Day 3: Water Bugs

27 May 2016

Start: Manassas Shelter Tent Site

Destination:  Brook Camp

Trail Miles: 11.3

Total Trail Miles: 22.2

What a day!  This day had so much excitement in it, we don’t even know if it was reality or we experienced shared delusions…and no, we’re not eating shrooms out here. Last night Chaser, the 66 year old recent retiree, was the only one in the Manassas Shelter.  The rest of us pitched our tents nearby.  Earlier I came across an enormous black snack, harmless and welcomed in the shelter areas as they eat the mice.  I don’t mind snakes, especially ones that can’t or won’t kill me, but I’m not so keen on sleeping with them.  As Viki and I were sitting on the picnic table in front of the shelter we heard what we thought were birds in the shelter gutters and on the tin roof.  We kind of shook it off as that and went about our camp chores.

Being the only hiker in a shelter can be quite nice without the other smelly, snoring hiker pals, but it can also mean you’re a little more hyper alert to every sound.  The same “birds” were making those sounds at night while Chaser tried to sleep.  He eventually got up to look at them and there were two 4-5 foot black snakes in the shelter with him.  He removed them both with his trekking poles and laid back down.  Moments later, they both slivered back into the shelter right over top of his head!  They were apparently staking their claim on the territory and Chaser had to get up and pitch his tent in the middle of the night to get away from them.

We set off from Manassas for an 11.3 mile day.  It was the “hottest day on the trail” according to every thru-hiker we came across (more like the ones that flashed by us and briefly stopped to give us advice and words of encouragement).  But in the early morning it was a cool, beautiful breeze and the forest was alive with nature.  We left around 7:00AM and it was perfect.  About a mile into our hike I looked over after hearing a sound in the trees.  Viki said “holy shit, that’s the biggest fox I’ve ever seen!”…then, “wait, that’s a coyote!”…then “OMG, that’s a damn WOLF!”.  It made eye contact with us, I quickly looked down.  I heard somewhere you’re supposed to do that with wolves…heck what do I know.  I frantically searched my overloaded brain for the file that held the information on whether or not there are wolves in VA.  I could remember reading something, somewhere about the extirpation of the Gray Wolf from VA sometime in the early 1900s maybe, but it was so fast I couldn’t form my thoughts.

Anyway, it looked at us, for a few moments, in complete shock.  It was hunting and had no idea we were there!  I had time to take a picture, but was immobilized.  It loped away like a flash of light.  We had plenty of time to discuss it, and we both agreed that was no fox and no coyote.  It looked like a wolf!  And let me tell you naysayers, technology has it’s purpose.  And in this particular case, it helped me identify the mysterious, beautiful creature we saw.  It was a Coywolf!  Part Coyote, part Wolf, with a dash of husky in him.  It made sense why we couldn’t identify him, I mean besides the obvious fact that neither of us had ever been that close to a wolf to be able to identify one.  

Courtesy of CBS.com

The day grew hotter and hotter.  It was like the day before, only…hotter.  More muggy.  More, unwelcoming.  We decided to stop for a break to refuel our bodies.  Neither of us had any appetite to speak of, but tried to force some food down to get us up the next mountain.  As I made some peanut butter crackers, the bugs began swarming as they usually do.  I swat, they come back.  I swat, come back.  It’s like a fun little game of who can get back to the ear of the human the fastest. Well the winner of that little competition certainly took the prize.  Viki, who was back flat on a rock some distance away from me, looked at me like I was some town crier when I yelled at her that there was a bug in my ear.  I felt this little thing scurry RIGHT into my brain cavity.  Ok, it was probably just my eardrum, but have you ever HEARD little feet moving inside your head???  It’s completely unnerving and freakish.  Viki says, “well, shake your head”…um, thanks…but I tried that.

I began frantically shoving my fingers in my ear.  You know, in hindsight that may not have been the best course of action, but I was tired, desperate and grossed the hell out.  I finally begged her to get up and come look in my ear.  Reluctantly and skeptically, she grunted her way over to me and peered inside my ear.  She didn’t see anything.  I’m positive she thought I lost my mind on the side of that mountain.  Then she said she’d pour water in it.  Yes, please, I’m FREAKING out over here.  She poured some in.  Nothing.  She looked at me like I was a crazy person and tried it one more time…an eight legged insanely tiny little flying critter didn’t like the idea of drowning inside a human being and came moseying out of my EAR!   Viki grabbed it and “took care of it”.  I felt it’s legs moving around inside my head!  Viki finally believed me and said, “I’m so glad I could finally help you with something out here…”.  Haha!  Let’s just say I pondered leaving the trail for many hours after, never to return. 

After my harrowing experience, I thought the day was coming to a close.  Oh no, not to be.  It was a long day to come. 

Viki was still sick you see.  She was getting better, but we should have known not to push 11.3 miles when she was finally starting to feel better after the flu.  We did, but it wasn’t pretty.  It wasn’t graceful.  And it was a lot of damn work.  The reward for all that work was a small slice of heaven for a campsite.  It was on a brook.  More like a river (what’s the difference anyway?).  It was flat, surrounded by trees and a cross breeze that any over heated, exhausted human would die for.   Once set up, fed, and all our chores done (I’ll leave out the hysterical part about Viki trying to bathe in the ice cold river water), we both get on top of our sleeping bags.  I begin to write this blog, and Viki tries to lay motionless as possible to get over the days physical distress.

The sun is going down, the moon is rising and it’s high bear foraging time.  I’m typing away on my blog app and Viki squeals “Oh my goodness, Veronica, there is a bear!”.  No flipping way!  It’s not possible.  I’m too tired!  We already saw a wolf, hiked up two mountains, had a damn critter in my ear hole, and now a bear…in our camp?  For the next three moments we saw the big shadowy figure move to the brook, then who knows where.  But for the next hour, we sat motionless inside our tent, each of us poised against one of the windows in the tent.  Viki had my taser in one hand, her knife in the other.  I remembered something about being very loud if a bear attacks you, so I grab my whistle and my knife.  That’s right.  Defenders of the tent, ready for battle.  Almost one full hour we watched with ever cell in our body ready to be struck at any moment.  Viki whispers to me…”Google what to do if you’re attacked by a bear”.  Maybe my cell phone light wouldn’t attract it?  Maybe It will want our food bags hanging 100 feet away from us?  Maybe it can’t smell or hear us in this huge tent?  Maybe…it took a drink of water and went away?  Yes, that’s what it did, about 30 seconds into our encounter.  And one hour later, we were still battle station ready.

I’m not sure I’d ever been so tired in my life.  Not in Afghanistan.  Not working seven days a week, 12-16 hour days.  Not playing six tournament games in the FL summer heat.  Not ever.  Eventually, I slumped over, accepting either certain death by that friendly, non-aggressive black bear…or a long night of sleep ahead of me.  It was a long night of thankful and much needed sleep. 

Tomorrow we are set to get off the trail after 5.3 miles of the “Rollercoaster”…a laughably horrible part of the trail where you climb a mountain, come down a mountain, climb up, go down.  It’s well known in the hiker community.  But usually people who hike it have already hiked about 1000 miles or so.  

Happy Trails!

Oh, and Viki’s trail name should be Water Bug.  We both drank at least a gallon, but that girl bathed in about 14 gallons on top of that.