10 ... Gabriel Morristhrew me backwards. I took this as a clear enough sign not to attempt
another four days of hiking through this ongoing storm. I would risk
the jeep trail down to the paved road, in hopes that it would lead me
to civilization, and a warm, dry bed for the night.
I checked my map once again and guessed that it was about anoth-
er ten miles from there down to the paved road. And I was already
beyond worn out. But I had little choice other than to hunker down
and keep on putting one foot in front of the other. At least I was now
at the top of the ridge and it would be mostly downhill from there. I
tucked away the map, strapped on my dripping backpack, and con-
tinued hiking, despite my sore body, mind, and spirit.
I hiked on and on through the rain. I had no idea of the time of day,
with the thick, gray clouds ever-present overhead. After several more
hours, it seemed that it would soon be getting dark. I had no idea how
much farther I had to go. I decided that I needed to find somewhere
to set up my tent before nightfall rather than be caught hiking in
the dark. I set my pack down on the gravel jeep-trail—streaked with
countless tiny streams, a rather uninviting environment for making
camp—to take a look around. But I could find nowhere. The jeep trail
was on a steep slope covered with trees, and the trail itself, though
wide, was far too wet and rocky to lie down on all night. Besides, I
didn’t know what condition my tent and sleeping bag would be in at
this point. I had to keep going.
I pressed on as the rain continued to fall. At least it was a steady,
mild descent, so that it didn’t take much concentration or effort to
keep placing one foot in front of the other. I went into a trance state
of sorts, a hiking meditation in which I lost all measure of time. I no
longer felt my tired legs or the water that was dripping down my
neck and soaking my shirt. I just hiked and hiked and hiked—hoping
to heck that I was actually headed in the right direction. Finally, as
the light of day was clearly dimming, I came to the paved road that
I had anticipated.
Although this was something of a relief, it wasn’t actually much
cause for celebration. The problem now—as the map had suggested—