Debby Roberts
Betty was a fellow Girl Scout leader and outdoor trainer, but more than than that, she was also a fellow hiker. We met in 1997 at a cabin retreat in Pine Grove Pennsylvania. I immediately discovered that she was fun with lots of personality.
A couple of years later I was invited to join Betty and another friend for a week long hike on the Appalachian Trail. Right away I was introduced to her resourcefulness. Betty told me there was no need to carry a heavy tent large enough for three of us. Instead she brought a large piece of clear plastic, weighing hardly anything. She attached it to tree branches above us molding it into a tent like tarp, complete with a floor that steered water away from our shelter.
In April 2001 three of us hiked the northern Smokey Mountains. One of my favorite photos of Betty on that hike is her engulfed by her huge external back pack. This was long before today’s modern lightweight gear and smaller internal packs. Her pack stretched from the top of her head, down her back, nearly to the bend in her knees. Our first day we walked through remnants of a snow storm from just days before. As we arrived at our camping spot late in the afternoon, we were delighted to see that other hikers had made snowmen around the shelter. That night as we watched the sun go down over the mountains, a hiker pulled out a violin from his pack and played “Ode to Joy”. It was an unforgettable first day!
Betty’s love of water was all consuming and infectious. Often we would find ourselves off trail and knee deep in a stream. Time would flow by before we regained our senses and realized we had more miles to cover before making camp.
On our long drives to far away hikes, Betty would often pull out “A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson and entertain us with stories from his book. It was fun to compare Bill Brysons’s experiences with ours. Sometimes Betty also read information from data books with graphic descriptions of upcoming hikes. I’ll never forget how apprehensive we became when she read about the difficult terrain around SawTooth Ridge. When the day came for that anticipated scary hike, very soon we discovered that we had already easily walked through that section
Our days of long walks also turned out to be days of long conversations. We soon found that we could talk about anything and comfortably confide in each other. Betty was a dear friend! I will always cherish our special times together. Debby Roberts