As I mentioned in my last post I wanted to try out this trash bag tick another thru hiker told me about. You essentially stick your feet in a trash bag and pull it up around you as high as it will go and then slip into your sleeping bag. It’s supposed to keep you warm at night. So I tried it.

I remember drifting off to sleep feeling very cozy and warm. Several hours later while in a deep sleep I dreamt I was lying on my back on the ground. All of a sudden an electrical shock vibrated throughout my entire body and an invisible force pulled me up off the ground and threw me up in air. At that time I woke up. I felt ice cold sweat dripping down my legs and I was shivering. I quickly kicked the trash bag off of me and wiped my legs off and got back into my sleeping bag. Being wet and cold is a dangerous recipe for hyperthermia. So I’m glad I was woken up.

Now if you’re into science, you’d say while in my sleep, I simply got cold from the icy sweat, my body shivered, which woke me up. If you’re a religious person, you might say God or an angel visited me, and woke me up. Because had I not woken up, and I continued to sweat, and get wet, in below freezing temps, I could have frozen to death. Which do you think it was?

I managed to fall back to sleep quickly and through the rest of the night with no other issues. I awoke, yes, once again, cold. I stumbled out of my tent before the sun had risen to use the bathroom. Only to walk almost straight into a deer grazing just outside of my tent. I don’t know who was more scared— me or the deer. He certainly bounced off into the woods pretty quickly. But perhaps that was only because he could move a lot faster than I could— me being half asleep and all.

I squirted some cold water into an oatmeal packet, waited a few minutes and dug in. Hmmm…cold uncooked oatmeal. Breakfast of champions I thought. I packed my stuff headed down to the shelter where a few people were gathered.

The guys I passed just before the last few hills to the shelter the night before were eating breakfast and packing. They asked me my age and pack weight. I told them and asked why? Apparently I flew up the hills ahead of them so much quicker than they did. Surely I was younger than them and had a much lighter pack, right? Well that might have been the case, and or I’m finally getting my “trail legs”. That’s when you’ve been hiking for so long you’re legs get stronger and more conditioned for hiking faster and longer so you can do more miles each day.

I hopped on the trail and started my hike for the day. About mod-day I came to a small waterfall where 3 section hikers were taking a break and refilling their water bottles. I stopped and chatted with them for a while. They were out for the week hiking and camping. They said I could go ahead of them so I did. I found my way to a dirt road. I hadn’t made plans for a pick up yet so I tried to call few shuttle drivers for a lift. No dice.

The 3 hikers caught up with me. I must have looked lost as one of them asked if I was hitch hiking. I stuck my thumb out and “said I am if you pick up hitch hikers.” We exchanged smiles and she asked me where I was headed. I told her and she said that wasn’t too far out of their way and they’d be happy to give me a lift. I was ecstatic! The shuttle companies are hard to work with and charge way too much money too. She told me how one of them gotten hurt one time while hiking and someone helped them out. So they were returning the favor. My lucky day, I thought. They told me I could hike ahead and they’d meet up with me at the hostel where their car was. So I hiked on.

One of them, Irish Daisy, caught up with me. We hiked and talked for severe hours. We thought we had a 400 foot climb and that was it. It turned out to be several more hills and definitely more than a few hundred feet. It was really hot out. We stopped and got some water and ate a snack and rested in the shade for a bit.

We got back on the trail and came across some tombstones in the woods. It was strange because we were in the middle of nowhere. No houses, no roads, no nothing. We took a few photos and headed down the hill on our final descent before the hostel.

As we approached the hostel there a couple of guys sitting outside on a park bench. One of them yells out “Wolvie!?” I laughed and replied “yes?” Embarrassed As I didn’t know who the guy was. He said “it’s Jack, aka California Surfer Dude. We met a few weeks back on the trail.” Ah yes I remembered him. He didn’t have a trail name when I met him before. We found some tent poles on the trail and he chased down a British lady to return them to her. He did look like a surfer dude from California. Toby was there too. A guy from the UK I tented next to in the snow several nights ago. We never saw each other as it was dark out. He remembered my name though. We hung out and chatted for a bit until the other 2 section hikers came down the hill.

“Magellan” arrived next. We were in Hot Springs, NC. The trail literally goes right through the town. A store was close by so we went to grab some drinks and snacks. When we returned to the hostel, the 3rd hiker in their party “Not Yet” was there. We loaded our stuff in her car and hopped in. We headed down several windy scenic backroads roads through the country. It was beautiful. The ladies said they didn’t mind at all— this got them off their normal routes in Hot Springs, which they visited quite a few times.

We arrived at our destination and I offered them money for the ride. They wouldn’t take it. I thanked them once again and they were on their way. I got in, showered and hit the sack. Another long and eventful day. It’s amazing how many wonderful, kind people you meet in the woods. Who knows how long it would have taken me to get a ride, and how much money it would have cost me. These complete staggers saved me both money and time, and I enjoyed their company thoroughly.

#BeKind
#SomethingAboutMary
#HikeForHope
https://fundraise.showhope.org/hikeforhope