Experience in a Natural Setting: Getting Lost

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to visit home and go day hiking. This visit was meant to celebrate my mother's birthday. Considering my, my mom's, and my sister's schedules, having this opportunity to all be together and do something is rare. So bright and early on Saturday morning, the three of us and my dog departed from home and drove three hours to Lyndhurst, VA.

We had agreed upon hiking up to Humpback Rocks, but knowing how popular the trail was especially on a Saturday, we were going to take some obscure loop that was fairly unknown. We arrived at 11:00 AM and started our trek. Right off the bat, we had trouble deciding which trail we wanted to start on and how we would get back to the parking lot. We chose to begin on the Alright Loop. The first overlook we came across was breath-taking--a 180 degree view of the Blue Ridge Mountains in October. Once we got back on the trail, we hopped on the Appalachian Trail for a couple miles. After several hours, we started getting worried. It was almost 5:00 and we had not yet intersected with the Humpback Rock Loop, let alone pass anyone for the past hour. My sister was losing motivation and her pace was slowing even moreso (she's not the most motivated hiker). We took out our map and debated whether we should turn around or keep going. We decided to keep going the way that we were and sure enough, we intersected with the path not even five minutes later. We climbed the rocks to the overlook and marveled at its sights for a couple minutes and then took a short, steep hike back down to our car. We concluded our night by eating sandwiches at a picnic table in the dark.

 Although appreciating what was around us, we could not fully disconnect from everyday worries and stressors. Rather than appreciating the quiet and beauty that surrounded us, we feared being alone and possibly on the wrong path. Even among the worries of being lost and getting caught hiking in the dark, we still had a great time.

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