Camping on the trail
Trail Angel: Camping on the trail.
It was a dark and stormy night, well not really but many a good story starts that way. It was an autumn day and I would guess some time in October or early November. Leroy and I were on one of our weekend retreats to hike the Appalachian Trail somewhere in Maryland. We had been hiking on and off for the better part of three years then. We were hiking a section neither of us had before so it was all new territory. We had been just like good boy scouts and planned our trip ahead of time. Maps, Check, food, check, tent, check. We had our route mapped out. We would hike around 10 to 12 miles to a pre-planned camp site. We would start the hike Saturday morning, hike to a point, camp, then turn around on Sunday and be at Applebee’s by dinner time on the way home.
The day was great, the day started a little chilly but turned into a great fall day. We would walk and catch up on what’s new with each other. (Starting to sound like a love story, huh) The leaves on the trail were pretty dense so we had to rely on the trail markers for guidance. We reached our first planned rest stop and ate lunch. It was probably something like “cup-o-noodles” but believe me it was the best you ever had after a couple mile hike up hill. Yes it seems like you are always going uphill. Even if the trail map says the elevation is going down it still feels like up. It could be the 30 to 50 pounds on our backs. Yes we weren’t very good at conserving the weight in our pack till later trips. Those early trips we took a lot of comforts that we may now consider to be optional (Beer, optional??).
Back to my thrilling love story, strike that, manly mountain adventure. Anyway we finished lunch, cleaned up and set off for our final camp site for the night. Little did we know those “cup-o-noodles” must have given us the extra strength to push past our sore feet and make great time to our camp site (About two hours early)? It was around 4 pm we were about to start unpacking. This wasn’t the first and certainly not the last that we had underestimated our master of hiking the trail (Don’t laugh too hard). What we didn’t really notice was the first 4 hours of the morning we were hiking up the mountain, the last two we were walking across the top. Not a ton of elevation changes so the miles flew by.
Ok so its 4 o’clock, you’re on top of a mountain: do you (A) unpack and get comfortable or (B) Check out the map and go for the PA line? Of course you’re a man, go for the state line. So after not much thought and dwindling day light we set off for the “last” miles of our hike.
Well needless to say we didn’t make it too far. Both Leroy’s and my feet were getting blisters, the sun was setting and we couldn’t find the trail because of the light and the leaves hiding the path. We estimated at least a mile to go until the next official campground. We sat down and had to come up with an idea. We were too far away to make it back to the first site and we were too far away from the state line site.
We had to find a place soon to camp or we would be searching by flashlight.
We decided to start heading back towards the car and the original camp site. We would stop every 5 minutes and look around but it always seemed something was wrong. There were too many rocks, we were on a slope, we could be easily seen from the trail, and there was a giant black bear (You get the idea…No bear…that’s a joke). We made a decision; we would stop on the next bend, turn right and go 100 to 200 yards off the trail and camp. We both know that camping outside of approved campgrounds is prohibited but we were in a bind. We wandered off the trail and in the direction we were walking was a clearing. The sun was breaking through the trees and creating these beams of light that outlined the clearing. Not to sound too impressed with this scene but it appeared “heavenly”. Picture this; the trees standing tall, the color of the leaves, and the beams of sunset reaching the earth in front of you as a weary traveler. The light was amazing. Something a photo would never capture. We both instantly knew that was where we were to stay for the night.
It was one of those moments where I felt someone was watching over us. Our packs up against a rock wall and we find this leaf covered clearing on the top of a mountain. I think we both slept well that night. Not necessarily a trail angel (See definition on home page) but I definitely felt a guidance and will still give thanks for the site.
Jason Sawyer, Amateur Section Hiker