Deer and Birds and Bears, Oh My!

       This past Friday I went hiking with my friend Elaine at Sinking Creek Mountain. I can say hands down that this was one of my most adventurous hikes ever. And that’s a heavy statement because I’ve done quite a bit! Sinking Creek Mountain is approximately 30 minutes from Blacksburg and in close proximity to Caldwell Fields (a fabulous place to camp by the way). We decided to complete this hike because it was different from the “regulars” aka McAfee’s Knob, Dragon’s Tooth, and the Cascades. It was mentioned in a hiking guide by the Outdoor Club at VT and ever since I obtained this guide, I’ve been determined to hike every single trail listed. There wasn’t much on the internet about this hike so we kinda took a shot in the dark, hopeful that the view was worth the 4 miles to the top. Well, it did not disappoint. Here’s the tale:

       Elaine and I left Blacksburg at 4:15pm – a little later than we had planned but nonetheless we figured we would be able to make it up the trail and back before dark. The place was very easy to find thanks to the directions provided by the Outdoor Club. The trailhead began near a stream which is a great way to start a journey. We headed up the mountain and we each 

chose sticks to hike with. Mine was more for stability but Elaine located a branch to clear the way of spider webs. What a trooper! As we climbed, bugs were VICIOUSLY attacking me. I don’t know what it is, but I always seem to be the person they are most attracted to. If only I had this effect on Ryan Gosling....oh, uh anyway a giant gnat (I guess that’s sort of an oxymoron) decided to fly into my eye and set up camp there. Tears were rolling down my face as I blinked like a lunatic to try and remove the pest. Elaine was carefully instructing me how to move my finger around my eye to remove it since she could see the evil creature but it was still hard to locate. Eventually, after much labor and stress, the bug was removed. Hallelujah! We continued along the path and we came across so many fascinating creatures! All sorts of lizards, caterpillars, millipedes, bunnies, birds – it was incredible! Then, I saw a giant deer jump about 20 yards ahead of us! It was so majestic. I yelled to Elaine “Oh my gosh!” and she immediately turned around and ran the other way. She thought it was a bear or something. So I had to convince her that there’s no way we would run into a bear. Well guess what.....BLACK BEAR ALERT about 2 miles after this. We were terrified out of our wits. So here’s how it happened. Elaine was ahead and all of a sudden, I hear a very loud movement in the distance and Elaine quickly turns around and flips out saying “It was a bear!! OH MY GOD” I didn’t believe her at first. I mean come on, a bear? Really? So I went to investigate and sure enough, the bear returned near the path and it was REAL!!! Then I started flipping out a little. But I also wanted to get its picture. While hiding

Bear sighting. Black blur in distance.

behind a tree, I carefully watched it move around. I had never seen one in the wild before and it was such a gorgeous creature. By this point, the bear started coming closer to us so we quickly decided to abandon the hike, turn around, and head to the shelter. As we were walking back, it was following us at a distance!!! We were being stalked by a BEAR. We'll sign our contract for the Discovery Channel now please. So we quickened our pace and eventually it lost interest in us. We seriously were having panic attacks at this point, but I wanted to go back and see if it was still there. I walked ahead with Elaine hesitantly following and it had left the area. We discussed whether we should keep trekking or turn around and call it a day. We decided that since it was nowhere in sight, and that we were already more than halfway to the top, that we would continue. It was quite difficult to face the fear of it possibly coming back considering we didn’t know if it was aggressive or not. We persisted and every time we heard a noise our heads turned so fast that we could have injured our necks. You really don’t believe things like this can happen until you experience it yourself and the danger becomes real.
       After about another mile, we bumped into a thru hiker and asked if the view was worth the trip (not that we were going to turn around by this point – we were just curious). The guy said it was fabulous and was only a mile ahead. We started getting excited and quickened our pace. We even ran some portions. The whole trail was ever-changing. It was like a combination of McAfee’s (mostly soil with somewhat steep inclines), Dragon’s Tooth (rocky and more rugged), and Rice Fields (steep, long, and flat near the top with a narrow pathway). There was even a part that looked very desolate or that lightning had taken the lives of all the trees in the area. Very artistic. As we were nearing the summit, thunder was rumbling in the distance. This was very ominous and we started getting worried that we may not make it to the top before an unsuspecting thunderstorm hit. However, we didn’t let the loud sounds deter us and pushed on

even faster, sometimes running. We eventually reached the top (not before Elaine spotted a snail and named him Gary, after the snail in Spongebob, on my suggestion) and it was gorgeous! I wouldn’t say it’s was as fabulous as McAfee’s or Dragon Tooth’s view but it was amazing! Since we were on the ridge of Sinking Creek Mountain (which by the way, you could basically hear this creek during the entire hike), you could see both to the left and right of the ridge. Meaning, you had two different valleys to choose between. One valley was more visible than the other and you could see mountains upon mountains upon mountains in the distance. It was wild! And you could really notice the pattern of the closest mountain – seeing how little hills and valleys came together to create it. Really gave the mountain some character.
       As the thunder clouds drew nearer, we decided that it was time to scadattle. We didn’t get to spend as much time at the top as I had hoped, but with the lightning closing in we couldn’t take any chances. We threw on our raincoats, began to descend, and the thunder was ROARING all around us. We were scared out of our skin. So we did what any human would do in the face of danger....RUNNNNN! We ran down the mountain so fast that the trees looked like a blur. The wind began to whip all around us and I thought for sure a tornado was about to form. As we outran the storm, we were very careful around the rocky surfaces, but Elaine and I both rolled our ankles a few times which was quite painful. After this we slowed to a quick walk but soon after that, rain droplets began to fall. At this point, I wanted it to rain because I was burning hot. We heard a crash of lightning close by and the thunder grew even louder. Elaine was very frightened and wanted to keep running but I told her we needed to be more careful otherwise we would get injured and with no cell reception, we would be stranded. So I started singing Favorite Things from the Sound of Music to calm her down. I then came to the lyric where it says “raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens” and Elaine chimed in with “Raindrops keep falling on my head” and BOOM. A torrential downpour began. IT WAS AWESOME!! But also terrifying. We began to run again because with the rain kicking in it was going to be too dark to see the trail soon. As the rain was pelting us in the face, I couldn’t help but smile. I know these are times when most people would hate their life, but these are the moments I live for. We were on a grand adventure that scared me silly but we were living on the edge – out of our comfort zone. These experiences make my blood pump. Literally. I was shaking a little and my legs started to go weak. I started laughing just because I was having such a good time and Elaine thought I was crazy. She eventually came around - embracing the greatness of it all and agreed that it was awesome. The rain started to let up and we started walking again. By this point, we had run halfway down the mountain which is approximately 2 miles. My legs were about to collapse. We had escaped the storm but now darkness was closing in. We reached the shelter shortly after that and debated staying for the night even though we had nothing to camp with. The thru hiker we bumped into earlier was at the shelter and exclaimed “Oh good you girls made it! I was worried you weren’t going to get back in time. I didn’t want to go back and rescue you. But I would have.” What a nice guy haha. We had 1.5 miles left to go and it was running close to 8:15PM. We began to strategize. The first two miles down the mountain, we ran and covered in a half hour but now we were traveling more slowly since everything was wet. We figured we could make it to the car by 9 so we trekked on. There were some parts that were very dark and I started getting worried. We did have flashlights, but hiking in the dark is never a good idea.

Especially since we had run into a bear earlier. The trail, like McAfee’s Knob, seemed to draw on for ages. Finally, I caught sight of the road through the trees! We were close!! We screamed war cries of accomplishment and triumph as we reached the car. We got in and I swear those car seats were the most comfortable of my life. We took an “after” picture of how attractive we had become and pulled away from the most dangerous hike I have ever done. We made it!! Celebratory chocolate Frosties were enjoyed upon arrival in Blacksburg.