Getting Started

The night was good. I slept well. Other than the Armadillo I thought was a bear rustling around did I ever really wake up at any point to listen. That was odd as I totally missed my midnight chance to relieve my bladder. Walking over to James and Chad conversing about this and that computer programming jargon I had never heard of, I picked up my food bag they had retrieved from high up in the tree. No bears this time. “Good morning fellas!” I stated with enthusiasm and I was very enthusiastic that I had not died from this or that during the night. Yes, I actually made it in the wild without all the comforts of home. I did it. I can do it. I had taken my new water filter from Lifestraw over and gazed at the standing water. “Seems like it is just fine,” James stated as he took a swig from his coffee. That was good. I was dependent upon this refill for my morning coffee and the short trek ahead to the staged water bucket. I walked over to the leave infested water puddle and filled up both bottles, proud of myself for not slipping on the rocks and falling in. I hate wet feet.

I made my way back over to the homestead. It was a weird spot where we chose to place our shelters. We had not come to a flat spot in several miles before we had come upon this one. We were strewn out over about fifty yards. I was the furthest away, mainly because John’s wife had advised me to stay as far away as I could if I wanted to get any sleep. Apparently, he has won all kinds of accolades for his world-renowned snoring. Also apparently, I had no placed my shelter as far away as it took to achieve silence as I had heard the ins and outs of the breathing man beast during the night. Fortunately, for me, it was not enough to bother or keep me awake. I was just fine.

I filled my JetBoil with water and fired up the stove. I was so ready for coffee and a hot meal for breakfast. Peaches and Cream Oatmeal sounds amazing. After a quick pour over of black goodness, I grab my chair and settle down for a minute of collection. I assume you have to collect before you can recollect (But then again, you know what happens when you assume). I think about the previous day. I think about the blistering pace. I feel the pain on the bottom outside spot on my left foot, but it is now feeling better. I am hoping the mountain slopes a different way today. I do not want that to get worse. I think about the new friends I have made. I have greatly enjoyed their company and look forward to this day. They have done this many more times that I have ever even thought about doing this, so I have taken in every word, action, piece of gear, and advice. I love how they have constantly proclaimed, “hike your own hike.” They were essentially telling me that they would not leave me, no matter how slow I was or how fast I ended up being. We were all in this together, no matter if we were separated during parts of the journey. I love that. I have prepared myself for this, but preparation and actually doing this are way far apart when it comes to reality.

Within minutes, I have everything laid out by my pack, ready for entrance and I am stuffing my tent into its tiny little stuff sack it calls home. Within a few more minutes, I am clicking the plastic clasps together on my Mystery Ranch Terraframe 65 and sitting it up in the fall leaves ready to go. Jon emerged from his tent. Apparently, I did not know that Jon was a late sleeper and known for being the last one up and the last one ready. The nickname “Gonzales” only applied to his rate of speed while on the trails. “You are packed up already? You’re pretty efficient!” James exclaimed as I made my way back over towards the fire. As I laughed, I proceeded to confess my previous statement to them about my fear of being a burden, and practicing to make perfect. I continued that I really enjoyed their company and wanted an invitation back on future endeavors. We all got a good laugh out of that as they all began to finish their coffee and pack up their own things, except Jon. He was just heating up his breakfast.

It was not long before we were slinging our packs on and heading east down the trail. We had about a mile to go to get to the highway. This was where we staged our bucket of water and charging station. I felt good. James had talked most of the day before about how difficult today would be, how tired and sore we would be. I was not looking forward to it, but it seemed as if the Advil had done the trick. My legs felt loose and ready for the day. There was a slight breeze and the sun show bright. I could not wait to see what today brought to us. It was going to be a good day.

The Trail

My pack did not feel as heavy today. I knew I had refilled all of my water (except for my bladder which was three Camelback bottles) even though we would reach our planted water bucket in a little over mile. I wanted to be able to hydrate as much as I wanted this morning without worrying about running out. We really had no idea if there would be any water to refill after that and dehydration was not an option. James had said multiple times the day before, “If you are tired today, just wait ’til tomorrow.” He was speaking of the shape our legs would be in after hiking several miles and not being in very good shape to begin with. I knew my legs would take a beating, but I had been preparing for this for several months walking on the treadmill with my weighted suit, and I believed I was up to the task. I had got out of my tent this morning preparing for the worst, but I felt good for some reason. I had taken a couple Advil and I am sure those helped but, in my mind, I was telling myself all those miles I had done on the treadmill for weeks and weeks had really paid off. “Take that James! All you do is sit and stare at a computer all day. I have been working my butt off preparing for such a time as this and I am killing it…” went through my mind as I traipsed down the Ozark Highlands Trail with confidence. With confidence that is, until my pad on my left foot starting bothering me again. When is the trail going to start leaning the other way? It seemed as if we had been going around this left edge of the mountain for and endless amount of time. I will be ok. Just slow down and “hike your hike.” I can do this.

The trail was a continuation of what we had experienced the day before, as it was not well traveled or maintained. We came across more of the rock wall formations that were very interesting to me. Deep caverns formed from what I guessed as rain runoffs from so many years. We jumped over large rocks and eased our way past other structures. James was way ahead of us and we just followed along as if we were two year olds holding their mothers hand through the aisles of Wal-Mart trusting him fully that we were heading in the right direction. It was not too long as Jon asked if we had seen any blazes in a while. We all looked around and saw none. James was at the bottom of a good hill and we were following after until we came to an abrupt stop. We did not want to take one more step than what we had to especially off trail. I pulled out my phone and looked on my AllTrails App to see if we were on the trail. We definitely had made a wrong turn about 200 yards back. Jon blew his emergency whistle and hollered for James to come back and join us along the trail. We could not see him but we could hear him rustling around in the leaves and knew he was out there somewhere. “We are off trail!” John bellowed toward his direction. “Coming!” he shouted. “Not really sure how that happened” he stated as he climbed back up the hill. We made our way back to the trail and away we went, all (but James) glad we did not go much further and have to climb back up that steep climb to get back on track.

Many of the leaves had fallen and covered the trail, but not enough to give you any views from around the ridges of mountains that surrounded us. Every now and then, there was a small opening, but nothing that made it worth stopping. We could hear vehicles on the highway. We were getting close. Soon, we were heading up onto the highway, waving to the Harley’s passing by as they enjoyed this beautiful curvy highway and the wonderful sunny day. The weather was perfect, with sun and a little breeze.

I read the sign as I walked by…”Moccasin Springs Trailhead” This was our water and charging stop. I was already soaked from the heat early in the day and was glad to sit my pack down on the trail and James and Jon retrieved the water bucket. I had downed two of my water bottles already. Not going to lie, I was ready for a break and we had just started.