Teenage Bear is Unbothered by Hikers

I woke up at 7 am feeling tired and not very well rested. I woke up last night at 4 am and didn’t see Underdog in the room and stayed up for a bit wondering if he was ok. He came out of the bathroom 20 min later and told me he had fallen asleep on the bathroom floor after one too many drinks, and wasn’t sure what time he’d gotten back. That disruption along with the later bedtime did not help things this morning, but I got going quickly since our shuttle back to trail was scheduled for 8 am. 

Once I was packed I headed downstairs to check out the continental breakfast and was really impressed by the spread! They had pancakes, waffles, bread and lots of toppings, a few cereal options and yogurt in the fridge. They also had granola bars and cookies. I grabbed a bunch of stuff and made a coffee. Underdog was super hungover and wasn’t feeling great, but he took some food too. When we got outside Bill from Bear paw taxi was already waiting.

Breakfast haul

We loaded up quickly and got going. Underdog was nauseous and asked to get out of the car pretty early on. We stopped at a gas station right before the town exit, and I suggested that Underdog stay in town if he really wasn’t feeling good. He said he was fine though so we continued on. 

It was raining again when we got to Newfound Gap. I visited the bathroom for the road and then set off. Right out of the gate there was a climb to start with and it felt really challenging. I was feeling tired and the climb was steep at times. Underdog was following behind me so I tried picking up the pace. He said he was fine following my pace but after about 30 minutes I told him to get ahead of me. I was really not in the mood of hiking around other people this morning and felt like I was slowing him down. 

I love the foggy views

I got to the Ice water spring shelter and took a second breakfast break. There was a middle aged couple who were really nice named Elon and Tracey. I had a feeling they were Jewish and asked and I was correct! We had lots to talk about and they would be at the shelter I was heading to tonight as well. 

I continued hiking and could not get into a groove today. The miles were coming really slowly and I felt really tired. Toward the afternoon my feet started hurting and it was hard not to focus on that. I was running low on water and had to conserve until the next source which didn’t help things.

The sun started burning away some of the clouds

A little before 3 I caught up to Elon and Tracey and enjoyed hiking with them until the water source. Elon is in the process of section hiking his triple crown so he had lots of experience thru-hiking and helpful tips to share. He’s already completed the PCT and does five hundred miles of the AT and CDT each summer. After he gets off the AT this summer he’ll be doing the Wyoming section of the CDT. This was the first time Tracey has joined him for longer than a week and they’re finishing out a month on the trail before she goes home and he continues. 

We made it to the water source and Elon pointed out that I had been closing my cnoc the wrong way which was simultaneously mind-blowing and also made me feel so stupid that I hadn’t realized until now. The slider moved so much easier when the bag was folded correctly. I had planned to stop for a bit of a late lunch but got distracted chatting and filtering water, and wanted to continue hiking with them when they were ready to move on.

The trail was mostly downhill to start and with a little over 5.2 miles left to the day I was eager to finish strong. I led the way and started off still hiking and chatting with Elon and Tracey but eventually going fast on the downhills beckoned and I pulled ahead. The downhill was short lived though and the trail started a gradual ascent that slowed me down. 

I stopped for a quick snack to boost my energy and continued on. My feet were really hurting and I was feeling anxious to get to the shelter. After the first little climb the trail leveled out a bit and I started doing math to figure out how fast I needed to go to get to the shelter by a certain time. I was determined to not let the last climb slow me down and decided I would go as fast as physically possible. 

I passed Bearbait and Cyborg right before the start of the last climb but I was determined to meet my goal and said a quick hi and raced up the hill. I was practically cursing out the trail as I climbed, feeling my chest burn but knowing the faster I went the faster I would be done. The frustration from the day really fueled me and I funneled all that energy into moving quickly. 

New flower unlocked

Just as I was finishing the climb and still racing from all the emotions, I was startled into slowing down by the sight of a bear on the trail. It kind of snapped me back into myself and reminded me that all the negative emotions were short lived and I truly love being out here. I could notice the beauty of the forest again and felt a peaceful energy. 

This bear wasn’t too big and wasn’t particularly interested in me. I called out to it and clacked my poles, but all it did when it noticed me was move a few feet off the trail into the forest. Still close enough that I wouldn’t want to walk past it. It pawed at a log searching for food. As I continued talking to it, it would look up, notice I was still there and then continue doing what it was doing. It had clearly seen humans before and was annoyed that one was bothering it. After a few minutes of asking him to leave, he begrudgingly ambled off deeper into the woods and I was able to pass by. 

I now had less than .7 miles to get to the shelter, mostly downhill, and had lost the urgency to get there exactly on time. I still moved quickly but without the angst from before and made it to the shelter just after 6:30. 

I was greeted by a whole shelter filled with thru-hikers, a number of which I hadn’t met yet. There was a British woman named Rambo who seemed cool, and it’s always exciting to meet another woman on trail. She and her trail buddy Big Angus had started way back in April, but their third Tramily member had convinced them to come with her to Texas and they ended up being stuck there for an entire month. It was a wild story that I didn’t fully understand. 

I was tired and moved slowly through my camp chores, but eventually got my dinner going. I made a ramen bomb for the first time; combining ramen and instant mashed potatoes. It was pretty good. Bearbait and Cyborg arrived about 30 minutes later and Cyborg was going on and on about how I flew by them. He decided my trail name should be Wonder Woman, which I was not a fan of for lots of the same reasons as his other trail name attempts. I tried explaining that I went so fast on the last climb because I had been moving so slowly all day but he wasn’t having it.

Elon and Tracey arrived and had seen a similar sounding bear at the same place on trail. They said he was a teenager that really didn’t want to move for them. It must have left and waited for me to pass by and just came back as soon as the coast was clear. I felt bad that the poor kid was always getting bothered by pesky humans. 

It took a bit longer to get set up and finished with my night, but eventually I was cozy in bed and excited to get an earlier night of sleep.