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Day 6 Whitley City to Cumberland Falls State Park-20 miles

 
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chester
in the stride
in the stride


Joined: 18 Jan 2012
Posts: 56
Location: Slade, Kentucky

PostPosted: Tue May 28, 2013 7:42 pm    Post subject: Day 6 Whitley City to Cumberland Falls State Park-20 miles Reply with quote

Day 6 Whitley City to Cumberland Falls State Park (20 miles and three fords over various creeks)

I had spent the evening before at my friend’s house contemplating my game plan for hiking the trail solo. Back about 10 years ago I took a class from Arno Ilgner, the author of The Warrior’s Way. He taught me techniques in overcoming my fears. He taught me that fear was a controlled feeling and a good way to overcome it was to focus on the technical aspects of the task at hand. It was a lead climbing clinic and this technique worked well with getting over the fear of falling to your death. Well, today I certainly wasn’t falling to my death but I decided to use this approach anyway. The best way to overcome fear was to think about what could happen and to prepare for it and to move on past the fear part of it. My biggest fear…bears.

So, on this morning, my friend dropped me off at US 27 and I headed down the trail with a huge can of bear mace latched on to the side of my pack within easy reach and the biggest yellow bear bell you will ever see clamped onto my trekking pole. I also had a small can of dog spray in the front pocket of my pack shoulder strap. I was prepared to conquer the world. I sounded like Santa prancing through the woods. Needless to say I did not see any wildlife that day.

It was a cold day with at least three planned fords. The trail was in good condition and mostly well marked. There was a small section of road walking and at every house I was cautious, waiting for a dog to lunge out at me so I could see if my pepper spray worked as well as the bottle claimed. All were tied up.

Finally I reached the Cumberland River, which was to my right this time. It was still swollen from the previous days rain and some parts of the trail were under water. I was still able to navigate under the logic of keeping the river to my right.

The weather that day was cold, damp, dreary and overcast. My type of hiking weather. Not.

When I arrived at Cumberland Falls parking lot, an older couple approached me. The husband asked me if I was a thru hiker. He has spent the last 10 or so years section hiking the AT and could spot a thru hiker a mile away. They gave me a ride to the Lodge and treated me to dinner. He also gave me a survival bracelet he had made out of Para cord.

My first day on the trail alone was a success. I was glad to have the safety of a nice warm hotel room that evening. I wasn’t sure if I could handle too many new things in one day. Plus, I had to spend my energy worrying about my next big challenge…the infamous Bark Camp Creek Ford.
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JTG
cub
cub


Joined: 13 Feb 2014
Posts: 6

PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2014 9:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Trail Magic at work.

Your story is a great one, and is really helping me better understand the trail for my upcoming hike. Much thanks, and great respect.
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