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Day 17 US-32 to the Northern Terminus-27.2 miles

 
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chester
in the stride
in the stride


Joined: 18 Jan 2012
Posts: 56
Location: Slade, Kentucky

PostPosted: Tue May 28, 2013 7:34 pm    Post subject: Day 17 US-32 to the Northern Terminus-27.2 miles Reply with quote

I woke up at 6am and slowly dressed and had the hotel’s continental breakfast. In order for me to get in the planned 27 miles, I would need to start hiking earlier than my typical 9am start. My brother, Chuck told me not to start hiking until it was light. US-32 was a busy road and it was about a mile of road walking before the trail cuts off into the woods. I anxiously peeped out the window until finally the black sky turned a dark shade of blue. I stepped out into a morning coldness that nearly took my breath away. Always prepared, I had also bought some hand warmers the night before. With them stowed inside my gloves, I was ready for battle. After taking a quick swig of the Red Bull I had transferred to my water bottle (that stuff taste really gross, btw) I started my final trek.

The night before, I went into total Type A mode and pulled out my guide and started calculating where I needed to be at the top of each hour in order to finish the 27 miles by nightfall. Due to darkness, my start was 15 minutes later than anticipated so I was behind by 10 minutes at the end of the first hour. But at the end of the 2nd hour I was 15 minutes ahead. For the rest of the day I played this game. Every hour I would check and see how much further I was ahead. I didn’t even stop to eat lunch but rather ate the energy bars and beef jerky treats that were stuffed in my front pants pockets. I downed it with the Red Bull. I was on fire. I raced up the hills and over the pipelines. I felt great! I was going to do this!

And then came the last six miles. Little did I know that the last six miles would be one long bushwhack and route wondering issues. I say route wondering because at this point, there were so many forks I had no clue which fork I was at so looking at the guidebook was useless. The map was not much help and the GPS seemed iffy. The blazes went from a white diamond with a turtle to a plain white diamond. Thoughts of the Gobblers Arch Trail came back to haunt me. Am I even on the right trail? Where is this pond the trail book was talking about? Could this be that fork? Just when I was about to give up and turn around, a blaze with a turtle on it would appear in a sea of non-turtle white diamonds. My only glimmer of hope.

Amid all this frustration, it began to dawn on me…I was almost finished! I started thinking about this journey that started so much further back than 17 days ago. How March 1st and the Southern Terminus seemed like a lifetime ago. Not much…but so much had happened. So many bridges crossed and roads traveled and sights seen. So many thoughts in my head and time spent with myself absorbing those thoughts. I started getting all sentimental at this point…out there in the woods. I started wondering how I was going to feel once I reached the Northern Terminus. I hadn’t thought about that before. How was it going to feel to accomplish something that few have done? Would I feel like Super Woman? Would I cry tears of joy or relief? Would I just get in the car and go home? At this point there was nothing else to worry about, so worrying about the finish seemed to be my only option. No more creeks to cross. No more dogs to dodge. No more blazes to search for. It was easy hiking from this point on. It was then that I realized the lesson I needed to learn on this hike. The lesson that was there all along and it took me until this moment to figure it out. Don’t worry about what is up the trail. Trust in my experience and my brains and it will all work out . Chances are that stream, dog, bear, hill, photoshoot, wedding, tumor, tax owed, laundry pile is not nearly as big or difficult as I thought it might be. Face these issues with my thinking cap on and face them with confidence because I can get through them.

As I was reaching this epiphany, I heard a rustling sound ahead of me on the trail and a streak of black. My heart jumped. Tell me I have not gone this far only to be eaten by a bear. As I helplessly scrambled for my bear mace the rustling got louder and the predator closed in on me with a quiet speed I had never anticipated. Before I could get my wits about me, the black creature jumped on me followed by another black creature behind her and a little brown one still behind him. I was being attacked with love and kisses from the most beautiful dogs I had ever seen.
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Ewker
merciless pace
merciless pace


Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 124
Location: Old Hickory, Tn

PostPosted: Wed May 29, 2013 10:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

well you answered my question about the Red Bull in this report...lol

Thanks for great trip report. I do like how you did each day which can give some folks ideas on how to hike it...of course the mileage may vary

Congrats on finishing your hike!!

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