Friday, before driving home, I drove to the trailhead to do the Blue Mt Fire Tower hike. Rated as "hard" on the All Trails app. I didn't remember it as a hard hike the last time I did it, about 20 years ago with my older sister.
Anyhoo, when I got there, I deployed the shower stall so I could change clothes discreetly. And I parked so the truck would be in the Sun, so the solar panels could top off the batteries.
Off I went.
I was little worried because a young woman arrived at the same time. I couldn't tell if she was being slow so i'd go first, but she gave up and left before me. Felt bad about that, but I needed time to get my stuff sorted.
Sure enough about 30 minutes later I realized I had caught up to her on the trail. I always feel bad for solo female hikers in those situations. I briefly stopped at one point to take a leak before passing her, because I could feel the need to pee coming and I didn't want to pass her, just to have to stop again. That and how creepy would it be to pass her, just to have her catch up 5 minutes later as I'm standing just off the trail taking a leak. Not good.
Anyhoo, I caught up to her again 5 minutes later, and I just said I'd pass when she felt comfortable. I guess that was the right thing to say because she seemed to relax a lot, and started asking questions about my truck. She was interested in the shower stall I had.
I walked in front of her, she followed behind the rest of the way up. We traded travel and camping stories. She lives in Duluth Minnesota with her boyfriend but was on a road trip to explore the northeast. I talked more than her on the climb up, she told me later that my pace was faster than she'd normally go, but she wants to get in better shape appreciated the challenge to push herself a little.
I will say again. Gosh Darn!!! it's so much easier hiking up a mt at 215lbs vs 260-290lbs. Night and day difference. I'm sure with all the biking I do my legs and cardio are strong too, but it felt great climbing up, and the poles save my knees, especially on the way down.
Funny enough she confessed on the mt top that she carries a taser just in case. I think maybe I said a quick "sorry" about the awkwardness of passing her on the trail to prompt that topic. She dug it out from her backpack, and I couldn't help but to comment that it doesn't do her any good to have it buried in her bag, she needs to keep it on her waist or shoulder strap where she has quick access to it. She said she didn't have anything to do that. I showed her the mesh bag on my backpack's shoulder strap. I don't use the one on my left chest strap, but couldn't remove it until getting back to the truck because I needed to cut through the stitches on the end of strap that keeps the end of the strap folded up so it won't pull through the buckle.
Anyhoo, after the taser convesation, we climbed up the tower. Me leading again, photos from the tower down below. Again, leaves nearing peak color. I left Maya/Mara to enjoy the summit and hiked down solo. I had trekking poles, so it was going to be a lot easier for me to hike down, and I think she was tired and needed to eat and rest more before heading back. I thought parting ways up top would also help avoid the creep factor, and there were quite a few other hikers too. All couples, so it felt safe to leave her on her own.
I hiked solo on the way down, listening to my audiobooks. Down at the truck I ate some reheated low carb pasta and lentil meatballs, heated water for a shower, and went digging through my stuff to donate the mesh bag to the girl. I also decided to gift her that little orange green fanny pack I made. I've been wanting to make a new one for my bike's front rack anyway. Something I can strap down better
I put the bags under her front wiper. Just as I was packing up, she got back and drove off, she hadn't noticed the bag under the wiper. She spotted it and turned around to thank me. I told her I'd left her some contact info if she was interested in the freestanding shower tent I have that I haven't used since adding the mounted shower stall to the truck. I added Jacqui's info too, I felt it might be less creepy that way. She seemed very happy with my homemade ugly little fanny pack, perfect size to carry her taser and it has a built in clip in one of the pockets to keep car keys secure.
Mara/Maya will be visiting Salem Mass from a friend's place in NH in a week or so, but it may not be worth driving out of the way for it. We live an hour west of Salem. Also, the shower tent takes up space she may not have in her tiny Rav4. It's like 8"x8" x 3ft packed up. a lot more space than folded tarp.
I like to help out the younger campers just getting started. And I just have gear sitting around. My Maryland camper buddy and his friends donated some gear to a nice young man just getting started with overlanding. It's a nice way to pay it forward and get the next generation started. Lots of backpacking channels do that on their youtube channels. Donate their old gear that's still perfectly good to their followers . A lot of the channels get free gear to test and review, so donating to the new generation seems like a perfect solution.
Drive home was uneventful. Time to ride out the Nor-easter. Going to rest Saturday, but will use the treadmill in the attic and get started sewing a new bag while 4-5 inches of rain blows through. Stuck indoors until Tuesday if the forecast holds, but I don't mind. it was a busy week.
















































