Near Misses from the first leg of my hike - Lemming Imitation

From Jay:


Thru-hiker tents near a shelter - cold and misty night

It has been a long stormy day sporting rain, sleet, and searing winds. I hike wearing every piece of clothing I packed underneath my raingear. With the route on exposed rocky ridges where the AT crosses from Georgia into North Carolina and the temperature in the 30s, my only hope for staying warm is to keep moving. Toward the end of the day the rain stops, but the wind continues to roar like ocean surf. Visibility is minimal, and the view from the ridge is completely white. I struggle onward toward Muskrat Creek Shelter, hoping to collect some water and get out of the wind while I eat. Most shelters are located a ways off the AT on side trails marked by blue blazes.


Visibility is minimal, even among the trees

Finally I spot a sign on the right that says "shelter." On the left I see a blue blazed trail and follow its lead. The side trail follows a ridge through a tunnel of rhododendrons. After a puzzling quarter of a mile I begin to wonder how and why anyone would cart building materials for a shelter way out on such a rocky ridge. At last the trail emerges from the vegetative cover onto wet slippery boulders. Beyond the boulders I see nothing but white. I follow blue rectangles painted on the boulders and scramble to an edge where nothing more is visible.  Should I lower myself over and feel with my feet for a ledge? I decide to check in the bushes beside the void for signs of a trail, but only succeed in obtaining a perfect nipple whip as a supple vine snaps back into place. OW!


Jay safe on cliff's edge (not Raven's Roost)

I decide to sit down, eat a poptart, and think things over. If the shelter is near, someone should come by or surely I would hear its occupants. After a silent meal, staring at the featureless horizon, I turn back and retrace my steps to the AT. Near the ground across from the first blue blaze I see a previously unnoticed sign that reads "Raven's Roost." I shudder as I imagine the height of the cliff I must have unknowingly courted as I explored the brink.

Proceeding 10 yards down the AT, I see the shelter just 20 yards off the trail to the right. It is packed full of shivering Zombies. I check the data book and find no reference to Raven's Roost. I attribute another near miss to the witch.