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| About to embark on a major hike in July. On the East Coast. During a heat wave. |
As many of you probably know, the basis for Bree & I’s epic
adventure has been almost entirely built on hiking a section of the Appalachian
Trail. We started out with wanting to go
somewhere where we could go be out in nature for a solid chunk of time,
reconnect and reassess life a bit- and from there it grew to let’s take our
time and cruise the country, let’s visit so and so, let’s explore some National
Parks- but at the core of all this was the fact that our beacon was always the Appalachian.
With this in mind, we bought all sorts
of new lightweight gear, stocked up on everything from a new tent, packs,
sleeping bags, stove, etc. – and departed with high hopes for what the trail
had to bring.
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| Hiking away |
On July 3rd
we drove from Wilmington, NC to Ashby Gap, VA where we were to start our 5 day
trek hiking to Harpers Ferry, WV. Accompanying
us was one of my best friends Amanda, and in two days time her husband Chris
and their feline companion Roxy, would also join us. The first day of hiking was awesome. I wont say easy- because I don’t think it’s
ever easy to be hiking in the midst of a heat wave with 40 lbs. on your back-
but it was cooler than any of us had anticipated, so that was a huge plus. The trail at this point wasn’t too demanding,
a few hills here and there, but flat for the most part, and super pretty. Very lush, beautiful green forest. We hiked for 4-4.5 miles, and came upon a
perfect flat area for us to set-up camp for the night. After we set-up, a sporadic rainstorm began to
hit (one thing about east coast weather that I have a hard time getting used to
is how quickly the weather changes), so we had to retreat to our tent for a
pow-wow while it passed. After it did,
we got out and by the light of our headlamps and a plethora of lightning bugs,
made a delicious meal of cherry tomatoes from Amandas garden & squash,
mixed with some yummy mushroom couscous. At this point, with a sweet contraption Bree
made to hang our packs (thanks for showing Chris!), and our food properly strung
up and hung from a tree, we retreated to the tent to go to sleepy time.
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| Sweet camping spot |
The next
day, the 4th of July, we ate, packed up, filled our waters at a
nearby spring, and began what is considered by some, one of the hardest parts
of the entire Appalachian Trail, the “Roller Coaster” (named as such because of
all the inclines and declines). To get
to our ultimate destination for the day, Buzzard Hill (and where the following
morning Chris & Roxy would be joining us), would be around 6.5 miles. The weather was a bit warmer, as well as more
humid then it had been the previous day. Pretty much right from the get-go was an
intense mountain we had to climb (1 of 3 overall for the day), that definitely
gave one that lovely burning sensation in the thighs. But still, we were thankful that we were
hiking in the shade, had plenty of fresh water, as well as each other to share
this experience with. At about 4.5 miles
in, we come across a lovely area with a creek to put our feet in, a place to
hang my hammock, and just relax and re-fuel for a couple hours.
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| A premonition perhaps |
This
is when sh** got real. On a steady
incline after leaving our rest area, I starting feeling light-headed and
slightly dizzy. Looking back, this would
have been the best time to stop and sit for a bit of time. But…figuring it was
just from being out in the heat/humidity and sweating our booties off all day, plus
the exertion of climbing major hills with weight on our backs, (which is what
it was from, but apparently it was about to wreak more havoc on my body than I
anticipated), I stopped a bit to catch my breath and take some gulps of water. After
a few times of doing this, then continuing on, a headache starting kicking in
as well. Dun dun dunnnn. Not a good sign. Going a little further and meeting up
with Amanda (who had been hike-kicking our ass all day long - good job
Amanda!), I told her I felt weird and needed to rest. Sitting down with my head
between my legs, I started to feel nauseous- and proceeded to vomit “like
someone had opened my mouth and turned on a fire hose.” Really not good. I had
clearly drank enough water- but my inner thermostat just wasn’t keeping up with
the humidity to keep me cool= heat exhaustion. Nothing has ever floored me so
quickly. Between the frustration of the situation, plus feeling like I didn’t
have the energy to stand, I started feeling a bit scared. How the heck was I
going to get off this mountain? Breelyn & Amanda at this point were fanning
me to help keep me cool, while I was laid out on the side of the trail on my pad.
Luckily the place where this was all happening was .5 miles from where the
trail intersects a road, and Amanda’s Mom lived about a half hour away…so
Amanda called her to come scoop us up and in the meantime hiked my pack down
the trail, while Breelyn fanned me and fed me grapes (just kidding…about the
grapes). When Amanda returned, they took turns helping to support me while making
our way back down the trail. So basically, all in all, what started out as a
plan to hike the Appalachian for 2 weeks, then 5 days, ended up being more like
24 hours. Talk about a trail fail.
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| My guardian angel- take 2 |
Major lesson of all this: in life, especially
in travel, it’s good not to have too many expectations attached to things, that
way when the course changes, or things don’t go how you envisioned, you can
roll with the punches without feeling completely let down. Also, don’t plan a
major hike on the east coast in July (major words of wisdom). In this
situation, frustration & momentary fear aside, as well as the idea we had concocted
for ourselves of our time on the AT, I have to say the course changing to us
hanging out at Deb’s comfortable, air-conditioned house, playing ping-pong,
gardening, bbqing, playing with sparklers, etc. - ended up being a really good
time. Sure beat the hell out of being laid out super sick on the side of the
trail. Just sayin’.
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Sparkler fun!
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