Fear was on my mind often today. I had thoughts of driving in the wrong direction, never finding the trailhead, not having enough daylight left to hike, having to spend the night in town, having my body crap out on me...
Reality was quite different...made it by 5 pm to town without a problem. I even enjoyed some bbq sponsored by the Florida Vol Fire Department in North Adams, MA before starting on the trail at 6 pm.
Met only one SOBO as I headed up the trail toward the LT sign. Five mins before the sign I encountered a bear. A BEAR!!!!!
Out of fear the bear ran and I froze solid after reaching for my camera. No pictures were taken. My pace quicken as I decided I wanted to reach Seth Warner before dark. Three miles in less than an hour. I knocked my poles together the whole way in an attempt to prevent spooking another bear.
I have never been so relieved to see a shelter full of hikers as I was tonight. Lady Sherpa, Coyote, Mynx, and three other AT thrus are here tonight and didn't mind helping me recover from my bear encounter.
Gotta shake this fear thing but it is good to be back in my tent and in the woods.
In other news, I think caterpillars are dropping from the trees as I type. I can hear them hitting my tent and the dry leaves on the ground around me. Weird.
No comments:
Post a Comment