Date: 2003-04-20
From: Creatures great & Small and falling down laughing

To: Creatures great & small and falling down laughing
Miles today: 0.0

Every hiker falls at one time or another and has an encounter with one of creature or another at sometime. It is natural to life on the trail. And so, of Smoothie, Fly, Sonic and Guana we have all fallen at least once. For me, it has been several times. However, if a hiker falls in the woods and no one sees it, does it really matter? Only if there are scars to show and if they confess to having done so. I mean face it, no one likes for a small tree branch, pebble or root to have gotten the better of them. But when it happens that you fall in front of several witnesses, you have got to put up not only with the scratches and bruises of the body but those of the ego. And so it was that I was the first in our foursome to face public humiliation at the end of a long day's hike. I have no idea how I fell all I know is it was an ugly dowhill face plant. Yep, face first on a narrow path with a steep drop off. It's a miracle I landed on the path. It all happened so quickly and yet so slowly. At first you realize that you are air-borne and your feet are no longer on the ground. As your face is heading towards the ground you feel your 30 pound backpack accelerating your fall and twisting you over so that you fall on your back stranded as an upside down turtle with arms and legs flailing. So I landed with a huge thud and kicking up a fair cloud of dust (so onlookers tell me). Next Smoothie and Fly are asking if I am alright, offering to help me up and offering me a snickers bar so I would feel better. Once they had done all that the laughter began erupting and I joined in with it, all the while refusing help since it may happen when I am alone on the trail and insisting I figure out how to get myself out of this position alone. So I released my pack straps and staggered to my feet to inspect my wounds. Scrapes on both legs, aching hip, scraped elbow, bruised ego and just covered with dirt. Guana, who was walking in front of me and heard the large "thud" had turned back to help me too. By the time I brushed myself off we were all having a good laugh. I knew that though today was my day...they would have theirs. Perhaps not as dramatic as mine, but someday....The next day Smoothie got hers as she slid into a stream drenching both her boots. Again, laughter erupted once we knew she was okay. We tried an old camp trick and wrapped her feet in ziplocks so her last pair of dry socks would not get wet from her soaked boots. We called her "Ziplock" for the day and she seemed no worse for the wear. The following day Fly and Guana admitted to falls or blunders with no witnesses around. It seems Fly slipped off the side of a trail and landed on his posterior whereas Guana became tangled in a vine which made her do a 8 step scramble to keep her balance. Ah, Mother Nature has a sense of humor.As spring awakes, so do the forest animals. As Guana and I traveled up Roan Mountain, I got to see a wild bunny. Guana, who usually travels ahead of me, must have scared the poor thing which sat breathing hard and staring at me. I too was breathing hard from pumping up the 6,200 plus Mountain and couldn't move. So we just sat there breathing hard and looking at each other until we caught our breaths. Snakes are making their way to sun in the woods and we have seen at least four to date. Three were seen from afar and one took to sunning himself right on the trail and was discovered by Smoothie at close range. A bear has also been spotted, though not by us. We prefer spotting more domestic creatures like the heard we encountered while climbing a mountain known as Big Hump Mountain. While descending the first mountain known as Little Hump Mountain, we noticed some shadows crossing over Big Hump Mountain and surmised it was cows. As some of the trail runs near private property we figured they were fenced in. So up we went to Big Hump Mountain. We were near the top when the trail diverted us into the cow pasture where a heard of 20 or more cows are. Fly offered to go ahead and scout out if it was safe. He crossed with no trouble, so off Smoothie, Guana and I set. Of course, if I had seen the cows before I set foot on the path I would have thought twice. As we neared them it became evident that they were some sort of TEXAS LONGHORNS. The size of the horns spanned five feet or more. What really concerned us, besides the fact that they were much larger and taller than us, was that there were some young calves with them and we figured that the mothers would be protective. So we were concerned about the mothers until we saw the Grand-daddy Bull of them all. His horns spanned 6 feet and he had two large rings through each nostril. He was in the middle of the Appalachian Trail and showed no sign of moving. Guana pressed on followed by Smoothie and me. It was at a moment like this that Smoothie became aware that her shirt was kind of Red. Once she said that, I realized that my whole backpack was red. Oh, great, why not put a target on my back?! If I could have ran, I may have. It was not fear that held me back, but the fact that we were going up a steep hill. We got closer and closer to the big bull who still showed no sign of movement. We held our breaths and as we were within four feet of the big bull, he reluctantly moved from the path. Since I was the last one, I was still concerned of being gouged in the back. All the while Fly was watching the event unfold. When we arrived to where he was, he told us that we got a lot closer to those cows than he had. So now he tells us!!! Anyhow, the unexpected adventures along the trail are some of the most interesting. I am sure there will be more to come. SONIC