LOCAL HIKER INTERVIEWED

Billy
Dunn always told himself that the easiest stories to tell are the ones that
really happened. No tall tales, no stretching the truth, and yet – when he
tries to go back and remember the exact event, he found himself telling the
local officials most of ‘what happened’ is a blur. Billy had gotten up early
Saturday morning, determined he was going to go the twelve miles to Allen Gap.
It was supposed to rain that afternoon, and really didn’t have any good rain
gear – but he knew if he got a good early start, he should be able to hit the
other side by about 3pm.

“Iffen I can get out
of ‘ere say by nine or ten, and give myself about two miles an hour for
twelve miles, that’s six hours of walking, and should put me out of the
woods by 4pm easy. So by 10am I need to be to the ranger tower.”

Little did Billy know that the ranger
tower was still a good four or five miles away, and the first place he took a
break was Pump Gap. Since the evidence continues to show that
the two missing women made camp approximately 0.5mi from Pump Gap, and a third,
larger set of footprints were found all over the campsite, local authorities
conducted this interview.

"There were a couple
of girls who asked me where Pump Gap was, but they thought they were already
there. I explained that they had another half mile to go."

The officials laughed as Billy made
his statement, for everything on the trail is 'another half mile' to go.

"So your twelve
miles was really close to thirteen, wasn't it Billy?"

 They may have literally been the
Sheriff and Barney of Mayberry, but they were quick to find holes with Billy
Dunn's story.

"First of all, six
hours in back of 3pm is 9am, not 10am. Second, you weren't going to reach
the fire tower and then onward. In fact, you were going to get Pump Gap, a
few side trails, and the pond before you would reach the Rich Mt Fire Tower,
isn't that right, Billy?"