This last Thursday-Saturday, the sun, moon, and stars all aligned to where I could get out of the house without having to contend with work and school. The rest of the family had other obligations so I went out for my first solo trip in a part of the Wayne National Forest. There is a 15 mile hiking loop called Wildcat Hollow Hiking Trail just north of Burr Oak lake that I wanted to check out, so I did. I know, pics or it didn't happen! I will try to get a youtube video up by the end of the week and link it in.
The plan was to hike the loop counter-clockwise for about 3.5 miles the first evening and set up camp. Day two was to consist of a 8 mile hike exploring a few abandoned things along the way. Saturday morning was to finish up the last 2.5 miles and head back home. The plan also consisted of taking a lot of pics and a few video clips here and there. One caveat was that the water there is deemed contaminated so all water must be hiked in or cached at road crossings. Like I said, this was the plan......
What actually happened was I went clockwise since I missed the trail fork. Where I was planning on staying on night two was where I stayed at on night one. It was pretty uneventful with camp set up along a semi dried up stream. Lots of chipmunks in the area and a few deer. Quite peaceful. Day two I continued on the clockwise path and checked out the oil rigs. Pretty cool, actually. Hiked up to a water cache and topped of water. Had some extra so made some coffee there, changed socks, and ate a few bits of jerky and some trail mix. Continued on from there and saw plenty of chipmunks and frogs. Even came across one snake who appeared like it recently had eaten, judging by its bulge and relatively slow movement. A also stirred up a few deer along the way and saw one beaver from across a pond. Things were going pretty smooth and I was planning on staying where I intended to stay on the first night. That is where things went a little south.
I reached the camp site and decided to just sit and rest while taking in some water for a bit. I was sitting there, pondering how I would set up camp and after about five minutes I heard raccoons of in the distance. Didn't think much about it, but the playful chatter kept getting louder and louder. After hearing the fellas for about five minutes, two adolescent coons emerged from the other side of the trail and charged straight for my pack despite my standing next to it and yelling at them. They acted as if I weren't even there! I swung my hiking stick at them and they back off about 40 feet, but then they came right back for my pack! I swung my hiking stick and yelled again, to no avail. There was a few pieces of small firewood left over from a previous resident, so I grabbed a few pieces and chucked them at the fellas. They backed off, but I could tell they were regrouping. I decided to throw on my pack and head for the next site about 3/4 mile down the trail. I start walking and I hear the chatter again. I turn around and they are headed down the trail charging at me! I swung my hiking stick a few times and they backed off a little, but every time I started walking, they kept following. I get about a mile down the trail (passed up a few campsites) and these buggers are not giving up at all. I see a small pile of wood from where the forest crew cut up a few trees that had fallen over the trail. I decided that would be my Alamo! I go to the pile of wood, throw my pack down and start chucking the logs at the critters. I got a multiple hits in and one guy really got clobbered (I actually felt pretty bad about that) until they retreated up a nearby tree. At that point, I through on my pack and took off down trail. Another mile down without seeing them since the wood pile, I sat down and checked the map.
I was about a mile from the car and the campsites near the trail head were starting to get filled up by the locals for the weekend drinking session. I decided to go back to the car and head to Burr Oak State Park and camp there for night two and recoup from a 12 mile hike and the fight. The stay there was pretty nice. Picked out a nice site and set up my tent. I then went to the shower house and got cleaned up. That was followed up with a nice little meal in my new milsurp german cookset. Got a good nights sleep and headed home the following morning.
I learned a lot on this trip, here are some points I took away for solo hiking and camping.
1: Be flexible with plans, nothing goes accordingly.
2: Water caches were new to me. It is better to have them in smaller amounts and more often.
3: Campfires are nice, but extremely unnecessary most of the time. I didn't have a single one.
4: There is something to be said about keeping the pack weight down.
5: Breathable clothing that wicks water away will be a future purchase. 100% cotton in 90* temps and high humidity will wreck you.
6: Don't rely on a smart phone for video and pictures. While they do have the capability, the memory capacity sucks.
7: Be familiar with trail markings and their meaning.
8: A non-lethal self-defense item is useful. I had a pistol, but didn't want to shoot the raccoons as they weren't trying to harm me. Pepper spray would have been good.
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