Creative writing has always been a struggle for me, but one of the reasons I chose to create this blog is to give me more experience with it. Though I find myself always moving toward the technical side of things, still, I try. That said, a few months ago I embarked on an epic solo trip but I have been seriously struggling in how to share that story.
“..I had no real plan”
Part of me wanted to write about the bad-assary of setting out solo with only a few places marked on the map to check out. It truly was as unscripted as you can get, I had no real plan. I only knew I wanted to stay off the main highway as much as possible and make it to the Nantahala National Forest. Was that being a badass, or just being crazy? Not really the direction I wanted to go since there is far too much evidence to support my craziness, no need to immortalize it here.
Maybe a tale around the freedom found in a solo trip was the way to go. How I didn't need anyone with me and I could take care of myself. Well, that wouldn't work either since I wasn't even 250 miles into my trip when I had to phone a friend. Traveling the back roads meant I stayed on forestry roads. Yes, when I said avoid highways, I meant actual highways, not just the interstates or main roads. On one of these forest roads, I came to a water crossing that made me pause… for a long time.
I called RJ to talk through my options. The water was ice cold, so walking it to determine exact depth was not happening. It looked like a doable depth, but the exit was sketchy and offered no point to winch from for self recovery. Should I not be able to get all the way across, reversing out did not look like a viable option either. I hated the thought of not tackling the first big obstacle I came across, but I also hated the idea of ending my journey before it really began with water in my engine, a busted oil pain or some other catastrophic Jeep injury.
Besides, that sadly wasn't even the only time I had to phone a friend, and I didn’t avoid a Jeep injury.
While winding around on a mountain top in North Carolina, Rubix got a fever…. Her temperature was climbing rapidly. I stopped, let her cool down and checked the water level…. She wasn't out, definitely low, but refilling with cold water didn't help. Rubix was sick, for real.
I am not good with diagnosing problems, but I can fix them once I understand the problem. I had no signal, I couldn't call my big brother, the mechanic, for ideas. I did have my Zoleo (GPS messenger) so I was able to at least give RJ an idea of my predicament.
I limped her down the mountain. Driving until the temp started to rise, then stopping and letting her cool down, then going again. Repeating this until I was in a town, where I was disappointed to find I still didn't have any cell service. I couldn't believe there are still places on this earth, inhabited with humans, that didn’t have any cellular service.
Normally I would be delighted to be cut off from the world and, honestly, this wasn’t such a bad place for that. However, no lie, I was worried about my Jeep. Being without connection to the outside world is a dream, but being without my #1 adventure machine was a nightmare.
By now the sun was going down and I was in mountain road territory where pulling over immediately wasn’t exactly a choice. I made it to a public boat ramp and settled in for the night.
Sleeping in the woods on the side of the mountain didn’t bother me a bit. Sleeping in this public space, however, had me on edge and rightfully so. About midnight I saw headlights and listened as a vehicle drove right up to me.
Now I knew this was most likely law enforcement of some kind but I couldn’t be sure. He tapped on my window and identified himself as the Sheriff. I told him my situation and he understood, thankfully. He said he would ensure a couple extra patrols of the area was scheduled to help me feel a bit more safe and he wished me luck.
The next morning ,RJ, who was 400 miles away, managed to get in touch with a local tow truck driver. He came and helped me diagnose the issue, I didn’t even need a tow. I pulled the thermostat and Rubix was good as new. He even stuck around after I took it out to make sure she didn’t overheat. He gave me his number and told me to text him when i made it to the nearest parts store, in the next town. If he didnt hear from me within the hour, he would come looking for me. Well what do you know, a I encountered few nice humans, who knew those still existed! So not only did I have to phone a friend twice, I had to be checked on by the Sheriff, and get mechanical advice from a complete stranger. So yeah, doing it ’all by myself’ was not the right way tell this story either.
Okay so maybe I should tell you guys how I slept in three different states, over 6 nights and it only cost me $100. Now that is something I could write about, but that gets into the technical stuff and doesn’t hit the highlights of the awesomeness that was this trip. Don't worry, I’ll share my story on the low cost in another post.
In all realness, I slept on the side of a mountain in my Jeep, I hiked to a camp and slept in my hammock, next to an amazingly beautiful river. I survived hammock camping at 31 degrees Fahrenheit (I’m a Florida girl, that is absurdly cold)!
I visited gorgeous waterfalls, took roads rarely traveled, seeing areas that looked like it came straight from a fairytale.
I tackled water crossings, and some 4x4 trails that would make some people question their life choices. I forded a river, how epic is that?
I even traced the steps of William Bartram, an 18th century naturalist, by hiking a portion of the trail with his namesake.
I conquered fear and doubt, I got outside my comfort zone and reset the boundaries. I improved my skills, learned new skills and that, is pretty damn bad ass, if you ask me.
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