#172 High Point Shelter to Wawayanda Shelter - Day 97: MM1340.6 - MM1364.6
It’s better you sacrifice your feet, and make it across safely, than trying to preserve them, slip, and your whole body, pack and all, become submerged, most likely resulting in injuries, or worse.
4-23-24
I had mixed feelings at first about stopping early after hiking only thirteen miles yesterday, but listening to my gut led me to the place I was supposed to be -Genius came into the shelter leading us into deep conversations both night and this morning.
He and I were supposed to cross paths.
Always listen to your gut and always trust the trail.
Leaving the comforts of the shelter for the comforts of drizzling rain, I splash out into the wet world, ready for a twenty-four-mile push beyond the Stairway to Heaven.
Crossing the small bridge across the stream I check on the couple in the tent across the creek. The floor of their tent is like a lake from last night’s long hard rain, but they are high and dry thanks to their thick air mattress.
The wilderness is captivating when wet. The colors are more vivid, especially when young in bloom. The sounds are clearer, echoing off the trees. The air is cleaner, purified by the falling rain. Consuming all your senses, causing you feel more aligned with the wilderness.
The creeks are out of their beds, deeper than they normally would be, moving rapidly.
I take a moment to throw soccer ball sized stones from a nearby boundary wall into the water, attempting to build a bridge across. Tossing each stone one foot beyond the previous hoping the crossing is a success and making a way for the next hiker.
Ironically, the boot-torturing rocks I had been cursing and attempting to avoid stepping on yesterday became hopeful steppingstones today, jutting out of the water just enough to keep my boots dry. This time.
Water, water everywhere. With my mind on the water, I accidentally walk off trail onto a risen wooden path. It’s my own fault.
When the trail merges left or right at an intersection, it is marked with two blazes on a tree- one over the other. The top blaze will be offset a little to indicate the direction. If it’s offset to the right, it’s a right turn. If the upper blaze is offset to the left, it’s a left turn. Simple, right?
I take a photo of the blazes and a sign warning me not to go that way, but the mind doesn’t always register what the eyes see.
I follow the wooden platforms for a long time before they are overtaken by high water. I turned back and realized my mistake at the tree.
Approaching a wide stream crossing that even the big rocks aren’t big enough to be helpful, I pause. There are a few rocky tops sticking up, out of the water, but they are few and too far apart to safely leap to. Pacing the bank of the rushing stream, looking for a way across is fruitless.
The only option is to walk through it.