Craziness or Sanity?

Submitted by Women’s Adventure reader, Diane

You know that feeling when everyone thinks you are a little crazy? But, instead you know that your choices are the sanest ones you could make? That’s how I felt about a month ago when some of my friends and I decided to do a one day ultimate hike, not too far from the North Georgia mountains and close to the South Carolina/North Carolina border. We chose a one day 20 mile hike on the Chattooga River Trail – Sections 3 and 4. Despite the fact that none of us had done it before, it was a popular trail. We were all fit, and most hiked regularly. The hike was only rated easy to moderate, so we thought it was a perfect choice.

We were four girls and three guys who liked being outside in nature and just wanted to have a little fun. When we saw the bear tracks and scat, as well as the crazy infestation of bugs in old signs, we knew we were on an adventure. We laughed and talked as we hiked, crossed rivers, flirted a little, and got to know each other better. Nothing could go wrong. When we stopped for lunch, we started talking about what would be our next adventure. Would it be to Mt LeConte in the Great Smoky Mountains? Or maybe a hike near Asheville? This adventurous group was having a great time.

During lunch, some of the group admitted that their feet were beginning to burn. But, no real complaints, at least not yet! At mile 12, we realized something was up. The signs to the parking lot (this was not a loop trail hike) said we had another 11 miles. Hmmmm…that’s not what the book and the maps said. Well, it didn’t matter, we were going to continue. What was another 3 miles?

At mile 15, knees were beginning to hurt, and those burning feet – well, they were doing more than burning. But, onward we went. At about mile 18, we split into two groups… Two that were going at a slightly faster pace and five that were enjoying smelling the flowers. We decided to meet at the cars, figuring we had about two hours left.

My group (the slower group) met a woman at mile 20 who told us to continue to follow the river, that it was a flat trail back to the car. For those of us with knee pain and massive blisters on feet, that was a welcome relief, because going downhill hurt! So, at mile 22, our group (as did the other group) made a decision to leave the river and go uphill. You’d think we were crazy or stupid, but the trees were certainly marked, indicating an uphill journey. The last 5 miles of our 27 mile hike ended with anxiety, a couple of outbursts, many complaints, more aches and pains, and a little craziness. (Did I mention this was supposed to be a 20 mile hike??) But, even with all the pain and anxiety, there continued to be laughter, stories and game playing.

When we met our friends at the car (they had arrived 30 minutes before us), we were certainly relieved, excited and exhausted. We reviewed some of our mistakes (splitting up, not having a better map, ignoring the advice of another hiker, and not checking the injuries out among our mistakes). And, while we certainly made some errors in judgment, our group decided they couldn’t wait to do it again. Making better choices this time; learning lessons from our mistakes.

So, are we a little crazy? Maybe. But, sometimes the craziest choices are the sanest ones to others…