Day 2 and 3

I hadn’t made it quite 7 and a half miles into the trail on my first day but it was a start. I don’t like dealing with the hassle of cooking in the morning so I usually eat a cold breakfast of beef jerky and oatmeal creme pies (Hail Saban and Roll Tide!)  

The second day I had to face some actual steep climbs. This only reinforced how utterly out of shape I am. I’d hike 20 or 30 yards up the trail then lean on my trekking poles gasping for air and guzzling down water. It didn’t help that I still hadn’t seen the sun since I started hiking. But it was kind of fun listening to Prince’s Purple Rain as I hiked in the rain. Before the worst of the climbs that day I ran into my first bit of trail magic. There in Cooper Gap someone had parked an army water tank so we could top up our water before the punishing climb.

That second day I made it to Justus Creek. This was another campsite with tent pads. This place had water and while it was still raining it had slowed quite a bit. I got my tent set up, got everything inside, and then the bottom just fell out. It rained pretty well for the rest of the evening. I ate a cold dinner that night because I didn’t feel like cooking in a downpour. I was so exhausted I forgot to hang a bear bag. Bad, I know. Luckily that lapse in judgment didn’t bite me in the ass. I think I may have had a little help from the Army Rangers training in the area. See, sometime after dark they decided to have a full on fire fight with machine guns and mortars. I doubt there was any wildlife left that hadn’t fled the county.  

The next morning I ended up hiking with a guy named Tuck from Dallas. It was a nice break in the solitude to have a conversation while hiking. I made it all the way to Lance Creek that day where three hikers were kind enough to let me share their space. I was able to see the sun that day finally for all of 20 seconds. We got our things set up, did our chores, and the shot the shit as we cooked and ate dinner. We shared stories of our experiences on the trail. It was nice and I was finally feeling like a real hiker. After I got dinner cleaned up the bottom dropped out. I hunkered down in my tent while an impressive lightning storm raged outside. I enjoyed being in my tent that evening. I put on my headlamp and read while the storm continued outside. There was something oddly cozy about it. After the rain finished the wind came. And when I say wind it felt like the whole of the north wind was piling through that valley. And the wind brought the cold. But it also brought the sun.