Helpless

July 21 Mile 1363-
There has been 2 days that I have wanted to go home out here. The first was at mile 472 on top of a mountain 8 miles North of Damscus, VA. I was in tears after my shoes had chewed my feet up. The other was today after two bear sightings. The first was about 3 miles in and Shadow was leading. He stopped to "water the plants". I was coming up from behind when he said "Stop where you are". I looked ahead to see a bear coming around the corner SOBO (Southbound). He lumbered off to the side and layed about 3 feet from the trail and grunted. I don't think it was a growl. More like an exhale of air. We stood there and started discussing loudly what to do. The bear grunted again. We decided the best course of action would be to bushwhack through the dense woods about 100 feet off the trail. 

With the heat being a factor the next few days we had planned to take it slow and see what happens. Neither of us expected to dispence the energy we did the from adrenaline of a bear sighting. The next miles were spent jumping at evey noise I heard. After crossing many stagant creeks we decided to push into New York and eat lunch at a brook. I started making sandwiches while Shadow got water for lunch. It was brown, but moving. We were in no position to be picky at this point. With 2 bites left I spotted another bear. I jumped up and grabbed my poles to make noise. Shadow put the food back into the bag. The yelling and loud noises we made didn't seem to help. The bear began pacing and smelling our food. With shoes untied, backpacks open, and our food bag in hand we slowly moved farther up the trail to safety. We didn't get the water we needed so Shadow found another option 2 miles away. Unfortunately the next water was dry. We quickly found ourselves in a desperate situation. With 3.3 miles to a local creamery we conserved the little amount of water we had left. Slowly and with short breaks we made it. While cooling off inside we started talking to a family about the local area. Not only did they help us find a place to stay for the night, they gave us a tour of the town, and invited us to dinner.
After checking in and showering we walked to downtown Warwick. It's a cute New York town with an active main street. Dinner was full of great conversation and delicious food. We departed thinking we had knowing them for years. They will never know how much they helped us today. We are truly greatful for what they did.
With temperatures tomorrow hitting 100 degrees and a heat index of 115 we aren't sure how long we will be off the trail. Luckily we have a 3 week buffer, but were hoping we could save those weeks for illness and injury. And here I thought the exciting news today would be crossing the New York border.


Country Mouse and Shadow still NOBO (North Bound)