We packed all 6 of us into a sweet 4Runner with 6 backpacks. Impressive? We thought so. When we got there, we got our stuff together and headed out on the trail. Good thing Bynum did a calorie load with his favorite condiment (butter) because little did we know we would be hiking well over what we had planned. It was barely an hour in when we ran into a couple hikers at a campground and a girl. She had been hiking with her Mom and Grandma on Mt. Rogers and somehow got separated from them and got lost. The sun was going down, she was frantic, and somehow she had kept hiking down the wrong trail, away from where she needed to be.
We were blessed to have Nick with us because he is practically a Mt. Rogers area tour guide. He has been going there since high school. The hikers she had come across were simply trying to point her in the direction to go, which obviously wasn't much help for her with all considering. She seemed relieved to have us appear at that moment. We were determined to help her get to where she needed to be. I just can't imagine how I would be feeling if that were me! She immediately joined our group and we went looking for a nearby campsite to set our packs down.
We quickly grabbed all of our headlamps, water, and GORP (we learned that means 'Good Ole Raisins and Peanuts' AKA Trail Mix for the rest of us) and headed down the trail with her. Poor girl, she was so worn out from hiking ALL day. Soon, it was dark, cold, and we were trying not to trip on the very rocky trail. It was my first time seriously night hiking. The wind was pretty strong, and we kept saying, "Wow, the views are probably great here" because for awhile, it felt like we were on top of the mountain or a ridge. While hiking, we kept trying to keep her calm and just get to know her. As soon as she started recognizing the trail from earlier that day, she became more talkative and probably just relieved. Finally, around 10pm, we came in view of the parking lot where her Mom and Grandma were. Along with them were ambulances, a fire truck, paramedics, the full rescue squad on four wheelers and a ton of people. We even ran into a couple park rangers on the trail near the parking lot that were heading out to search for her. Everyone was relieved to know she was found. As we walked to the parking lot, the park ranger told us that there are usually 4-5 major rescues a year, and this was definitely considered one of them. It can get pretty dangerous out there, not only in the cold at night, but also with strange people on the Appalachian Trail. In the parking lot, the Mom, crying, hugged each and every one of us, thanking us.
The park rangers were really nice. They gave us water, kept saying thank you, and gave us a ride to a trail that was a little more straightforward back to our campsite. After a couple hours, we got back to our campsite around midnight. We started a fire, made our dinner, and pretty much fell into bed. As it turns out, we hiked about 8.5 miles that night!
When we had been hiking and talking with the girl, we found out that she was a student at Virginia Tech. What are the odds of being able to help a fellow hokie on April 16th? We were so glad we could help her, and I think all of us enjoyed the adventure together.
We had no problem sleeping in.
On Saturday, we left our stuff at our campsite and hiked around to some sweet peaks to see the views. We stopped for a delicious lunch of quesadillas on the trail. Later in the afternoon, we hiked down to the river and relaxed.
On Sunday, we woke up, packed up, ate breakfast, and hiked back out to the car. A cheeseburger, fries and a sweet tea for lunch at a local restaurant was a dream. A great weekend with great friends. Bryce and I loved the area and will definitely be going back.
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