T+49 A day of digging, so an amusing story

T+49 (July 17, 2020)

Navigation Report:
Start Point: Goddard Shelter (mile 1623.9)
Target Destination: Story Spring Shelter (mile 1632.8)

Travel Log:
N/A

Daily Mileage = 0
Total Mileage = 474.7

Commander’s Report:
I managed to complete 3 of the daily reports I was behind on last night. That leaves 4 more to be drafted and all of them to be edited and uploaded and the posting automatons to be set up. In my head, this sounded like something that could be accomplished before getting on the trail. Well, I guess it was possible - just that the hiking will be commencing tomorrow.

I didn't finish drafting the diary entries until 3:30, and during the course of the morning I kept fooling myself into thinking that I was going to do some hiking today.

Initially, I thought I could do all the blogging tasks AND hike ~9 miles. (HAHAHA!) Then I told myself "at least get to the initial target yesterday" (Kid Gone Shelter, 4.3 miles north). Finally, it turned into "at least walk up to the top of Glastonbury Mountain" (0.3 miles). Around noon I realized I would be doing no hiking today. Around dinner time I doubted whether I could get everything uploaded. I was still uploading posts at hiker midnight (9PM) and was telling myself that I'd just get done what I could before I dozed off.

Turns out that I could upload everything and automate posting of these entries to my site. I also managed to get automated twitter notifications set for 2 of the posts before poor internet connection caused me to call it quits for the night.

Unfortunately, that was nearly (actual) midnight and I would like to be up early so as to be able to make up some of the ground I lost today.

Since this has been a pretty boring post about how the sausage gets made and not hiking, I'd like to leave you with a story. I couldn't remember which day it took place, so I didn't include with the daily entries. But it happened when I was hiking with Grimm, so it must have been T+39 or T+40.

Whichever day it was, I got ahead of Grimm during a climb and didn't see him again for hours. In that intervening time I actually only saw a couple other hikers total. So, I felt more than confident that I was alone when I released a most powerful forth into the wild. I'm talking loud, deep, almost guttural sounds that lasted for what seemed like an eternity. I giggled quietly to myself, because I'm an overgrown 10 year old.

Imagine my surprise when I hear from the other side of the next hill the following conversation:

Woman 1's voice: Doris*, did you hear that?
Women 2's voice: Yeah! Was that a bear?
Women 1's voice: I don't know. Whatever it was sounded angry! I'm going to take it slowly for a bit.

* I’ve forgotten the name, so I'm going with Doris.

Of course, I met these two women about a minute later when they crested the little hill separating us. The first thing said to me upon meeting: "Did you hear that bear a minute back? We didn't see it, but it sounded angry! You should be careful, it sounded close!"

To which I responded (with a straight face),"Yeah, I heard something, but I'm not sure it was a bear. I've never heard anything like it before, but it sure sounded ominous!*"

* A masterclass in how to lie while telling the truth. Do I get my honorary JD now?

So apparently, my butt can sound like an angry bear while hiking.

I made a point to mention that this happened while hiking with Grimm. I did so because, he eventually caught back up to me and asked if I had seen the bear earlier. I said "no", but added that I'd heard something. He got excited and relayed the story of a bear encounter two women had told him.

In the tale told to him, the women encountered a bear at the top of a hill. The bear proceeded to angrily growl at them, but they stood their ground for a minute or two.
After this brief encounter, the bear just wandered off over the hill. Immediately after the bear disappeared, a north-bound hiker appeared.

​Grimm correctly assumed the hiker to be me. So, when I confirmed that I'd heard something Grimm got excited because he believed me to be confirming their story.
In the end, I told Grimm what really happened and we both had a good laugh at how my flatus morphed into a full-blown angry bear encounter.