Date: 2014-05-01
From: Roanoke

To: Cove Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 25.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Big day. After two full days off the trail and a lot of fun it was time to get back at it. Thanks again to Mandy and Doug for all the amazing trail magic. Today is no exception. Mariposa and I were going to attempt our longest day - 32 miles! And with their help we could slack pack. Started a little late but had an awesome day pretty much paralleling the Blue Ridge Parkway. Not a bad day. No big uphills and with slack packs it's like you're carrying feathers! You don't really hike faster but it sure does feel better. We made it twenty miles before we had to exchange our packs for the real thing. And started late so we'll be getting our first night hike in. Kinda excited. Doug and Mandy show up with the packs and Dr Peppers (thanks!) but I notice something right away...the outside of my pack is oily! What is it with zeroing? You think you're going to start fresh but something always goes wrong. Looks like the pesto I bought and stored in the new Tupperware leaked. No!!!! Talk about animal magnets. Tried to clean it up, but seriously you could stand ten feet away and it still reeked. What am I going to do? About five miles in I made the choice to stay at the next shelter. I was going to have to hang my pack with the food and couldn't do it at midnight in the dark so hoped I could here and even clean it. Got to the shelter right when it was getting dark and rushed to eat and hang the bag and food as far from the shelter as possible. Odd that we were the only ones there. Mariposa had it set in her head to do the miles and night hike so she set off and I was all alone. I sleep in the shelters all the time, but being alone is seriously spooky. You're essentially the target. If there's a mouse there's only one person to harass. I got settled and tried to read my new book - My Life in France by Julia Child. So tired, and still I hiked 25 miles so went to bed. Here's where the fun begins. At some point I awake to hear footsteps out in the leaves. Not the trail area but the deep leaves. They make a certain soft sound when you step. These were slow steps. Thought it was a night hiker coming in late. A little relief actually but they never got closer. Always far away but not far enough for my liking. It lasted for a good ten hours. Well maybe ten minutes, but felt like ten hours. My heart was racing but what to do? Make noise and scare it away? Or does that draw it closer? It sounded so big. And even broke a branch at one point. Finally the sound seemed to fade and my heart slowed down and I think I may have even fallen asleep but was awaken again to it being much louder and now behind the shelter! Ugh, terrified. Why me alone?! I knew from the start this was a bear but just didn't want to admit it. I had emptied my entire pack to get away from the pesto and had my tent poles next to me - I thought I could use as a weapon and felt in the dark for them. The steps got closer and there it was...a bear, just coming around the other side of the shelter. It was time. I grabbed my poles and banged them in the shelter floor and it ran. That was it. One bit of noise and over. My first official bear. Awfully easy but hard to sleep.......I stared at the ceiling until morning.