This was a really intense hike for me! Of course I would probably say that after every backpacking trip, but rarely do I walk away from a backpacking trip… in a beautiful forest…in the colorful, cool autumn… feeling like it was full of REALLY HARD lessons that made it tough to enjoy, even for a moment….many of which I have learned, but forgotten, before (ok, way back when, but still…!) I have heard myself tell a few loved ones “my story” about what happened on the Coosa the other day, and I can some it up in two words: Self-Sabotage.
Why would I self-sabotage myself while doing one of my most favorite and beloved activities, you might ask? Well hell if I know, but my mom said, and I quote: “That sounds just like you.” [Screeching brakes sound here] What?!???
But the truth is, she’s right. I have a history of pushing myself past my point of sanity and comfort unnecessarily and acting as if I have something monumental to prove, my entire life. Although some of it I will chalk up to personality quirks, a lot of it is a long-standing pattern of self-sabotage. I know I am not alone in this mysteriously complicated behavior model but I am willing to put it all out here… exposing my vulnerability to achieve one thing: Illuminating self-defeating behavior to change this destructive pattern that has only left me questioning my sanity for as long as I can remember. So what did I learn? hahahah….
Lesson #1: Let’s just say that I did not follow my own clothing rule: DO NOT don a heavy backpack with only a sporty tank top on, because your collar bone/shoulder areas will get chafed. Badly. And quickly. So after furiously ripping said tank top off, all I had to wear was the next thin layer, a long sleeve shirt…with no bra of any sort. Well-endowed ladies will instantly know how awkward this could be, especially with a sternum strap rubbing you across your chest. Nuf’ said.
Lesson #2: DO NOT ever for any reason, no matter how much you want to, believe the weather forecast. All I can say is sunny with a 10% chance of showers my ass. Although I was prepared with enough clothing, rain gear and a new backpack cover, I was a cold, soggy-ass, no-bra- wearing miserable woman after only about 2 or 3 miles on the trail. And you can buy all the Gore-tex shit you want but when it rains for hours on end while walking through wet, overgrown, foliage there is no such thing as waterproof anything.
Lesson #3: DO NOT wear boots that gave you blisters the LAST time you went backpacking. Even if you have a good excuse…like…oh, I didn’t remember any of these things because its been a whole freakin’ year and a half since you have done any extensive backpacking. ahem….
Lesson #4: DO NOT leave the trailhead without enough proper food and rest the night before, no matter what kind of good excuse you have for skipping a decent breakfast and not sleeping. This is critical to endurance….especially if you have a day full of long steep climbs with a heavy pack or you will feel like you are dying. Which without rest and enough fuel, you actually could.
Lesson #5: DO NOT make assumptions…. AND DO NOT choose the most STRENUOUS trail in the area (that you used to do with no problem….uhh….15 years ago…ahem) to try out all your brand- spanking-new-gear that you have ASSUMED was the same as the last identical pack (brand/model/size) you bought. (…ahem…9 years ago.)
Lesson #6: DO NOT overestimate your ability. If you are an avid backpacker, and you go to live at the beach for 3 1/2 years and mostly walk on a FLAT beach, you ARE NOT IN MOUNTAIN BACKPACKING SHAPE…. No matter how many long distance backpacking or day hikes you have done in the past. I do not even think I need to elaborate on this one.
Lesson #7: DO NOT second-guess yourself. Always always always trust your intuition…even if the blazes disappear. For miles. After the Coosa Backcountry Trail joins the Duncan Ridge Trail, the blazes are consecutively marked on the same tree, blue and green, until they…well, just aren’t. Just after passing FS 108, there are no more green blazes (CBT), only blue blazes (DRT) and you may think you have missed where the CBT turns off but that would be an incorrect ASSUMPTION. So backtracking 2 miles to find the last green blaze, would be completely unnecessary and you would be adding 4 miles to your already long-ass-hard, seemingly-uphill-in- both directions hike for the day.
Lesson #8: DO NOT ASSUME (Did I mention anything about making assumptions already?) that ANYBODY, at any visitor center, at any trailhead, anywhere, knows ANYTHING about the trail you are getting ready to hike. Not that they don’t, which many are very knowledgeable and have first hand experience (hopefully) of the trail, but I had asked the very nice woman if the trail was well-marked and well-maintained (which is why I originally picked a trail that began within state park boundaries because they usually ARE well-marked and well-maintained, especially this time of year) and she smiled and said, “Oh yes, they came through in the Spring and re-blazed the trail”. Well, this piece of information is what had confused me when I stopped seeing the green blazes and made the decision to backtrack to the last green blaze I had seen. I may have followed my gut feeling to keep going if I had NOT asked her that because come to find out, I was just a quarter mile from a well-marked, major road crossing that I had anticipated on the stupid-ass OLD map I was carrying. (see Lesson#9) Slogging up steep terrain on an overgrown trail in the rain… hungry, overtired with some blisters thrown in for good measure will have you doubting anything or anyone.
Lesson #9: DO NOT assume trails stay the same on OLD MAPS. Use current information.
Have you heard the expression, “Do what I say and not what I do???” [chuckle] Ok, well that sums up the lessons of the day. Hope this helps you have safe, happy, and successful backpacking trips in the future. I know I will.
