Former Attleboro resident Jim Minutoli, now of Albany, N.H., mentioned in a recent note that he has completed his "bucket list."

He didn't give the specifics, but I wasn't surprised. It seems like only yesterday that I wrote up a piece about Minutoli completing a hike of the Appalachian Trail with his bloodhound, Tucker. And before that, the adventurous Minutoli had ridden a bicycle from Massachusetts to California, which followed a couple of bicycle tours back and forth to Florida, and had participated in the Mount Washington bicycle race and the Boston Marathon a few times.

But what seems like yesterday was almost 14 years ago. Minutoli and Tucker, now long gone, took the 2,153-mile walk from Georgia to Maine, crossing another dozen states in between, over a 5 1/2-month period in 1995.

He dates his fascination with the Appalachian Trail to the time when he was 12 or 13 years old and notes that some of his inspiration to complete the walk came from the book "Walking With Spring: The First Through-Hike from Georgia to Maine," by Earl V. Shaffer, who on Aug. 5, 1948, completed the first hike of the trail. Unlike today's hikers, who often tote hi-tech gear, Shaffer carried "an old canvas military saggy backpack."

Minutoli moved to the Mount Washington Valley area after completing his stroll up from Georgia and in the intervening years has had occasion to chat with a lot of AT hikers. This student of the trail and veteran hiker has some advice for anyone who might have "walk the Appalachian Trail" on their bucket list: Don't start here.

Put another way, go south to begin your trip and then walk north.

It's better, he says, to start in "beautiful Georgia, 'cause of the deep snow and a big factor - loneliness. A lot of places are still closed or snowed in. Being cold is no fun, plus your clothes are bulky and confining, heavy to carry and expensive to mail home when you're done with them... I know three people from Attleboro who went out there and tried to go from Maine to Georgia and never made it out of New Hampshire."

If you start on Springer Mountain in Georgia, rather than Katahdin in Maine, and time it right, you'll find yourself wearing shorts most of the trip.

Give plenty of time to plan the hike and count on spending half a year to complete the trail, advises Minutoli.

Even then, only one out of 10 hikers who start the trail actually finish the more than 2,000-mile walk.

Shoveling it

A recent column about snow shoveling drew this note from Alex Murray:

"I read your article today about shoveling snow when you were a teen and how you don't see that anymore. Well, let me say there is a reason for that. With the snowstorm that brought the largest amount of snow this winter, a friend and I set out to shovel some driveways. But today people have either a snowblower and do it themselves or hire someone to plow it. This led to us finding only one house that was open.

"Sure, for only two hours out we each made 20 bucks but I think that people should hire some kids to shovel snow. Maybe it would keep them out of trouble. I know that for sure I was dead tired after that one giant driveway. Anyways, that's why there aren't kids out today in my opinion. "Oh, and if you get anybody saying they need shoveling done, I am always open."

I'd like to tell potential shoveling customers where to reach Alex, but that wasn't in his note and, alas, AOL bounced my return e-mail asking for more information.

Attleboro reference librarian Katherine Hibbert tells me teens were out shoveling in her neighborhood after a recent storm. Meanwhile, freelance writer Betsy Shea-Taylor reports she had plenty of offers to shovel her driveway in Providence, but they came from grown men who have been having trouble finding work during the economic downturn.

On the other side of the coin, watch for a letter to the editor from Carol Lipsett of North Attleboro, who would really like it if some of her neighbors would stop plowing out her driveway gratis. She actually likes to shovel snow.

MARK FLANAGAN (mflanagan@thesunchronicle.com) is Opinion page editor of The Sun Chronicle. He can be reached at 508-236-0335.