by Joe Russell
Neither Mike nor Sandra looked as if this idea had brought them any relief, but they both nodded their agreement, unenthusiastic as it was. “C’mon,” Dave said. “Let’s keep moving and stop at the first good camping spot we see. We can make a fire, unpack, and try to get your things dried out the best we can.” They agreed in the same lame tones, then the four got up, donned their packs, and followed the trail downstream along the west side of the canyon.
Chapter 4
Saint Mary’s Wilderness, Virginia. May, one Year Earlier.
The previous year, Dave and Sandra had been on a similar trip, this time in Saint Mary’s Wilderness area near Waynesboro, Virginia. It was the largest backcountry wilderness area in the state, with thousands of acres of rugged Appalachian terrain. Neither of them had ever been there before and loved the old forests, waterfalls, and laurel. There was access to the area off the Blue Ridge parkway to the east, but they entered from the west by a small gravel forest road that ended in a small parking lot. From there, they hiked a grueling eighteen miles, which seemed to Dave to be all uphill.
The hike had started well enough with the trail being relatively level as it followed the creek, Saint Mary’s Run, upstream toward the main ridge. They swam in a deep pool at the base of the area’s signature waterfall and they each jumped from a rock on one side of the steep gorge twenty or so feet into the pool. Later in the day, however, the miles seemed to pile up on their backs, and especially Dave was exhausted. He had not been as dedicated to his fitness as he currently was and it showed. Toward the end of the day, after the trail had climbed upwards of fifteen hundred feet from the creek and leveled off, Dave was trailing behind both Sandra and where he felt like he should have been. He knew that he was still in better shape than most and that Sandra was in great shape herself, but he still didn’t feel it and in the end, that trip helped motivate him to get in what would become the best shape of his life.
This part of the trail was an old fire road that followed the northeast rim of the Saint Mary’s valley below. They trudged on for what seemed like ten miles, although this portion was probably less than three. They would periodically see forest signs, indicating that this was a Jeep trail, in addition to one of the Saint Mary’s main trail loops.
Finally, they arrived at the point where the trail they were following turned to the left, off of the Jeep trail and back in a more westerly direction. It was already getting dark and they were tired and hungry, especially Dave. He was not enjoying himself at the moment and wanted nothing more than to stop for the day. The main reason they had pushed on was because there weren’t any decent places to stop and set up a camp along the Jeep trail and even if there was, they didn’t like the idea of stopping where others could pass by them in the night, especially locals riding their Jeeps and pickups in the middle of the night. Nothing against the locals, just that hikers were generally a pretty harmless demographic. Either way, they generally did not camp right on a trail or road if it could be helped.
They came upon a small area that appeared to be used as a campsite fairly frequently, about one hundred yards from where their trail separated from the Jeep trail. It wasn’t that far, especially being early May in the mountains and the leaves on the predominating hardwoods being barely more than buds. Dave was so exhausted, though, that he didn’t care. He was ready to set up their tent and pass out.
In less than fifteen minutes, they set up Dave’s old Eureka tent and laid out their sleeping bags inside it. It was a bright blue-green two-person, meaning two people could snuggle inside and use their packs as pillows. There was an area in the front where the fly was pulled out a few feet from where the actual tent was. It was a nice place to keep boots, and even a pack if the weather was nice. Dave called this the Front Porch. By the time they erected the tent, it was almost completely dark and after a quick, cold dinner of peanut butter, crackers, and beef jerky, Dave and Sandra did indeed pass out.
Dave awoke some time later when he felt Sandra urgently patting his shoulder. When he came to, he didn’t need her to tell him why she had awoken him; he could hear the sound of rough engines, and not too far away either. He turned around and could see translucent light from the headlights through the wall of the tent, throwing moving shadows from trees as the vehicles tore around in what didn’t seem to be a clearly defined direction.
“Don’t turn the flashlight on,” he said quickly, as he reached for the Ruger he had stashed on the floor of the tent near his right hip. “Start packing up, in case we need to move. It looks like there’s more than one Jeep or truck, whatever they are.” Between the headlights and what moonlight there was, Dave could see all right with his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He could hear Sandra doing what he had asked and he quietly unzipped the flap of the tent, pulling his boots on after he had put the clothes that he had worn that day back on. After he had quickly dressed, he slowly unzipped the tent fly and peeked out. Seeing how close they were, he silently cursed himself for setting up camp so close to the trail, especially since they had a tent that stood out like blaze-orange hunting gear.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said to Sandra, as he ducked back in the tent. “They could easily see us from where they are. They could just be some good ol’ boys out having some fun or they could be a bunch of drunk assholes looking to cause trouble, given an easy opportunity.”
He half-expected Sandra to argue, since packing up and leaving camp in the middle of the night in a rush was something that no one would want to do, unless it was extremely necessary. Dave wasn’t sure exactly how serious this was. Most would agree that being out in the forest in an unfamiliar area and encountering something like this would be scary, especially at night, but it was probably nothing to worry about. Still, his gut told him to move and he had learned to trust it.
To his surprise, she not only didn’t argue, but was almost finished packing up her things. She had quickly stuffed all her small loose items into her pack, stuffed her sleeping bag inside its stuff pack, and was rolling up her sleeping mat. Dave quickly did the same and in just a few minutes, both were completely packed up, minus the tent.
As if on cue, Dave heard some barely audible shouting as he began to climb out of the tent. He couldn’t make out all the exact wording, but had a pretty good idea of what was being said. Their tent had been spotted.
“We gotta move!” Dave hissed urgently to Sandra.
“I’m right behind you,” she replied, trying to stay calm. They both exited the tent, staying low. The headlights were definitely approaching now. Fortunately, they were having to blaze a trail through the woods to get to them, and although the mature forest wasn’t thick with underbrush, it was slower going than if they were out in the open.
Dave hesitated, looking back at the tent. “Come on!” Sandra commanded, as if reading his thoughts. “If they don’t mess with it, we can come back, but if they’re trouble, we need to leave before they see us!”
Dave knew she was right, but he was upset. He hated the thought of losing his tent to a bunch of drunk vandals. Still, he knew that if these people truly were looking for trouble, the tent could be the least of his concerns. He had his pistol, of course, but they could be armed as well, and definitely had numbers on their side. He couldn’t risk what they might do to him if he stuck around to fight, or worse, what they might do to Sandra.
“All right, let’s get out of here,” he said, and began to move to the west, in the general direction of where the trail back would take them, but not on the trail. He knew that they could be spotted at any time and needed to find cover, both to prevent them from being spotted and to make it more difficult to pursue them if they were.
They were on a saddle on the main ridge, so boulders or slopes weren’t available to hide them. Then, Sandra spoke in a loud whisper, “Look, there at ten o’clock. There’s a fallen tree we can hide behind.” Dave didn’t waste the breath to agree with her and just adjusted his path of travel. Ten seconds later, they were hunkering down
behind the old oak tree.
Fortunately for them, it appeared that they hadn’t been spotted. They were about fifty yards from their campsite. Dave wished they had a little more distance as he watched the headlights of an old Jeep make its way to a point less than fifty feet from their tent and stop. Another vehicle, maybe an old Ford Ranger, stopped a little behind it a moment later. They probably weren’t there to sell some girl scout cookies, Dave thought to himself. The good news was that although they weren’t far from the campsite, these people would have no reason to continue in our direction if they haven’t spotted us, he figured.
The two watched silently through the branches of the fallen oak as both doors of the Jeep opened and two men got out. One was rather large, at least horizontally. The other was skinny and wearing a ball cap. Dave could see that both held drink cans and assumed they weren’t soda by the way the two were walking and talking.
“Looky here, Joe!” the skinny man exclaimed. “Looks like we have some neighbors who didn’t invite us to their little party. Jim!” he shouted, turning his attention to the truck behind him. “Get out here!”
A third man appeared from behind the Jeep, and they heard a door slam. The man walked up to where the first two were standing. “Think anyone is inside?” he asked, with a thick mountain drawl.
“Don’t know,” the big man responded, in the exact voice and tone that his appearance suggested.
“Only one way to find out!” the skinny man stated excitedly. He bent over, picked up a rock, and hurled it at the tent. Dave cringed as it bounced off the tent fly, leaving a small rip where it had impacted.
“Don’t look like anyone is in there,” the big man stated.
“Well,” the skinny man, “I know how we can find out real quick.” He staggered to the pickup truck with some apparent difficulty, hoisted a gasoline can from the bed and lugged it back to where the other two stood, then continued to the tent. He upended the gas can, dousing the tent with its contents, then backed back toward his companions, still releasing a steady stream of fuel on the ground as he went. The others began howling with laughter and sick anticipation as their respective trains of thought arrived at the station. Encouraged by his two friends, the skinny man set the can down and pulled something small from his pocket, which Dave assumed, correctly, was a lighter. The skinny man flicked the lighter and held it up, swaying like he was at a concert, to music that Dave and Sandra certainly couldn’t hear. “You boys ready for a bonfire?” he asked the other two, who were howling in laughter like a couple of hyenas. In the light of the small flame, Dave could see a sinister grin on the skinny man’s face, as he bent over and lit the end of the trail of gasoline on the ground at his feet. It caught right away, and the flame spread rapidly until it got to the tent a short moment later. The gasoline that had been poured on and around the tent erupted into a massive fireball, flashing so brightly in the night that it hurt Dave’s and Sandra’s eyes. Still, Dave couldn’t keep his eyes averted for long.
Dave watched all this intently, feeling several different things that averaged to something in between disgust and fury. He felt Sandra’s hand move to the top of his own, probably to comfort and calm him. She probably knew him better than any other person on this Earth and therefore, had a pretty good idea of how he was feeling. It wasn’t just the tent that he hadn’t really liked anyway, but the reckless intent behind it. What if he and Sandra wouldn’t have woken up? What if they were injured or killed because these assholes just wanted to torch something? Dave saw the saying ‘it’s the thought that counts’ as being a two-sided coin, not just having relevance to a poorly-landed Christmas gift idea. These men, at best, didn’t seem to care about the possible consequences of their reckless thrill-seeking. He didn’t care that they were drunk; drinking didn’t change what people thought or felt, just removed the filter or guardrail that usually held it in. People like this, rapists, thieves, and other criminals who preyed on the innocent and were too selfish to care about the damage they left behind for their own relatively diminutive benefit made his blood boil. Sandra couldn’t actually see this as she silently watched Dave watching their tent, but knew that the flames that had now engulfed it were nothing compared to what was burning inside him right now. She squeezed his hand, and despite his rage that he was doing his best to keep suppressed, he turned his palm upwards and squeezed back. He turned to her and in the dim moonlight, she could make out the crooked smile that she found so endearing. “Glad you woke up when you did,” he said.
Chapter 5
Spruce Knob, West Virginia. Present Day.
The group made good time after their little incident at the creek, mostly because everyone wanted to hurry up and find a spot to camp. It was now an easy trail too, much of it being an old road of some sort and even dirt, as opposed to the rocky trail they had descended the ridge on. After about an hour, they came upon a spur trail, heading off to the west, their right, away from the creek. The canyon had opened up a little in the past couple of miles since they had been traveling through it, and was beginning to resemble more of a narrow valley than the canyon Dave had originally considered it.
“Hey,” he blurted, breaking the silence. “This looks like it might lead to a campsite. It would be better to not be right on the trail, anyway.”
Sandra looked at him as he said this and she didn’t need to respond. The Saint Mary’s incident wasn’t exactly a traumatic experience as much as it had been a lesson learned. Despite the emotions shown that night, Sandra had probably been more affected by what had happened than Dave had been. It had scared her and although it hadn’t made her too afraid to do anything she’d done before, she was more cautious because of it. Dave, on the other hand, had let the whole thing go so quickly that it had surprised Sandra. Not that this was necessarily a good thing either, but the only long-term effect the experience seemed to have on Dave was that it’d given him an excuse to buy a better tent and caused him to be more affirmed in the opinions toward people that he already had. He was funny that way, she thought. He was better than he used to be, but his reactions to things were sometimes unpredictable. This was one of those things that she would have expected to be a sore subject for quite a while, but on the occasion that it was brought up, Dave would just say, “those assholes were lucky I wasn’t still in there”, but not even in an upset kind of way. She might have understood him more than anyone else, but he was still a mystery to her, even after almost five years of marriage. Oh well, she thought. Him not getting upset over something in itself can’t be a bad thing.
No one objected, so the group turned to follow the spur trail with Dave taking the lead. After only a few minutes of walking, the trail ended at what was indeed a campsite. It was a nice-looking spot, flat but on slightly higher ground that the main trail, surrounded by mountain laurel and rhododendron, and tucked into the western side of the little valley and out of the wind. Dave didn’t even bother to ask the others if they wanted to stop here because Sandra had already dropped her pack and the others were happily following suit.
✽ ✽ ✽
Dave carefully crouched with his knees on the edge of the boulder. The water felt so good as he stuck his hands in to cup it, and even better when he splashed it on his sweaty, grimy face. He did this a few more times, savoring the refreshing feeling of mountain stream water after a day of summer hiking.
Sandra had suggested that they set up camp right away, even though it wasn’t even six o’clock yet. This time of year and halfway through the Eastern Time Zone, they had another three or so hours of daylight. However, they had a history of not being able to relax when they went backpacking, either because of weather, time, or drunk rednecks lighting their tent on fire. For how much they got out into the forest, it didn’t seem like they ever got to do the relaxing things like sit around the campfire, cook a nice meal, or other pleasantries that come to most people’s minds at the thought of camping. Dave had a pretty good idea that Sandra wanted to hurry up and get the camp set u
p, so that they would have no excuse not to enjoy the rest of the evening, which was turning out to be very pleasant indeed.
Dave had come down to survey the water situation. He had a small Sawyer brand water filter that he used at times like this. On longer day hikes, he usually carried two thirty-two-ounce Nalgene canteens and more on overnight trips. However, he knew that these mountains in late June would be literally gushing with spring water, and as long as they had means to treat it, would easily be able to restore their supply.
He pulled out his filter and the two canteens from his pack. It was a lot lighter, now that he had removed the tent and a few other items and had left them at the campsite. He took another long look at the pool beneath him and decided not to fool with the filter. It was good for more questionable water or water that was more laden with sediment. This water, however, was so clear that he could barely tell it was there by looking at it, so he decided to just use his iodine tablets to make sure any bacteria was killed off. The tablets left a nasty taste, but there was another set of tablets that could be added after a half an hour to neutralize the iodine taste after the chemical treatment was complete. He proceeded to refill his canteens in the creek, along with Sandra’s canteens he had also taken, then dropped the iodine into each. He tossed all four back into his pack and returned to the campsite.
Jen and Mike were attempting to set up their tent and Sandra was working on hanging up all of her wet belongings. She had used paracord to string up a clothesline between two trees and had her clothes and sleeping bag hanging out to dry. She had also pulled everything else out of her backpack and had placed them on rocks to air out and had unzipped all the pockets of her pack and hung it up to dry. Dave saw that she had taken the battery out of her phone and had its pieces placed on a rock to dry as well.