Week 1

Week one seems like a pretty boring title relative to everything I have experienced this week. I mean why name it "Week 1" when it could be called, "my first solo encounter with a bear" or "that time I was charged by a turkey" or what about "that time I got lost while hiking on the MST" or "lets trade feet", all of these would be great titles, but I just couldn't choose, so here we are with Week 1.

Before I go into detail of the "hypothetical/could be titles" (all of which are true), let me give you the stats of my hike. Currently, I am on Day 10 (taking a zero day in Asheville). I am averaging 17 mile days (that is with minimal hiking for 24 hours, due to being 'misplaced'. My shortest day has been 16.9 miles and my longest day has been 23 miles. I have completed Segments 1 and 2. Let me tell you a bit about both.

Segment 1 is 68.9 miles of challenging terrain with well maintained, marked, and switchbacked trails. Atleast, this is what the guidebook says. Additionally, it goes from Clingman's Dome (a place I have only seen once before when thru-hiking the AT on March 6, 2014, my dad's birthday) to Waterrock Knob (which is the 3rd highest point on the MST).

Zack and I headed out early on Memorial Day, checked out Clingman's Dome, and trekked 20.3 miles to our campsite. The first day was easy, mostly downhill, with endless switchbacks. I stopped often and took photos of mushrooms and snails. We only saw a few people on the trail, all solo, all men, all not too chatty. Today, I got my first blister.

"My first solo encounter with a bear" The following day after saying goodbye to Zack, I heard a rustling in the woods. I looked up and a bear was in a tree. He saw me as soon as I heard him - or maybe he heard me say "Sweet Hallejulah!" I know what to do when one encounters a bear, but I did it all wrong. I turned away, I sang Happy Birthday to both myself and the wilderness. I grabbed my pepper spray, then I slowly re-approached the scene. It was a small bear, I was quite worried the momma bear was gonna come after me. So, I continued to talk to myself and made up quite an amusing song about running into a bear and being scared. I saw a few folks on the trail today, including a woman solo backpacking. That was nice to see.

"That time I got charged by a turkey" As if encountering a bear wasn't scary enough, I was charged by a turkey! Thats something they dont often warn you about. Today was going great, I had over 15 miles in by lunch. This was mainly because I walked 8 of those miles on a gravel road. The next 7 that I did were all along a asphalt road - what a job they did on my bones, joints, etc...but back to the turkey. As I was walking along the shoulder of the road, I saw an animal lying along the ditch.  I thought it was a grouse, so I continued to walk, just very slowly, so that I could take a photo of it. The animal then lifted its head up. It was a turkey. Ok, okay, I was giving it space, but apparently, not fast enough. That turkey was coming after me, making alot of noise, and well, it all happened in slow motion. I said some very unkind words while running away and threatening it with my pepper spray. Eventually, I was out of its territorial zone and it went back to its safe zone and I never thought twice about going back.

The guidebooks says this section is challenging and that it is well marked. Compared to the White Mountains I would say the terrain is easy. There are long switchbacks, gravel roads, asphalt roads, and old road beds. These all make up easy walking, but what the books doesn't say is how unmaintained they are! These roadbeds go on and on and on and on, which is all fine and dandy, until you are walking for miles in grass that ranges from your knees to your hips. For all the moments I was in that area, I was terrified I was going to step on a snake and get bitten. Along with being terrified myself, I was terrifying all kinds of wildlife. Within the last week, besides being charged by a turkey, I have had countless grouse run away from me while whining to protect their young. Once, as I was walking, I passed an egg. It was a large egg, looked like a chicken. My curious mind wanted to take a look at it, well as soon as I bend down, feathers were a flocking, so I ran off and said forget it. What I have learned from wildlife this week is to not be curious!

I was so glad to be out of the roadbed territory. I then moved onto Segment 2. During this segment is when my anxiety heightened, so much to the point I was almost in tears. I love being out in the woods, but constantly worrying about the worst thing that could happen to me, is doing nothing for me except making my time out here unenjoyable. I woke up, glad to be alive, then looked left and right for bears and bad people. The thing is, bears don't just pop out at you. They live in the woods and people come across them. Yes, I may startle one, since I am so quite out here, but they are not going to just run after me. And yes, there are bad people out in this world, but there are also good people. So this morning, I woke up, and all I wanted to do was call my best friend and find encouraging words. Instead, I went into a state of high anxiety, fear, and panic.

Today, I entered the Middle Prong Wilderness. This section of the trail is unmarked and listed as a trail that is difficult to follow. At the time, I begged to differ. I was actually on a trail. A trail, not an endless roadbed or a gravel road or a tar road, but a legit trail. I could tell I was on a trail, it was well maintained, and better yet, I even saw a couple of local folks hanging out. As I continued onwards, I reached just 4 miles of my destination, so I thought, but boy was I wrong.

My guidebook told me that I would pass a campsite on the left, then I would cross a stream in .5 mile then I would come to a Y intersection, cross a river, then be at the road in .2. I was following all of the signs, just as the guidebook said. The only problem was, I could not find the trail across from the river, the one where the road was just .2 away. I crossed the river multiple times, looking for a connecting trail, but had no luck. I started to panic, but kept in mind, I could always travel backwards. With that said, I also was being super stubborn and knew I did everything the guide book told me to do. After a while, I found a trail to the right, so I took that down, but it didn't seem right. I had walked past .2 miles and couldn't even hear a road. Eventually, I came out to a gravel road. Agh, a service road. I was really hoping someone would drive by and lead me in the direction. I waited there for about an hour, cooked some food, then decided I would just be better off to go back. I would try to go the other direction.

On my way back, I ran into a runner. A runner that admitted she often gets lost in the woods and assured me that I was heading in the right direction. Reassured, I went back to the river crossing, took the path to the left, then realized, I again, was not going in the right direction. I walked for over 30 minutes without reaching any sign. I should have already been on the road by now.

Flustered and frustrated, I decided I would just set up camp by the river and figure things out in the morning. It was getting dark and I was waiting for Zack to respond to me via my Inreach Satellite Communicator.

The next morning, I was directed to head South. The direction I originally came from. Ugh, why am I going to go back the way I came, I followed all of the steps, correctly. Well, I started backtracking, up a very steep hill, I stopped at the campsite, I passed the river crossing. I was really getting annoyed but I knew if worse came to worse, I would just get out of the wilderness and get a hitch to where I needed to go. I was tired of being lost and determined to move onto my next section which was the Graveyard Fields section, a section closed to camping due to aggressive bear behavior. I knew I needed to reach a certain point soon or I would have to camp and wait till the next morning to get through the section.

As I continued back tracking, I smelt smoke. My delusional self was like, oh no, a forest fire, what am I going to do, I don't even know how to get out! But then my rational self though, fire, campfire, people!! I yelled "Hello! Hello!" They yelled back "Hello!". I ran up the embankment, burst into tears, so intense I couldn't see straight. One of the woman came up and hugged me. I never hugged a stranger so sincerely.

The folks I ran into meet up in this spot once a year to watch the dragonflies light up in the area. They all made me feel at ease and led me in the right direction.

I continued hiking back up the trail, I knew exactly where I needed to turn. A spot that I even contemplated looking at the day before, but did not because it was marked pink. I am following round, white blazes, not pink ones! So that is why I did not turn yesterday, but continued towards that infamous river that led me to nowhere. So, I turned up the hill. Then I walked up a bald. Once, I reached the top, I saw a group of 3 hanging out. Just to reassure myself, I asked if I was on the MST. They advised I was not, but that it was really close! Really! I thought! I sighed and my eyes swelled for just a moment. The folks on top of the mountain really knew the area and assured me I would get to the right place. He, Nathan, was a local who walked me to the MST and sent me on my way.

I trusted him and that he knew the way, but I was not relieved until I got to the road. At which point, I hugged the sign I had been waiting to find and cried harder than most folks do when they reach Katahdin after thru hiking the AT.

At this point, I found a clear area and contacted my family to let them know I made it back on the trail. It was noon and I was officially one day behind. At this point, I was just going to hike 4 more miles, set up my tent, and wait to do the Graveyard Fields. Just then, a thunderstorm came tumbling down. I decided I would walk through it, it wasn't my first storm, but then I got really cold and knew my luck was running low. So I made it to the top of the mountain, 2 miles shy of where I wanted to stop, and set up camp in a solid location.

This is the quickest I had ever set up camp. I had to be for if not, my entire tent would be soaking wet. Unfortunately, I was drenched to the bone! I peeled off my clothes and got underneath my cover. Soon, the rain tapered off, but I stayed put and enjoyed my evening sitting in my tent, warm, and dry, unlike the sobbing wet clothes I would be putting on in the morning.

The next day, I hiked through the Graveyard Fields. An area I was mortified to go through, but accomplished. It is amazing what a sign that says "bear canisters are required and camping is prohibited due to aggressive bear activity" can do to the mind. I decided I would play music to make as much noise as possible coming through the woods. Sadly, even with music playing, I am still a quite hiker; however, I made it through the area without any bear encounters, and a stronger person.

I realized, well came back to the realization, that I am out in the wild, but I am not stupid and I do pay attention to my surroundings. I love being outside and I should not be afraid. Strangers have greeted me, guided me, and even rehydrated me. I have pushed through being charged at, having wings  flung at me, rained on, and lost in the wilderness. This is just the first week. It has been tough, but I will not surrender.

Let me not end on that note. I have to tell you why your feet are better than mine! With the river crossings and rain, my shoes have just been sobbing wet for days. In addition, so have my socks! I have had some blisters I have been nursing since the first few days, but the last two days on the trail, my feet have been through hell. Currently, I have some pretty bad "burn/blisters" on my heels and on my toes. I was able to walk 25 miles to town with these sore, swollen, burned feet, but then they told me they needed to rest.

As I made my way to Asheville, I was excited to take a night off. This week has been exhausting both to the mind and the body. I have pushed myself further than I ever have. I have not been eating as many calories as I normally do nor as many as I should be. All of this was apparent as I sat inside a "Dickey's Barbecue" just off the trail. In there, I drank about 7 cups of lemonade, ate some green beans and Mac and cheese, and had a little bit of barbecue. Here, is where I looked at my feet and realized just how bad of shape they were in.

Unable to reach the trail angles whom invited me into their home, I booked a hotel. Before going to the hotel, I loaded up on food supplies as well as first aid supplies, to include epsom salt! When I got to the hotel, I was in heaven! I immediately took a bath. My feet were screaming at me the entire time. This is when I decided I was not going to get back on the trail tomorrow. This is when I decided that saving money wasn't worth it and my body needed to rest. This is also when I realized my muscles were actually sore. I had been moving so much and nonstop that I didn't have time to think about any pain, but last night, I did!

Before heading to bed last night, my trail angels reached out to me and we planned a zero day at their home. This is exactly what I needed! Asheville has been good to me. I hope to come back and visit when I have more time and when Zack is with me. Stay tuned for more about my stay and my upcoming adventures.

Happy Trails
<3 Moxie

P.S. Here is a link to my photos

https://goo.gl/photos/apioJwfZbP6GnvSS7