Adventure Possible

How to Live a Modern Life of Adventure

15 Steps to Live a Life of Adventure
  • Life of Adventure
  • Books
  • Sponsorships
  • Weekend Adventures
  • Appalachian Trail
  • Bike America
  • RV’ing
  • The Kelleys
You are here: Home / Adventure / Attack of the Mice on the Appalachian Trail – AT Thru-Hike Day 118

Attack of the Mice on the Appalachian Trail – AT Thru-Hike Day 118

April 11, 2014 by Mark Kelley Leave a Comment

Share adventure with others

  • Tweet

Location: Bearfence Mountain Hut

28 miles today and I am spent. The Shenandoah Park has tons of mountains. I was up and down all day and the burning in my calves won’t let me forget it. I started fairly late for such a big day. This morning resembled the last two days so I wasn’t too excited about getting out of my sleeping bag. The only reason I did get out by 9:00am was that a weekend hiker got out of his sleeping bag, and I couldn’t be showed up by him.

Last night the mice were aggressive. Some entries in the register warned of their behavior, but I wasn’t expecting them to be that bad. Last night a couple ran across my face as I tried to sleep. Certainly some went into my sleeping bag while I slept. This morning I found little mouse droppings all over my things. To be so small, the droppings stunk. The weekender at the shelter woke up saying that he wasn’t bothered by them, but when he took his backpack off a nail on the wall and reached inside, he found that they had chewed his tent to ribbons. He held two armfuls of shredded nylon. He was really upset by the whole ordeal. He had every yuppie hiking gadget and equipment imaginable. He cut his weekend short because of the weather and the mice incident and went home this morning. He was an interesting character though, a cello player at George-Mason University planning to make a career of his instrument.

This is Columbus Day weekend and the first sunny day of the weekend so it seemed that half of Virginia was on a day hike today. Well, not all Virginians, I came across a group of about 50 Chinese day hikers. This evening I met a family that didn’t speak English, only Korean, I think. They showed me a map and pointed to where they wanted to go. They were obviously lost and on the wrong trail, but I didn’t know how to tell them that they were on the wrong trail. I patted the ground with my hand and pointed to the AT on the map. We weren’t making much progress so I took the map from the man who wouldn’t stop spinning it and gave them a wave with my hand to follow me. I walked the family to the trail intersection and pointed them in the right direction. I received several bows from them as I left. People were everywhere today so I was held up by question and answer sessions regularly. Always I heard the same questions and generally I gave the same answers about food, sleep, bears, etc. I answered the same ten questions fifty times today. I can deal with it though. It’s fun sometimes.

Although I started late today, I made it to the shelter right at dark. I put on my headlamp at the very last minute so I could read the signpost on the trail. When I turned the corner to the shelter, my heart jumped into my throat and I stopped when I saw eyes glowing in the dark woods. One, two, three sets of orange and yellow globes staring at me. I said something, I can’t remember what, and two more sets appeared as heads turned towards me. Soon I recognized them as a herd of deer. I walked another twenty steps and looked over my shoulder. The eyes in the darkness followed me.

I finally reached Bearfence Mountain Hut. After a quick dinner and conversation with a section hiker, I crawled into my wet but comfortable sleeping bag. My quads ached until I finally fell asleep. Like they did when I slept on the banks of the Potomac, my leg muscles fired involuntarily, tightening and loosening as though they believed me to still be taking steps. The Shenandoah has proven to be more difficult that I originally expected. I think the weather contributes to the increased level of difficulty.

Share adventure with others

  • Tweet

More adventure, please!

Filed Under: Adventure, Adventure Trip, Backpacking, Mark's Appalachian Trail Thru Hike, Virginia Hiking

Share your comments... Cancel reply

Click to Buy eBook

Buy This eBook from AdventurePossible.com ($4.99)

Based on the actual adventure and transformation of Mark Kelley, publisher of this website, who struggled mightily on his hike through the rugged and remote 100 Mile Wilderness on the Appalachian Trail.

Amazon Top 20 Best Seller for Adventure Travel eBooks.

Buy It Now. Support Adventure Possible. ($4.99)

Meet the Adventure Possible Family

kelley family photo

Hi, My Name is Katie and I Married an Adventurer.

Quitting My Job

How can we afford to quit work and to travel for a year?

Are we investing for the future while we travel long term?

How much does it cost to RV around America for a year?

Adventure Possible in the News

Live a Life of Adventure in 15 Steps

Our family has adopted an approach to modern life that builds adventure into life's trajectory. We call it the Adventure Possible … Read More

Adventure in NC

  • Life of Adventure
  • Books
  • Sponsorships
  • Weekend Adventures
  • Appalachian Trail
  • Bike America
  • RV’ing
  • The Kelleys

Dream Big

  • Live a Life of Adventure
  • RV across America
  • Bike across America
  • Hike the AT

Resources

  • Checklists & Tools
  • Adventure Sponsorships
  • Weekend Adventures

Shop

  • Shop
  • Cart
  • Checkout
  • My Account

Get Involved

  • Contributing Writers
  • Buy our Books
  • About The Site
  • Meet the Kelleys

Social

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Search

© 2013-2016 ProTrack Marketing LLC. Raleigh, North Carolina. Google+ Publisher.