Word: trailing
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...spacecraft arrived at Saturn in 1981, it confirmed that long-distance impression. More intriguing was the way Enceladus behaved. Embedded inside Saturn's E ring - the outermost of the eight bands that make up the ring system - Enceladus seemed to orbit with a thick clump of ring matter trailing behind it, almost as if it were dragging the material in its gravitational wake. What astronomers suspected instead - and what Voyager confirmed - was that Enceladus was not dragging matter but expelling it, chugging through its orbits like a locomotive and leaving a vapor trail behind it. What astronomers couldn't know...
Governor Mark Sanford's confession to adultery may be roiling South Carolina and traumatizing his family, but it's bequeathed to the rest of us a handy new euphemism for sneaking in a little romance on the sly: hiking the Appalachian Trail. That was the original reason given by Sanford's staff for his unexplained six-day absence from the state's capital - an explanation whose credibility evaporated when the governor resurfaced, not from an extended nature walk but from a covert sojourn to Buenos Aires, where his mistress lives. In the meantime, the peculiar tale of Sanford's disappearance...
...Appalachian National Scenic Trail is the nation's longest "marked footpath," stretching approximately 2,178 miles (the exact figure fluctuates) from the summit of Springer Mountain in Georgia to the top of Mount Katahdin in Maine. The trail blazes through 14 states and ranges from deep wilderness to strenuous mountain hiking above the tree line - its elevation dips to 124 ft. in New York and climbs to 6,625 ft. in Tennessee, at the top of Clingmans Dome in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The trail was the brainchild of Benton MacKaye, a New England regional planner who published...
...Appalachian Trail attracts thousands of hikers each year, most of whom traverse small sections of the trail on short day trips. A hardier band of explorers shoot for the big enchilada: hiking the entire length of the trail, some 5 million footsteps. Each year about 500 "thru-hikers" or "2,000-milers" complete the grueling trek; the A.T. foils about 80% of those who try. The total number of reported "thru-hikes" hit 10,000 in 2008. Traveling the length of the trail takes between five and seven months; most people start at the southern end and head north. Campgrounds...
Safety along the Appalachian Trail has never been a serious concern. Accidents and conflicts with wildlife are rare, and crime is uncommon - though what little there is tends to draw headlines. In 2008 two fishermen were shot along the trail in Virginia, allegedly by the same man who had slain two campers near the same spot in 1981. The shooting victims both survived; the alleged gunman, Randall Lee Smith, died days later, apparently from injuries he suffered in a truck accident while fleeing from police. (Read "Top Six Sanford Tweets...