For ten days, while he reconsidered his energy and economic policies at his triple-fenced Camp David retreat, President Carter remained totally inaccessible to the press. Finally last Friday the President invited a group of journalists and network anchormen to helicopter to his mountaintop and hear the insights he had gained from his sojourn. Among his 18 luncheon guests was TIME'S Washington contributing editor Hugh Sidey, who, in addition to writing his regular Presidency column, reported from Camp David for this week's cover story.

The trip to the Catoctin Mountain camp was a familiar one for Sidey, who has made it at least a dozen times before --first to visit President Eisenhower, often to meet with Kennedy and once before with Carter. Despite this seasoning, Sidey admits to feeling "always considerably in awe in the presence of a President." He was particularly susceptible last week because it was a moment, he believes, "that may mark a watershed in American affairs."

Sidey's gleanings from what he describes as "a very gracious kind of briefing" with a "philosophical" President, supplements the reporting of correspondents around the country who, to piece together the elusive story of the summit, had spent the week corralling the 134 people summoned by Carter. Washington Energy Correspondent Richard Hornik spoke to economic and energy experts who had participated in the meetings, while Congressional Correspondent Neil MacNeil managed to track down nearly 20 Congressmen and Senators who had made the trip. Said White House Correspondent Chris Ogden, who raced to buttonhole civic leaders and senior White House aides as they arrived back in Washington: "However frustrating a sequestered summit is for reporters--and it is indeed frustrating--they seem to be the vogue for the Carter Administration. And if Carter feels they help him reflect more clearly and plan more thoroughly, then who are we to complain?"

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