The Worst Trip that Never Happened!
AKA – What a Cluster F*^K
All the signs were there. A trip that was full had now dropped to 6. The last one to bail was Jjdog1. I should have known then that something was wrong. Jjdog1 had not missed a Bristol trip since joining the club. The day we were leaving two more members became ill. The weather forecast worsened. Then, OldLadyOde called and said her car would not start.
The omens were all there.
OldLadyOde had an extra car, and we all decided to get an earlier start and meet about an hour and a half sooner than originally planned. I picked up Jimbo and Wendy2856 and we were off to our meeting spot in Pa. Wendy joined OldLadyOde and we were off for NY. With the type of cars we had it was decided to shuffle cars in the morning and we soon arrived at our host’s home. Dawn had a fire going for us when we arrived. We set up our shelters and sat back to enjoy a few cold beers before the rains came and ended our evening. The middle of the night came, and so did the call of nature. While trying to exit my tent, I felt a pop in my left knee. This was not good and I was soon stumbling around trying to stand on one leg in the dark. My knee was out and would not pop back in, which had not been a problem since my surgery last January. The rest of my night was spent tossing and turning, trying to find comfort that I never did find. Morning came and I broke the news to Jimbo. I would not continue on with the group this day. We sat and though of our options, and I did not want this to spoil the others plans as it did my own. Dawn had made us coffee and served donuts. I pondered my next move. We talked it over and it was decided I would stay behind, meeting the group at our next nights spot at the Wagon Wheel Campground. Knowing this trail is well blazed, I didn’t think there would be any issues with the group following the trail, and the only tricky spot along the way, I told the group that when you hit the road, turn right.
The group left. I still had all my gear to pack, tent to take down. This took me a good 2 hours. Carrying a full pack back to where my car was with one good leg was no picnic. I soon left and drove down the road I had told the group to turn right on and made sure they had made it to the spot the trail re-enters the forest. No sight of the group, so I felt certain they had made the right choice and headed for the campgrounds in the hopes of getting some needed sleep, given finding some comfortable position. Problem once again. The campground had been foreclosed on and sold since I made reservations, the price for the site had now nearly doubled, but there was no other choice.
It was shortly after 2pm when I started to wonder when the group would show up. The two girls had left most of their gear in my car and were packing light, Jimbo took all his gear, you never know when you’re going to need it, and that was the reason he came, but with lighter loads I figured the group would make good time and would be showing up any minute. What I did not count on was seeing Dawn pull into the campground with the group in her car. It seems that when the group hit the road where I had said turn right, someone had taken orange spray-paint, same color that the trail is blazed with , and sprayed arrows taking a left turn rather ten right, also leaving orange blaze tape in the trees and bushes. The group thought they had made the right choice based on the orange color, and followed this marked route until it seemed they were back on the trail. Thing is they were back on the trail. Problem was, they were headed in the wrong direction. It wasn’t until the group passed the Outback Inn, went down a long hill and was in the field next to the barn the group used as a shelter on the first half of the trip in July that Wendy realized what was going on. It was bad enough that while hiking the wrong way on a blazed road, that two dogs ran out of a yard and one jumped at OldLadyOde biting her on the arm and drawing blood. This trip had just gone from bad to worse. What would they do now? They tried to call me; I was out of cell range. The group, for lack of better words, was LOST.
They now started walking in the direction they thought would get them to people. Hitching along the way, a pickup truck stopped and let them ride in back, in the drizzle, to the local store. People there knew who Dawn was and where she lives, another offered them a ride to her house. Once at Dawns, she drove them to me at the campgrounds. My knee, still dislocated and me in pain, the group telling me their tale, it was time to put this trip to an end and head home, promising to return again next year and do it right. Just one more stop, Monica’s Pies, and we were headed home. Me, I drove all the way back to Cleveland with my dislocated knee, only to go to the ER the next morning and get my knee put back in place. Next stop for me is the orthopedic surgeon that did my surgery. I had a funny feeling about this trip. It is the first time I ever scheduled a day off after a trip. By the way, we did end up having a good time; just not as good as we thought we would. Omens, you got to pay attention to the omens.
By The Way, the foliage? It was beautiful!