We head back down for another long section of three weeks. The truck is parked at Angel's Rest in Pearisburg. HB Shuttles picked us up and 30 minutes later we are at the trailhead. Before we get on the trail proper, I twist my ankle on a loose rock covered in some deep leaves. I am shaking it off and slowly rolling it in a circle to make sure I will be able to hike, when GG starts south across the bridge.
"Hey! You are going the wrong way!" I call out. She stops and disagrees with me, but I just stand there looking at her while she gets out her navigation. She realizes her error and comes back towards me, and we head north.
There is a threat of heavy rain this afternoon, but right now the weather is lovely. 75F degrees and overcast, so no sunscreen required in the big green tunnel!
Just two miles after starting out, we take the side trail to Dismal Falls and enjoy a snack at the edge of a pool on the upper side of the small cascade. With the recent rain this week, and all the trees leafed out in summery splendor, the falls are anything but dismal. The falls aren't spectacularly big, but are beautiful to behold, nonetheless. The stream is about 40 feet wide, and the water falls about 15 feet into an idyllic swimming hole, that I imagine will be packed with hikers later in the season, on a hot day. I am perched on a rock on the edge of the stream and daydream while munching on a Luna bar, but I am brought back to reality by the sight of a long snake skimming across the pool, its body moving left and right on the top of the water.
We pull out our pack covers, and I put my raincoat in the outside pocket of my pack before we depart the falls, knowing we will probably get rain before we get to our stopping point tonight: a shelter 6 miles away.
The pictures of Dismal Falls are the last ones I take today, because the rain starts shortly after. At the last minute, I brought my hiking umbrella, and I am thrilled to be under its protection right now. My feelings about using an umbrella while hiking are mixed. This section of trail is wide, and I can navigate easily with the umbrella deployed. On a windy mountain top or in areas of thick rhododendron where tree branches grab at passersby on the trail, the umbrella is worthless, if not a downright nuisance.
Two miles north of Dismal Falls, I pass by a blue-blazed side trail with a sign that indicates a campsite. I refer to the FarOut app to see that it's a short trail that reconnects to the AT in about a half mile. Thirty minutes later, the rain is coming down in sheets as I cross a small footbridge over a creek. I have my head down when the trail turns sharply to the left and then abruptly end in tall grass. I look up to see that I am on a blue-blazed trail and not the white-blazed AT. I turn around to see the AT turned to the right, but with my head down I didn't see the divergence of the two trails.
I hike up the AT about 50 yards, then realize that if I took a wrong turn, GG most certainly would do the same. I am walking back towards the intersection when GG crosses the foot bridge with her head down and walks immediately to her left. I yell at her, but between having her earbuds in and the pouring rain, she doesn't hear me. I whistle by putting the first two fingers of each hand in my mouth, which is rather piercing, but to no avail. By this time, I have dropped my pack, and I am running full tilt toward the grassy campsite, but she is gone!
I am standing in the deluge looking around the grassy area wondering where on earth she could have gone to! It's like she vanished in thin air. I can barely make out the blue blaze on the other side of the open area, but it's far enough away that I am sure I would have seen her reentering the woods by the time I ran into the clearing. The grass in other directions is tall and none of it looks newly trod upon. I am dumbfounded and decide to retreat back to my pack to figure out what to do. Maybe she made it to the blue blaze trail, and she will make a big circle and reemerge onto the AT one mile back. If so, I should see her in about an hour. But what if she comes out on the AT and heads to the right. Will she realize her mistake when she passes Dismal Falls? Or the bridge?! Remembering Smoky Mountains, when she walked an additional 6 miles over a mountain in a terrible storm without realizing where she was, I am both frustrated and deflated.
I turn on my mobile service and I'm unsurprised to see I have no service. I think I will leave my pack here in case she somehow returns, and I walk back down the trail until I find service. Unbelievably, I only walk a few hundred yards before I get a couple bars. I call her phone and get her voicemail, which is to be expected. I leave a voice message and then text her. I tell her to turn on her InReach and I will send her my location. I tried to teach her the ins and outs of the device while we were in the Highlands, but I don't think she really paid attention; she primarily uses it so her husband can track her location while she is on the trail.
The first rule of survival for someone who finds themselves lost is to stop, because by continuing on your course you could get farther away from the trail. The first rule for a group who finds someone is lost is to stop and retrace your steps. I know where GG was last seen, and I know she probably doesn't even know she is lost.
I'm standing on the side of the trail under my umbrella when a hiker comes up the trail. I ask him if he saw a short older lady in a skirt with long braids. He didn't, but we exchange small talk. His name is Seguaro, and he is thru hiking. We talk about the challenging weather of the Grayson Highlands this time of year, and his plans for Trail Days in a couple weeks. We talk for some time about where we come from and the merits of different water filtration systems. We talk for almost 20 minutes in the rain. He is doing 21 miles today to Woods Hole, so he says goodbye so he can make some miles.
Over the next 30 minutes, two couples, a single hiker, and a family pass by in both directions, and I inquire if they have seen GG. Thankfully she is easy to distinguish from lots of other hikers. They state they haven't seen anyone matching her description but promise to look out for her. I am getting ready to pull out my tarp and set up here for the night, when lo and behold she is coming up the AT from the south with another hiker. She is flustered and has some scratches on her legs and a bloody shin.
She apparently wandered on a game trail to the west and right of the clearing, completely off the blue-blaze trail. She realized her mistake when she reached a road. She turned around and walked due east and ended up bushwhacking and had to cross a stream to return to the trail emerging about a half mile south of where she turned off. Disoriented to which direction was north and south, a hiker passing by was able to point her in the right direction.
We stay close together for the remainder of the hike, and I am so grateful we found each other when we did, because shortly after the sky opens up with a crazy thunderstorm for the next mile. We arrive at the shelter a couple miles later, just as the rain winds down to a sprinkle.
One young man is already set up in the shelter, where GG elects to spend the night. I had enough of shelters with our hike through The Highlands, and plan on hammocking every night when I am not in town, regardless of weather. I set up camp in front of the shelter, filter water, and prepare dinner at the picnic table when another hiker arrives.
He is gregarious and seems nice enough, but as we all chat, I decide he is quite obnoxious. He is espousing his political and religious views while I try to redirect the one-sided conversation back to small talk. I say goodnight, telling GG to enjoy her stay in the shelter with a wink. I can tell she is regretting her decision to stay in the shelter! I know she will have her earplugs in and the sleeping bag over her head before I get to my hammock!
Today's Stats: 8 miles, 1100 feet gain
Trip Stats: 618 miles, 149K feet gain
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