Martha Stewart Calls Off Y2K Hike By MICHELLE EMERY Associated Press Writer

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Martha Stewart, party planner extraordinaire, called off plans to watch the millennium's first sunrise from the top of Cadillac Mountain after realizing the hike is no walk in the park.

Ms. Stewart and 17 guests set out on a practice trek in February ice and snow to the summit of the Acadia National Park peak, which according to the U.S. Naval Observatory will be the first spot in the continental United States to see the sun rise in 2000.

``We found the trails too icy, steep and circuitous for any of us to reach the 1,532-foot summit before daybreak,'' Ms. Stewart wrote in a special millennium issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine.

Ms. Stewart and the guests at her home on Mount Desert Island, about 160 miles northeast of Portland, instead drove to a beach and took a more leisurely two-mile hike to a ledge overlooking Frenchman Bay.

The group was so struck with the stunning sunrise that Ms. Stewart said she will celebrate the first dawn of 2000 the same way, followed by a grand breakfast at her place.

Guests will dress in fuzzy bathrobes and eat fruit from candied grapefruit shells, tall blueberry muffins and pancakes that are a cross between popovers and crepes.

They will drink from giant cafe au lait mugs and wipe their fingers on fine Irish linen. Names written on egg-shaped rocks ``borrowed'' from the park will serve as placecards.

The park has received dozens of calls since the U.S. Naval Observatory said the new year's first dawn will hit Porcupine Mountain in Lubec and Cadillac Mountain at the same time, 7:04 a.m.

The National Park Service is hoping other thrill-seekers follow Ms. Stewart's lead. The nine-mile road to the Cadillac Mountain summit is closed in winter and the trails are treacherous for inexperienced hikers.

``There have been fatalities when there has been ice in the park,'' Acadia spokeswoman Shirley Beccue said. ``It would be a real shame to have celebrations turn into something tragic.''

-- Mr. Nugget the garbage bag (catsbutt@umailme.com), November 27, 1999

Answers

Oh, shoot, I think she can make it! Heck, she can do ANYTHING! Go ahead, Martha, give it a try, why don'tcha?

-- I hate Martha Stewart (ihatemarthastewart@blahblah.com), November 27, 1999.

HEY, GUYS!!!!! PARTY AT MARTHA'S!!!!! (BYOB -- Bring Your Own Bathrobe)

(By the way, Ms. Stewart, we'd like to talk to you about these "borrowed" rocks from the park. We weren't attempting to misappropriate any government property, were we?)

-- Ranger Rick (Still Picking Up@after.Flipper), November 27, 1999.