Date: 2010-08-24
From: Big Branch shelter

To: Minerva Hinchey shelter
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was one for the books. It's safe to say today was hands down one of my worst days on the trail. To set the scene, I woke up feeling like I was getting sick. I told Ripple and Sideways I felt like I was coming down with something but would see how I felt once I started hiking. Ripple left camp first and Sideways was still packing up when I left. Right after the shelter I got to a road and continued following white blazes down the road for some time. Several miles later it occurred to me that something may be wrong, but I was too far along to turn back and after all, I was still following white blazes. A couple more miles into it I realized it was very likely I'd taken that detour I thought I'd already avoided yesterday when I walked across the river. I'd hiked for hours by this point and I had to just keep going until I could find out where in the world I was. I ran into a group of section hikers that I'd seen yesterday and my worst fears were realized...I'd been walking south...for like 10ish miles. One of the guys told me I was close to Griffith Lake where there was a caretaker so I kept going in hopes that the caretaker could help me figure something out. When I got there I ran into some thru hikers I knew and explained sheepishly what I'd done. They'd come in on a blue blaze trail and mentioned there was a parking lot at the end of it about four miles away. The caretaker wasn't there and I couldn't get in touch with Ripple and Sideways to tell them what I'd done so I decided to hike the blue blaze trail to the parking lot and try to hitch up the trail so I wouldn't lose a day of hiking and my group. I figured I walked the miles- more miles actually- they just didn't happen to be the right ones. I will admit I cried several times througout this misadventure. I felt extremely helpless and frustrated. I finally made it to the end of the blue blaze trail and saw some friendly thru hiker faces, though I wound up way too close to where I'd started the previous day. I called a guy we'd met in Manchester, a past thru hiker named Odie, who ended up saving the day. He was still at work but when he got off he came and picked me up. I'd gotten a text from Ripple asking where I was- she and Sideways where concerned because I was missing and I'd mentioned I wasn't feeling great. I texted her back telling her I'd messed up but had figured out a plan and would meet them at the shelter we'd agreed on that morning. Odie drove me up the trail to a parking lot where I could hike north again and make it to the shelter before dark. At this point I thought all was well and though it'd been a terrible day, it was almost over and I could just crawl in my sleeping bag and start fresh tomorrow. I turned on my phone when we got to the parking lot and had two texts- one from Ripple (who obviously hadn't received my text explaining what'd happened) saying she'd stopped at a shelter three miles back south (damn!) and one from Sideways, who'd borrowed someone's phone, telling me he was going to hike south to look for me (shit!). I took off south, praying that when I got to the shelter Sideways would have decided against his plan and went to the shelter with Ripple. I tried texting and calling her a million times with no success. I'm feeling definitely sick by now and I cry yet again when I look up the trail and realize it's straight uphill. I hike as fast as I can and make it to the shelter right before dark. Ripple is there but Sideways isn't and Ripple has no idea where he is. Odie, bless him, texts me and says he's going to go to a few road crossings south to look for him and has sent notes down the trail for him to call him. I'm exhausted but can't rest because I feel awful that I worried them and caused Sideways to hike extra miles to look for me. Ripple and I sat there for a couple of hours working out a game plan to get us all back together and back on track. Just as we were about to call it a night and try to sleep, we see a head lamp coming up the trail to the shelter. It was Sideways! He was soaked and exhausted- who know how many miles either of us actually hiked today, but we were all there and all fine. This was truly a hellish experience and I am quite certain I will wake up sick tomorrow. But for now, all is well and I am going to crash hard.