Date: 2011-05-31
From: US 60

To: bald knob
Miles today: 2.3
Weather: broken clouds

Whelp, I¢m not exactly sure how to go about writing this post. I set out on Tuesday evening with the intention of making it to Waynesboro, VA by this weekend. However, this is not the case and I¢m sad to say that I¢m off the trail. It was for the best though, and Shark put it in a great way, ¢700 miles of hiking is far from a fail. Feel proud. You made it home Dorothy¢. I have no regrets from my overall trail experience and I do feel proud for how much I accomplished. I¢ve also discovered that bears are my one trail weakness.I got dropped off on Tuesday evening where the trail crosses over US 60 near Buena Vista, VA. The guys, Shark, Torch and Hardback, were a few days ahead of me and I planned on chasing them down before Waynesboro this weekend. I set off on the trail up Bald Mtn, and soon began to question my reasoning for being back on the trail. The heat and the bugs were intense. It was a long uphill climb and I eventually found a small campsite near the summit. I set my tent up and immediately dove inside with my pack to escape the bugs. It was crazy¢¦I¢ve never seen such intense swarms of biting gnats and flies. I watched the sun set from the safety of my tarptent screen, then got out to hang my food bag once the sun set and the bugs backed off a bit. This was my first time solo camping and I realized that I¢m not really a fan of it. I miss the camaraderie of the shelters or being with the guys. At 2am a bear came by and attempted to get my hung bear bag down. Being that the bag was hung from a tree 10ft from my tent, it was a rather scary experience and I didn¢t get much sleep the rest of the night. Lots of thinking time¢¦and I realized that maybe my trail time was up. Switching back and forth from ¢society¢ to the trail for the past few weeks has made getting back on the trail tougher each time. I have no regrets for getting off for 2 special weddings, but getting back on this time was especially tough. The bugs were out in full force and the heat was oppressive. I feel like I can handle the bugs and the heat and the hunger pretty well, but bears¢¦they¢re not really something that I had wanted to have to deal with, especially alone. At night. Maybe I¢m just being a ¢girl¢ or maybe I just realized that my trail time was up. Alone in a tent at night was not my idea of fun. At sunrise I packed up and headed back down the mountain, the first time I¢ve done any significant portion of the trial southbound, and was whisked back to ¢society¢ by my sister. I¢m certainly not done with hiking; the hills will always be calling me. I¢m planning on trying to meet up with Shark, Torch and Hardback next week as they head through Shenandoah National Park. But, even though my pack is still mostly packed up, it¢ll be staying at home and I¢ll be taking a day pack out with me. The trail will still be there, and my feet have more miles of walking to do, I just won¢t be following the path North with quite the same intention as before. I appreciate all the kind words and support that I¢ve received on here. There were many days when I¢d receive a post that would bring a smile to my face or words of encouragement that would make me stand up, put my pack on and climb the mountain in front of me. I¢ve learned that the only way up a mountain is to put one foot in front of the other. Life is what you make of it and every day can hold an adventure, sometimes you just have to keep moving through the tough stuff to find it. I wish happy hiking to all the hikers I¢ve met out on the trail and to the class of 2011¢¦just keep walking.