The following originally appeared August 15, 2018. We run it again because it’s a good reminder — to us especially — to always pay attention, to never get cocky out there, and that, nature is always in charge.
You learn a lot while backpacking, especially about yourself. I’m pretty sure the nine backpackers I spent this past weekend with in Linville Gorge know a lot more about themselves today than they did before our trip.
The headline came across my Facebook feed: “Bear euthanized after ripping into tent, injuring mother & daughter.”
I didn’t need to read on to know what happened. But I did.
A bear wandered into the Elkmont Campground in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park early Sunday, entered a tent where a family of five slept, scratched a 3-year-old and her mom in the ensuing scuffle. (Both sustained superficial lacerations to their heads.) The father shooed the bear away, the authorities were notified, the bear was caught.
Spring: you can’t wait to get out on the trail — and stay on the trail. Which is why backpacking was invented. We’ve got opportunities for you to do just that this spring: hit the trail Friday and not leave it until Sunday.
Your options …
This recent spate of bitter cold, snow and ice can’t last forever. This is the South: It just can’t.
Before you know it, maybe within a week or so, you’ll be out on the trail and you’ll see a bright yellow daffodil poking through the turf beneath a stately oak, near a loosely arranged pile of rocks. A non-native ornamental favored by early homesteaders to get them through the last half of winter, a harbinger of spring and warmer weather. They will be followed shortly by trout lilies, spring beauties and the rush of spring abundance. You may not be thinking about sleeping in a tent now, but it won’t be long. And you’ll want to be prepared.
This morning I set out with a couple of buddies on one of their regular adventures and was reminded of a column I wrote a couple years back about free soloist Alex Honnold. Honnold is known as the climber who eschews ropes and other protection — “free soloing,” it’s called in climbing circles.
