My first excursion to Springer Mountain (southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail) nearly ended in disaster.
Well...that's a bit of an exaggeration. I was 85% sure everything was going to be fine, but the remaining 15% was disaster. Like, all out survival mode.
Brudda and I got up late this morning to go hiking. We drove down to Georgia for the weekend and today was to be our last day of outdoor fun. After hiking up Springer mountain, running into some South-Bounders (all the way from Maine!) enjoying their victory along the way, and then heading down the Benton Mackeye trail to loop around back to the parking lot....well...that's when things got tricky.
After a frustrating, never ending descent towards a road we were starting to believe didn't exist, I ended up turning my ankle just after we made the decision to hike the rest of the 1.5 miles on the other side of the road we finally found.
Brudda was getting pretty worn out (we hadn't been out hiking in a long time) and my near boundless energy was the only thing that kept me from falling over in pain as my ankle started to swell. Brudda sent me on ahead with his car keys because the sun was beginning to set. I had hoped we would make it back to the car before then.
I was starting to get nervous as I walked ahead (I have a naturally fast gait) - I like to have contingency plans and when I come up with one it usually takes over. Just a bit.
"Okay I still haven't met the parking lot...well I guess I could find where the AT meets back up with the BMT and wait for Brudda there and then head back together since it'll be dark out by then....but maybe I'm LOST. And I don't know where I am and Brudda has the map. Oh, here's the AT sign...I must have to go this way...wait why am I still walking? I'm lost. I'm DEFINITELY lost. Okay. If I stay on the trail I'll be good - I can even stay here all night and at daybreak I can find my way to the road. I have my sweatshirt and some food and water. But what about Brudda? What if he comes looking for me? What if something happened to him? WHAT IF AN ARMY OF BEARS HAVE AMBUSHED HIM?"
Then I came to the road.
"Well, I'm on a road now. Better go right, I bet the parking lot is like right there. Wait, where is it? Shit, the sun is setting. It's dark out now. I better run."
I ran about a mile down this gravel mountain road in the backwoods of the North Georgia mountains before I figured out I should have taken a left. I then walked as fast as I could back up the road UPHILL and went about .5 mile from where I met the road originally to the - finally - parking lot.
"Well shit. It's dark out. Really dark. Brudda has his headlamp but...I know! I better take the car and drive it to where I met the road. Then I'll backtrack with the spare water (that was in the car) and find him and walk out with him."
I was getting really upset at this point. I've never hiked in the dark alone, let alone in an unfamiliar area filled with large territorial animals and lots of things to fall on or off of. Overreacting? Yeah probably. But better to be worried and serious than be found lying in a ditch the next morning, I've never said but should probably say because it's good common sense dammit.
So there I am, about hysterical enough to drive the car off the side of the mountain (nt rly). At this point it is pitch black out, my ankle really hurts (but I could still run on it, so not horribly hurt). I was able to use my phone as a flashlight but the battery was dying.
"Brudda's probably got two broken legs and a raccoon gnawing on him as he lies helplessly in the stream (I get E.T. mixed up with reality a lot.). I must get to him!"
So I run. And I call for him. Five times. The fifth time, as I'm near tears and have already passed the AT/BMT intersection (where I notice a suspicious 4th path that one could take)...
"WHAAAT?"
Well then I calmed the fuck down. Sure enough, Brudda was nearing the last incline, using his trusty headlamp like a champ. And I felt like an idiot. I can't even convey the frantic panic I felt (but I kept my head and I guess if there was a real emergency then I probably did the right things...so there's that I guess.)
I ran to him and hugged him and spewed out an incomprehensible "IGOTLOSTANDTOOKTHEWRONGTRAILANDIGOTLOSTANDWENTTHEWRONGWAYANDIWASSCAREDBECAUSEITWASDARKANDIDIDN'TKNOWWHEREYOUWEREANDWESHOULDUSETHEBUDDYSYSTEMBECAUSEIT'SSODARKANDTHEREMIGHTBEBEARSORCOUGARSMAYBEORSERIALKILLERS"
Welp. So the rest of the story is I hike with him a ways, we discover I hiked at least an extra mile more than I need to, and I go get the car and bring it back to the parking lot. Everyone was found and we kicked that trails ass.
Also I found a lot of milky quartz.
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