A quick recap of Mountain Weekend '99: The weekend started on Friday the 13th. Upon arrival at Echo Lake on the way up, the Mountain crew did a 1 hr. run followed by the usual splash in the lake. Hodgie slept on the porch after cleaning up some animal remains, Gary slept on the sofa and Brad of course in the Master bedroom. Everyone went to Polly's in the morning, I think and then proceeded to a mountain... no one remembers which one. Upon nearing the top, it began to pour. Gary started suffering from hypothermia and shelter had to be found. All 3 crowded into a cooking space at an Apalachian hut, huddling in cramped quarters with propane tanks. After an eternity, they started back down without ever seeing a vista or an animal. After getting most of the way down, they were stopped a by an annoying hiker, who turned out to be a "caretaker" or something. He started going off on the hapless hikers about their poor choice of clothing, shoes, etc. Meanwhile, "Mr. Smarty Pants" was barely wearing more than a pair of shorts with a seashell necklace about his neck. Gary was trying to be polite while Hodgie was getting a bit annoyed. "Mr. Smarty Pants" best quote was - "You know, sometimes it snows in October". Well thank you. The boys finally escaped and came up with a large number of snappy comebacks after the fact.
The hike ended after 4.5 hrs. At some point, Brad bought a picnic table and placed it on top of his car, perhaps trying to frighten the moose off on the drive up Hodge Hill.  The table was installed and enjoyed by all.
A strange group of people were gathered around Brad's local lake for 2 days in a row. What they were doing, was not really known.
As a side, Gary was joking during the hike that if no one returned, Hodge would be most likely noticed  missing, followed by Brad and Gary. As it turned out, even as he spoke, a search party was being organized in Rockaway, N.J. for Gary, who was reported missing. Fortunately, the search was called off before it became too involved, after Gary's brother Tim called one of his roommates.
On Sunday morning, the 9.5 mile loop was run from Brad's cabin - the notable memory being that Hodge was killing everyone else on the hills.

The location of this year's hike is still a well kept secret, not yet revealed by Brad before press time.

1999 Mountain Weekend 
 Last Year's Special Supplement: A History of Mountain Weekend.