Timecachers by Glenn R. Petrucci Page A

folks out on backpacking trips, but sometimes you get some real jerks that want to tell you how to do things. You have to wonder why they bothered to hire an outfitter if they already had all the answers!”
    “Sounds like some of the managers I used to work for. Guess you have to take the good with the bad with anything. I’m looking forward to retirement when I only have to answer to myself.”
    “Good luck with that. I figure with the way the economy is going these days, I might be able to retire at around age 120,” James chuckled.
    “You could be right,” Adam agreed. “Tell you what, when we get to that age we’ll get together and see how far we can hike into the Chattahoochee with our walkers!”
    “You’re on,” James laughed. “For now though I guess we both need to get back to work. It was great to meet you. Ya’ll stay safe, have a good time, and good luck with your project.”
    “Thanks, I’m sure we will. We really appreciate all your help, James.”
    “Glad to be of service, Adam. Stop in anytime!”

Chapter seven
    T he hotel offered a free sunrise breakfast, so they agreed to meet in the lounge at first light to get an early start to the national forest. First stop was the Blue Ridge ranger station, where they purchased the required backcountry permits and a fishing license for Adam. Adam sensed that the ranger was skeptical about issuing the backpacking permits to a group of software testers, especially since he was vague about the areas where they would be hiking. The area where they were planning to do most of the testing was near the Cohutta Wilderness Area, which is inside of the Chattahoochee National Park. They would also be close to the Tennessee border and the Cherokee National Park. Adam allayed the ranger’s concerns with some pleasant conversation about their previous backpacking trips.
    The Cohutta district ranger was patient and willing to be flexible with the permits, persuaded that they were capable backpackers and would be testing out a new type of GPS receiver. She issued the permits, and stressed the importance of keeping her advised of their progress and of any change of plans. She was pleasant but firm when it came to issuing backcountry permits, understandably serious about verifying the hikers had proper experience and common sense before allowing them to spend a week hiking in the backcountry. Adam appreciated the concern for their safety, and understood that the ranger wanted to avoid mounting searches for lost hikers in her jurisdiction. Undoubtedly she had rescued plenty of folks claiming to be expert hikers who had underestimated the immensity of the forest or failed to take the simple precautions necessary to avoid an embarrassing disaster.
    While the team was looking forward to backpacking, it was possible the permits would not be needed. In fact, they were not planning on an extended backpacking trip for the initial testing. Rather, they intended on camping at a few primitive tent sites, most of which could be driven to in the SUV. From these sites, they could day-hike or do a single night trip to the areas they had preselected. Once the standard testing scenarios were completed, they would begin following the anomaly beacons. For that part of the exercise, they planned to drive as close to the first beacon as they could get, then hike, carrying only what they needed and leaving the rest behind in the Suburban. Depending upon what they discovered when they reached the first beacon, they would return to the SUV and either retrieve their gear to continue following subsequent beacons, or conclude the testing.
    For the first day of testing, they would be taking a relatively short trail, about an eleven mile round trip, known as the Mountaintown Creek trail. It was not a heavily used trail, but it was well marked, and they were able to download an accurate set of GPS coordinates for several points along the trail that had been posted by previous hikers. The downloaded