It has been raining since my second day on the trail. It makes everything slippery or muddy, which is also slippery. Today I was shooting for Raven Rock Shelter. I got a late start because 1) I need to get more experience at breaking down camp (definitely going to happen) and 2) I had a killer headache. Figured out I was probably dehydrated and hungry so drank a lot of water and ate an entire package of precooked bacon (don’t judge me). I almost immediately felt better.

Hiking today was treacherous. I had to make it up and down slippery rocks. It was scary and the photo is of the very mild section. Some of it I did by scooting down on my butt and some of it required going up on hands and feet.; kind of a commando crawl. it was slow going and I was nervous which made it slower. My number one goal on this trek is “Don’t get injured!”

I made it across the rocks and to a shelter half way to my goal (or so I thought) shared a lovely late lunch with Scout and Sam I Am, two people who stayed at the same shelter I did 2 nights ago. I also met Whataburger from El Paso and you guess it, she is going to Whataburger to celebrate when she gets home, hence her trail name and as a fellow Texan I totally identify with that! There was a gentleman from Germany, an older couple (late 70’s) and two brothers who were section hiking. It made for a pleasant lunch and all but Scout were staying the night at the shelter. I almost stayed due to the interesting company.

However I decided to press on. It was 4.9 miles that I started around 3pm and expected to complete by 5pm. I didn’t get to the shelter until almost 9pm. Those were some of the most grueling miles I have done on the trail so far. It was more slippery rocks and a lot of truly painful uphill. The last mile was an 600 foot altitude gain in half a mile – extremely steep. By the time I got there I was already beyond my exhaustion point but there was no where else to stop. In Maryland you are only allowed to camp at shelter’s and designated campsites. Scout the incredibly nice young man I met the day before waited for me at the last spring before the shelter because he thought it was too dangerous for me to climb out on the rocks (small cliff and the water was a trickling over the edge right in the center of all the wet rocks). He got me a full 3 liters, 6.6 extra pounds to carry. He climbed slowly with me for a little while, but then went ahead to get us both a spot at the shelter. Climbing up that last incline with all the extra weight was the first time I thought “I am not going to be able to do this. It is truly going to be more than I am physically capable of.” Luckily another hiking friend gave me the advice to just keep going even if you are only advancing 6 inches a step. When you are on an incline do not stop! So almost mindlessly I kept shuffling along.

Then a wonderful thing I saw a blue blaze (white blazes are for the AT, blue blazes are for side trials to shelters, water sources, overlooks, etc), I immediately turned left on to the blue blaze trail and starting looking for the shelter. By this time it was completely dark and I could not find the shelter. I had my flashlight out and could see nothing but trees. Trying not to panic, I yelled “Scout” “Anyone?” “Hello?” I got absolutely no response. I was so tired. I could feel panic rising. I was alone, in the dark, in the woods, I was lost, and too exhausted to go any further. On the verge of tears, I heard a voice in my head “more people die because of panic and poor decision making than anything else when in the wilderness. Get a grip on yourself!” I don’t know if this is really true, but it helped me calm down and make a better plan than just crying in the middle of the trail. I trudged back to the main AT trail and walked up and down about 30 steps in each direction. On my last pass I saw there was a second blue blaze path to the right that lead to the shelter. I got there and just put my head down on my pack. So tired I could sleep sitting up. I saw that Scout’s pack was there but I did not see Scout. So then I was worried that he was out looking for me because it had taken me so long (like over an hour) after him to get there. So I got up to go looking for him and sure enough I saw him looking for me with his flashlight on full blast to find me. It turns out that he came out on the main trail just about a minute or so after I took the wrong blue blazed trail. We just missed bumping into each other. He was really starting to worry and was coming to wake up the other hikers at the shelter to look for me. Such a nice guy and the best example of the hiker community.

To finish my day. I was so exhausted I forgot to brush my teeth and I slept in my clothes. A first for both of those things. I laid out my mattress and top quilt and laid down and was asleep instantly.

Oh and when I woke up the next morning, I realized I miscalculated and had walked 14 miles, not the 10 I planned! EDITED TO ADD: This is wrong. I transposed numbers in my log book and really hiked 8.6 miles this day, but I was still exhausted to my physical limit no matter what the mileage!