Puma Ghostwalker

Heading down from Wayah Bald the trail blazes were white and yellow ones too.
How it happened is anyone’s guess, I got off trail when the trail blazes went to only yellow, at that time I should of turned around but I didn’t. My head was in other places,
captivated by the all the sights and smells of nature, nightmares, I never slept well my whole life I was plague with demons, from childhood. To add to it I had a hiker named Bob that followed me and camped at the same sites as I did for many days. He was a very nice guy but I came to the mountains to be alone, to really get into my head and work on my healing and Bob was just such a presents in my head every day and night. The camp the night before, Bob was all set up at camp and I kept going hiked all the way to Wine Spring, so if you could imagine my surprise when Bob came up to Wayah Bald saying.
How he cut two miles off his hike following the road going to Wayah Bald to catch-up with me. Here is why I think I got off trail, and stayed off trail for about a day and a half.

I hiked down that yellow trail all day to four o-clock, half not sure lost in my own mind.
My mind imagining some features that could have been right the feel of the elevations seemed right, sort of. Well a t four I called the Nantahala River Outdoor Center, I had planed to stop over night for a shower and a hot meal. The young man said I should keep going I will be okay, it just didn’t feel right, so I called Lumpy at the Walasi-Yi Center.
Lumpy said quickly and decisive that I was going the wrong way and turn around, I
knew it I just needed someone to tell me. The rain was threatening for the past two hours
and at that moment all hell broke loose…again. Putting my rain gear on I felt so beaten
lost, I hiked almost all day off trail, its late in the day, I’m in a thunderstorm and have to hike all that way back just to get back on trail.

By the time five o-clock rolled around it was raining like hell and my spirit was
Injured breaking my promises to myself not to stop in the rain to setup camp I stopped.
By the time the tent was up with the rain-fly there was much rain in my tent. Taking my camp towels I dried off the flooring as best as I could and just collapsed on my pack.
With just a bit of water left I chose not to eat and conserve my water. All the hiking I did to get out there, I didn’t see one water source and I had a long way to go.
Deciding to just stay in my tent and lay there till morning was probably a good idea,
it was getting dark early with the storm looming down on me.
The next morning I was up at five and broke camp and headed on, later in the morning I stopped to take some of my remaining water then started to record video explaining my situation. I was embarrassed to be so lost for so long. It is part of my journey though
like it or not, I swallowed my pride and humbled myself to the realization that I was in a jam, almost out of water, far from the trail and I just have to suck it up and march on.

Must have been around noon when I found water, drank my fill, then filled my two
nalgen bottles and my two liter platypus. I made another video speaking about my thoughts and what this means to me, how I have learnt a very valuable lesson to share with all. In my three month hike of close to 800 miles, I stepped off trail many times
as the trail intersected many other trails. Many times the trail got rerouted and a log or brush was placed over to block the old trail and other times logs and brush fell from storms. In time I learnt the trail better and how the trail maintainers would think and mark the trail.

Moments later I reached the place where the trail split, I saw error of my ways and continued on. Just then a rattlesnake was sunning itself right across the entire trail.
I thought it was a Diamondback, I never seen a Timber rattlesnake before, a real beauty, big and thick. When I was a child of seven I was bitten by a rattlesnake and early on in my hike I started having dreams that I would be bitten by a rattler on my hike. Relocating said snake off trail I hiked on, to the Wayah Shelter, there I stopped to have a meal, I was so hungry and pleased that I was back on trail and could sit on a nice flat picnic table and gather my thoughts and reflections.

The rattlesnake taught me to be more observant the ground below me and to be aware at all time where I am, and to watch my step too. I walked up on six rattlesnakes during my hike and had dreams throughout that I would be bitten by one. One month later I met a fellow who said he had hiked the trail for the last ten years and only seen one rattlesnake
At that time I had already seen three………. Go figure.

The Wayah Shelter was dedicated to thru-hikers Ann and Larry McDuff, who
both died independently, yet were killed riding bikes very close to there home.
As I shot video I mentioned again how the rattlesnake teaches us ALL to be more observant and cautious.
After being lost, spending the night off trail then the rattlesnake, starving and
almost out of water. I have no idea where I spent the night, I want to say by the Cold Spring Shelter, but I’m just not sure I was still quite frazzled.