We woke up and broke camp in the rain. I shared my coffee with The Guy (even though when he asked me if I had some extra I lied and said I did not) and he drank his from a cooking pot. Mr Grumpy rolled out of his tent and immediately started to pile his things into the fire pit. He was, honest to God, trying to set fire to his things. I begged him not to…we still had 10 miles ahead of us until their ride was picking them up. Anything could happen! But he was set on watching it all burn and putting his days on the trail behind him. Fortunately, he wasn’t able to light a fire in the soggy conditions, so we convinced him to leave his things in the shelter for some hiker who might need them. I was sort of irritated that Mr Grumpy was being so shortsighted but whatever…we all set out to make it to Deep Gap, about 8 miles away, where The Guys had a pick-up arranged and I was planning to hike out and hitch into town.
We headed out of camp. It was a wet morning but the terrain was mild and followed the ridge on the top of the mountains. I was in “a mood” for whatever reason. I kept thinking about my plan of coming out on the trail alone and moving at my own pace…then I met these two and had spent the couple of days of my solitude with them. And The Guy never stopped talking! He asked questions. He told stories. He psychoanalyzed me. I found myself increasingly irritated with their presence on my last day “alone” in the wood. At one point I moved out into the lead of our group and then I just took off. I hiked as if someone were chasing me. I didn’t take break. I didn’t look back. For the next 2-3 hours I hiked with my heart rate pinned at max and with zero intentions of ever seeing those two again. I looked back…no sign. I listened…no sign. I would never see those two again and I had my trail back. I was alone. I needed no one. I was self-sufficient. And then…I stopped.
I stopped dead in my tracks. I stood there for 30 minutes waiting. Nothing. I hiked a bit further and wrote a note in the dirt. “Hi.” I hiked a bit further and stopped to change my socks and eat something. Another 20 minutes and nothing. I continued and as I passed the last shelter (just a mile or so from the road where The Guys would be picked up), I heard voices. I stopped and stood in the middle of the trail. I wrote more notes in the dirt. I listened for the voices. Two people emerged from the shelter and said hi as they passed me. My heart sank. I had left them and it was an awful thing to do…to never even say goodbye. I hated myself.
I slowly started off again and then I heard it…The Guy. He literally NEVER stopped talking! I waited excitedly as they rounded the bend. “I never thought we would see you again!” The Guy said as he hiked by. I fell in behind them and followed them to the spot on the trail where USFS 71 intersected the trail. Their ride was waiting for them. We were done.
The Guys put their things into the car and we said goodbye. Their friend snapped a photo. They asked me…a hundred times…if I needed a ride into town. I said no. I was going to be picked up but not until 7pm that night. It was noon. I might as well hike the 7 miles out of the forest service road to the main road. The Guys gave me their email addresses so we could stay in touch. As they drove out of sight up the gravel road I looked at the card in my hand. Then, I tore it into pieces.
I spent the next 2.5 hours hiking up the gravel road. I had no idea where this forest service road came out. My plan was to get to a main road and then figure out where I was and where I needed to be picked up or to hitch (or hike) into the nearest town. As I walked the skies grew dark…another thunderstorm. When I finally emerged from the forest service road it dumped me out directly onto a highway. I checked my phone…it was almost dead and had no service. I checked my personal locator device…it was completely dead. Ok…maybe I should have taken that ride??? I walked down the highway one direction for about half a mile. Nothing. I hiked back and on the other way for another half a mile. I saw a sign that read Hwy 64 but nothing telling me which direction would take me to the nearest town. It started to rain harder. I was out of energy. Out of food. Out of power. And I had no idea where I was. Oh, and now it was raining. Grrrrr.
I hiked back to the spot where the forest service hit the highway and I sat down on the road. I was holding my poncho over my head when a small read pickup truck pulled up (coming from the direction of the forest service road) and the guy driving stuck his head out the window.
“Are ya tired?” he asked. I said I was…it had been a long day. He asked if I needed a ride and I said no…but asked if he could point me in the direction of Franklin. He pointed in the opposite director to what I had thought. “Are you heading to Franklin?” I asked…and just then a woman jumped out of the passenger side and came over and grabbed my pack. She tossed it in the back of the truck. I can only remember that she wasn’t wearing shoes. And she was blonde. I instinctively chased my pack into the back of the truck. It was just that…an instinct, not a decision. I jumped in and the truck took off up the highway. I was hungry. I was tired. I was freezing. I was wet. And now things just got worse.
It occurred to me that I maybe had never ridden in the back of a pickup truck. It was novel at first. I actually snapped a quick photo. But then with every bump, I came off the bed of the truck and I envisioned my body flying through the air at 70 mph. I tried to get up toward the cab of the truck but there was too much stuff in the bed and I was trapped right up against the tailgate. I reached up and pounded on the back window. It slid open and revealed a third person…quite possibly the most frightening person I have ever seen…he opened the window and asked, “do you want a beer?” “Can you just let me out here?” I asked. “I am too scared. Can you please let me out?” He shut the window. The truck’s speed didn’t change. I started to think this might have been a really stupid decision. As the truck began up the next pass, it sputtered. The driver jerked the wheel to the side. I lost contact with the bed again and reached up and pounded on the glass. Once again, it slid open and I was face to face with Creepy. “Can you just let me out here?” I pled. The driver shouted something and Creepy translated. “We are just running out of gas. You’re fine.” The glass slid shut once again and I put my head down and I cried. I cried for 10 minutes and I just kept thinking over and over that I hoped my girls knew how much I loved them and that I only did things like this to inspire them someday…to do things they wanted to do even if it meant going without a safety net. I won’t say I prayed, but I chanted my love into the universe. I felt something on my hand and I looked up to see Creepy trying to shove a cheese stick into my hand (you know, the ones that they sell for a kids lunch or something). I shook my head. “Can I just get out?” He slammed the glass shut and I put my head back down.
Another five minutes probably passed before I felt the truck change speeds. I looked up and could see a traffic light up ahead. I looked off to the left and saw a BP gas station. I knocked on the window and it opened. “I need to get out here!” I said. “Please!!!” The woman spoke up this time, “You said you wanted to go to Franklin.” “No, here is perfect. Please can you just let me out?” I gathered my things, preparing myself to jump. “You are fine,” she said, “you’re with us now.”
Just then the driver pulled into the turning lane. “I need gas anyway,” he said. Oh THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. He pulled into the gas station and I jumped out…my legs and arms trembling from fatigue, cold and fear.
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