressed here, feel free to ask in the comments section, and I'll try to direct you to an answer.

And please let me know if this is useful! Comments welcome. 

The Plaque at Springer Mountain

Suggestion: Bookmark this page and come back to it, because I'll add new links as I write new stuff. At least for the next few months.

Facts About the Appalachian Trail:  Basic overview of stuff you need to know: length, seasons, northbound/south bound, climate, etc..

Challenges and Surprises of Hiking the Appalachian Trail. Why do so many prospective thru-hikers fail? Because the trail won't always be what you expect. Here are some lesser known facts about the AT.

Avoid Danger When Hiking the Appalachian Trail: This article answers all the questions your mother may be worried about, including bears (of course) snakes, mountain lions, stranger danger, and insects and disease. More on bears here.

How to Plan an Appalachian Trail Thru-hike: How do you even get started planning to hike 2,200 miles across 14 states for six months? basic scheduling, food planning info, start dates, mileage.  

Food Drops on the Appalachian Trail: How do you resupply? Cardboard boxes, a willing accomplice at home, and the U.S. Post office. Here's how to manage your food drops.

Planning Food for the Appalachian Trail: Of course, you can't just shove food in a box, you've got to choose it, figure out how much food you need for each drop, think about variety and what might be available en route. Here are some food planning basics.

Packing for an Appalachian Trail Thru-hike. You need stuff. What stuff? Gear, clothes, guidebooks. Stuff. The lightest weight stuff you can find.  Repeat after me: Lighter is better. Lighter is better. Lighter is better.

Sleeping Bags for the Appalachian Trail. You're gonna be tired. You're gonna need to sleep. Here's how to choose a sleeping bag.

How to Start an Appalachian Trail Thru-hike: Okay, you've got your gear, you've packed your boxes, you have your maps: Now it's time to start. LOTS of people drop out in the first couple of hundred miles. Here's not be be a Bill Byrson.

Katahdin in Maine

Thru-Hiker Lingo: Wanna talk the talk? Here's a thru-hiker dictionary.

Hiking the AT (for AMC Outdoors) I originally wrote this one for AMC Outdoors. It's broken up for the Web as a series of short snippets, so keep clicking on the button at the bottom to keep reading. An old piece, but I think it sums up some of what's special about the trail, although some of the characters have changed.

That ought to get you started. Good luck, and holler if you have questions.

Overview for Planning an Appalachian Trail Thru-hike

The first in a series of articles about long-distance hiking on the Appalachian Trail and how to plan, prepare, and pack for it. This article is a general overview. For links to the rest of the articles, go to the Appalachian trail thru-hiker index.

Every spring, some 2,000 people converge at Springer Mountain, the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail's in northwest Georgia. A couple of hundred more start later in the season, going southbound from Mt. Katahdin, the Appalachian Trail's northern terminus in Maine.

Historically, the drop-out rate has been enormous, with some 90 percent of those who start failing to finish. More recently, according to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, the completion rate has been higher - as much as 25 or 30 percent - perhaps due to the amount of information now available.

How to Prepare for Hiking the Appalachian Trail

• Get some hiking experience! Unbelievably, some people show up at the trail having never backpacked before. Perhaps they were inspired by a slide show or a book, but it takes more than a dream to hike 2,200 miles Long-distance backpacking involves aches and pains, smelly socks, smellier tent mates, foul weather (including mud, rain, snow, heat, and humidity), insects, rodents, roots, rocks, and sheer exhaustion. There are plenty of wonderful rewards - but not everyone is cut out to be a long-distance hiker. It's better to find out first, before quitting a job and taking six months off!
• Read about it. Couples, old men, young women, a blind hiker, a family: it seems that everyone has penned his or her story of an Appalachian Trail thru-hike. What's especially interesting is that these books and Internet accounts have so much in common. Everyone, it seems, starts with a too-heavy pack.
• Fitness. It's certainly true that the only way to truly get ready to put on a pack and walk up a mountain is to put on a pack and walk up a mountain. But hikers who are fit at the start are going to be a whole lot happier than hikers who aren't. Anything aerobic will help.
• Equipment: One rule is constant. Packs should be as light as possible. Most experienced long-distance backpackers use the lightest gear available. Or modify gear to cut weight.
• Foot preparation: Be sure shoes fit properly. Thru-hikers use either trekking shoe or hiking boots; the decision depends on pack-weight, ankle strength, and fitness.

Appalachian Trail Planning Resources for Itineraries and Resupply

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy has a long list of books, guides, maps, and resources on every aspect of the Appalachian Trail.

• The A.T Data Book is a pocket-sized book containing information about trail mileages between water sources, campsites, mountain summits, road crossings, towns, and other features.
• Guidebooks and maps are available for each region of the trail from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Each pack contains a series of topographic maps, profile maps (showing elevation change along with major landmarks), and a guidebook for that section.
• The Thru-Hiker's Companion, published by the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association, contains information about major trail landmarks , but is most useful for its information about towns where hikers can resupply, do laundry, find cheap accommodations, and get meals.
• Resupply: Most hikers pre-pack food and supplies that they have bought in advance. Then someone at home mails the boxes to general delivery at post offices along the Appalachian Trail. Zip codes can be found in the Thru-Hikers Companion or the Data Book. It is possible to buy supplies en route, although small towns may have only a tiny convenience store with limited supplies. Most hikers send boxes to the tiny towns, and do a combination of mail drops and en-route shopping in larger towns.

With thorough planning, a positive attitude, and a sense of adventure, an A.T thru-hike is just five million steps away.


Karen Berger has thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail.

America's Triple Crown Trails: Best Long Hikes in the World Series

Thinking about a thru-hike? Use this comparison of the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide National Scenic Trails to help choose your hoe for the next few moths.

The national scenic trails are designated by the United States Congress because of their outstanding scenic beauty and recreational opportunities. There are currently 11 long trails in the system (three were added to the system in 2009). The Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide trails are the oldest and best established, and the most popular with backpackers. These three trails have come to be known as "the Triple Crown."

Each of America's so-called "triple crown" of hiking trails runs in a north-south direction through one of the U.S.'s main mountain ranges (or, in the case of the Pacific Crest Trail, through a series of consecutive mountain ranges).

To thru-hike any of the three "Triple Crown" trails in a single season takes an average long-distance backpacker approximately 5 to 5 1/2 months. Additionally, many hikers attempt to hike one or more of these trails over several years, hiking a few weeks at a time and stringing the completed sections together like pearls on a string.

In total, as of 2011, fewer than 100 people have been awarded the Triple Crown Award, given out by ALDHA-West (the American Long Distance Hiking Association, Western States) to hikers who report completing all three hiking trails, either as single-season through-hikes or multiple-year section hikes.

The Appalachian National Scenic Trail

Trail's End (or Start): Katahdin in Maine

The Appalachian Trail (A.T.) is the oldest and best known of the three trails. The A.T. runs through 14 eastern states, beginning atop Springer mountain in northwest Georgia, and continuing northeast through North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and finally to Mt. Katahdin, the highest peak in Maine.

Thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail has been an iconic backpacking goal for decades. The number of people reporting having hiked the entire trail is nearing 10,000 as of 2009, in part because of the trail's location in the populated East, and in part because guidebooks and maps of the Appalachian Trail are good and thorough; there are trailside shelters to sleep in, and there is even a thru-hiker culture complete with festivals and traditions. The A.T. receives plenty of publicity. After Bill Bryson's best-selling A Walk in the Woods was published in 1998, interest in backpacking the A.T. exploded.

The Appalachian Trail is currently just under 2,200 miles long (mileage of all three trails changes annually due to relocations, trail work, trail damage from floods and fires, and land purchase decisions). It is sometimes called the "long green tunnel," because mountains in the East rarely rise above treeline. Nonetheless, despite much lower elevations than the western trails, the A.T. boasts some of the most rugged and difficult straight-up-the-mountain-and-straight-back-down-again hiking of any of the three.

The Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail

High Sierra, California

The Pacific Crest Trail begins about 50 miles east of San Diego, near the hamlet of Campo at the Mexican border. It runs the entire length of California (about 1,600 trail miles), as well as Oregon and Washington, for a grand total of 2,650 miles.

Much of the route goes through National Forests and National Parks, with large tracts of wilderness, including the famous Ansel Adams and John Muir Wildernesses, as well as Yosemite, Sequoia, and King's Canyon National Parks. The P.C.T. is marked in its entirety, though not as assiduously as the Appalachian Trail. Difficulties for long distance hikers include early season snow, desert hiking (hot and waterless) in southern California, and a lack of some of the trail amenities enjoyed by Appalachian Trail hikers.

The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail

South San Juan Mountains, Colorado

The "wild child" of the three trails is the Continental Divide, the last of the three to be designated, the longest, and the least complete. The Continental Divide splits America's watersheds, sending eastern slope waters to the Atlantic Ocean and western slope waters to the Pacific. C.D.T. managers hope to situate the trail as close to the actual Continental Divide as is safe and practicable; however, the ruggedness of the topography and the difficulty of working with private landowners frequently dictate that the trail parallels the Divide on one side or the other.

The C.D.T. traverses New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, passing through a patchwork of National Forests, National Parks, and Bureau of Land Management lands, as well as Indian reservations and private lands. Some of the highlights include the Colorado section, which averages about 11,000 feet in elevation and at times stays astride the Continental Divide for days at a time, and a section of hiking Rocky Mountain National Park trails.. Wyoming's Wind River Range and Yellowstone National Park, and Glacier National Park in Montana are three other C.D.T highlights.

In some sections, particularly in New Mexico, the trail's route has not been officially approved, let alone marked or mapped. So in addition to rugged mountain terrain and weather, and in addition to trying to squeeze some 3,000 miles of hiking into the all-too-short snow-free months of summer and shoulder season, hikers must contend with navigational challenges and hiking cross country.

The three trails are all completely different. What they share is a mammoth challenge, and some of the finest mountain scenery and hiking experiences to be found anywhere.

Lessons From A Walk in the Woods, at Night

This is a story in which nothing happens. but much could have... and that's what I want to share.

A couple of weeks ago, you would have found me hiking up the Jug End on the Massachusetts Appalachian Trail at 8:30 at night, in the quickly falling dark. I carried a stick I had found on the forest floor to which I had jerry-rigged a battery-operated LED musician's light. (Reason: I hadn't been able to quickly find a headlamp, and I needed to be quick). I was not carrying raingear (it wasn't going to rain) and I wasn't carrying warm clothes (it wasn't cold -- yet, although that would change as the night wore on). I did have an orange and a pint of water in a shoulder pack slung across my back. I had not left a note on my car, and I had left no word at home where I was going. And, if you know the Jug End hike: It's steep and rocky, and here in Massachusetts in August, it's getting dark earlier every day.

So right about now, you are (I hope) wondering: What did she think she was doing, and why the heck am I taking advice on hiking from THIS woman?


The Phone Call:  Out in the Woods, No Flashlight, Dark is Falling

Here's what happened: At about 8 p.m., I got a call from an AT thru-hiker who had been planning to stay the night at my house. I was expecting to pick her up at the trail, oh, about two hours earlier, but she was feeling ill, and the trail up on the Taconic Ridge is one of those boulder-strewn ups-and-downs that makes for slow going, even for a fit thru-hiker 1,500 or so miles into the hike.  She was calling from her cell from the top of the ridge; she didn't know exactly where she was or when she would be down and dusk was falling. I, on the other hand, knew what lay between the top and the bottom on that section of trail: A couple of miles of steep rocky scramble. And I was worried.

First of all, she was hiking alone. And second, she didn't have her pack: I had "slackpacked" her earlier that morning by meeting her at the trailhead and taking her pack to my house, so she could hike unencumbered for a day. About her equipment, all I knew was that she had a rain jacket, but no flashlight. She certainly didn't have what she needed  to spend the night, and with dark falling so quickly, she might not have enough light to get out. 

When you're exhausted and it's dark, the descent off Jug End is about the last place on the entire Massachusetts AT you want to be. So I said I'd drive over to the trail (It's about five minutes from my house) and start hiking up to meet her, hoping that at least some light would help that last little bit, when it would be really and truly dark.  

How to Make a Hiking Light 

Well, my hiking stuff is in total disarray at the moment: I know where my boots are, and that's about it. I'm not the most organized of people at the best of times, but my hiking stuff was recently displaced by a renovation project; in the current disarray, no way was I going to be able to find a headlamp quickly (let alone a working one with the right sized batteries). And as luck would have it, our house flashlights are currently all suffering some type of flashlight illness... dead batteries, rusty contact points, etc. So I grabbed the one light I did have handy: a four-LED-bulb musician's performance light, with a clip-on base and twisty wires that can adjust where the light falls. And I headed out.

Driving over there, I couldn't help but notice how quickly night was falling, and how very dark the woods looked. I parked at the trail head, and headed up, and immediately realized how stupid I'd been to take pretty much nothing with me. (Of course, the fact that I couldn't find anything quickly was part of the problem there). I especially missed my walking sticks, which I'd simply forgotten -- they live right by the front door, so there's no excuse for that. But trail magic is pretty reliable, and an obliging hiker had left a perfect stick right on the trail.  I clipped the base of the musician's light to it, and wrapped the wires around its prongs it to help keep the light steady.

But I didn't turn it on: There was a full moon, and I've found with night-hiking that your eyes can often adjust. Until you really need artificial light, you can be better off without it. Although it was dark, I could pretty much feel the trail underfoot; every once in a while I caught a glimpse of white blazes, which seemed to briefly catch the moonlight through the pines. I made sure I always noted where the blazes were, because it's easy to wander off the AT. However, luck was with me again, as this part of the trail is frequently marked. Plus it's on a pretty steep ridge, which means it's hard to wander off trail. There isn't really anywhere else to go.

Night-Hiking

It was actually a nice walk: Perfect temperature, clear night, no bugs, quiet and peaceful. I settled into a moderate rest step, and climbed about half an hour before it got too dark to pick out the blazes anymore. All the while I was wondering just what exactly I thought I was doing: If the hiker had been injured, I wasn't carrying anything useful except for water and an orange. The most I'd be able to do would be go back down for help. Or, I could get myself into trouble in the dark and become a second problem for someone else to solve. I walked carefully, and slowed down on the rocky bits.  I had deliberately not left a note at home because I didn't want to worry my partner. That was (very) arguably a dumb move, but my partner isn't a hiker, and I didn't want him freaking out and calling the  volunteer fire brigade just because it was dark. It seemed like a good reason at the time, but as I continued uphill, it started sounding dumber and dumber, even in my own mind.

Finally, after I'd been walking close to a half an hour, It was fully dark. When I could no longer see any hint of a blaze, I turned the light on, and shone it up the mountain, hoping it could be seen from above. Sure enough, I heard a yell, from quite a ways up. I resisted the temptation to call out "Dr. Livingstone, I presume" and continued the climb.

When we met, my friend was relieved; she'd been thinking of simply sitting down and waiting for me, but she didn't know how far she still had to go, or how long it would take me to get to her, or how cold it would be by then. We walked back down together, me carrying the light above both of us like a camera man's lighting assistant. We looked ridiculous. 

And that was that: No drama, no real problems. It may have been another 20 minutes till we got back to the truck. We drove home, ate a lot of food, and slept.

Lessons From a Non-Event

But I thought this little story of a non-disaster worth sharing because it has an alternate ending. Rain, which would have made the descent frankly dangerous. A fall. One, or both of us, getting lost off trail. It did get cold later that night, cold enough that the tree frogs stopped yammering. Cold enough that a stranded hiker might have become hypothermic.

Bad luck can happen, even to a thru-hiker with thousands of miles of experience. And I wasn't exactly being Ms. Brilliant Outdoors Educator by choosing to head up the mountain quickly, rather than stopping to try to find some gear. It seemed like the right thing to do -- to try and get myself and my light up the mountain as far and fast as possible. It turned out to be the right choice... but it might not have been.

It takes smarts to learn from your own experiences. It takes real brilliance to learn from other people's disasters. But it takes something else -- perhaps imagination -- to learn from what could have happened to someone else -- and didn't. Not to say "Well, everything worked out and was great" but "What can I learn from what didn't happen."

Please imagine. 

As for us: I'm pretty sure next time my friend slackpacks, there's going to be a headlamp in her daypack. For my part, it wouldn't hurt to have a first aid kit and a little daypack containing the ten essentials on hand. Plus fresh batteries.

As it turned out, we had a power outage in the house that night .... and the piano light, still tied to the make-shift walking stick, was pressed into service again.