TRAIL TO HIGH FALLS, TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, 1500 LOCAL TIME

“How much farther to the waterfall?” Gavin asked.

“It should be just around this corner,” my dad replied.

We were on a peaceful hike that day. The hike wasn’t that long nor was there really any reason to remember it, but it is a day that will forever live in infamy.

“Zzzzzzzzzpp,” said the bee.

“Yeeeeoooowww!!” Camden replied.

The next thing we knew, we were being assaulted on all sides by swarms of ground hornets, whose nest we had just walked through. The assault would have made any military tactician proud. Like any great ambush, we stood there for a minute shocked and trying to figure out what had just happened, but when we did, we took off like five half-mad people towards the waterfall. Luckily for us, it was just around the corner. We didn’t do the dive into the water and hope the bees don’t follow us into the water routine, but we did cross the creek at the base of the waterfall as if the bees were still after us. Once we had crossed the creek, the bees had stopped following us. But then it dawned on us…..We still have to go back.

“What is the one thing that you could have done that would have not caused you all that pain?” You may ask.

Why thanks for asking, I’ll tell you what that one thing is. Awareness. Yep it’s that simple. Had we been paying a little more attention to the trail we would have quite possibly noticed the ground hornets flying in and out of their nest in the ground and could have found another way. But nooooo…..we were goofing off having a good ole’ time (not that it’s not okay to have a good time when you’re hiking).

So, I’m going to tell you a few things that we’ve learned over the years that help us stay aware and focused on the trail, yet allow us to enjoy our hike.

Simple Tip 1

Keep your hands out of your pockets. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve heard that one growing up. The time required to get your hands out of your pockets and catch yourself in a fall will always be longer than the time it takes your face to hit the ground! And you’ll get laughed at by everyone hiking with you.

Simple 2

Now that your hands are out of your pockets, we’ll move on to why they should be out of your pockets. Hiking trails, at least the ones our family likes, are not paved. There are tree roots everywhere (the ones you really have to watch out for are the ones that will reach up and grab you when you’re not looking). There are also snakes who like to lay on top of rocks and in the trail on warm, sunny days in the spring and fall (this happened to my dad on a hike we did in southern Indiana, and it resulted in a rather humorous dance that would have been impeded by restrained hands).

Simple Tip 3

If a tree falls in the woods, does it make a sound?

Well….that’s a question for a different blog.

Anywho, now we are going to talk about what to do when a tree falls on the trail. Solution…..step over, not on. If per chance the log is too high to step over, your best bet is to go under. Nothing worse than stepping on a wet fallen log and becoming wet and fallen yourself.

Simple Tip 4

Don’t text and dri….sorry hike.

If you’re texting, you’ll miss out on your dad doing a dance around a snake, the tree branch that’s hanging low over the trail, the deer watching you from a distance, or a really pretty flower that’s growing beside the trail. This one is pretty easy though. Most of the really cool trails are outside of the range of cellphone towers. I’d say leave your phone in the car but you never know when you might want to take a selfie with a random snail you found.

Simple Tip 5

Given the fact that cellphones don’t always work where you will be going, make sure to tell somebody where you will be and when they should expect to hear from you again. You never know if one of those tree roots is going grab you and hold you hostage on the trail.

Simple Tip 6

If you see something cool…..stop. Don’t try to keep walking while looking at that pretty flower you found because you quit texting. Rocks in the trail like to target people who are distracted looking at something while walking. This rule especially applies when you are hiking on trails that have a cliff for an edge.

Simple Tip 7

Make sure you follow the trail markings. Trust me, it can be really easy to lose track of the trail. Especially when you’re targeting your companions by shaking the water off of trees along the trail after it has rained or throwing unidentified fungi at each other. But seriously, just be aware of where the trail leads.

This list can go on and on but I hope you get the picture. If you’re not used to having to watch where you’re walking, it might take a little while to get used to. Eventually, though, your subconscious will take over that part and you’ll be able to enjoy the beauty that surrounds you without having to worry about dancing around snakes (but that is funny for the rest of the group that you’re hiking with).

I know you guys are dying to know how we fared on our return trip through the ground hornet nest. After nursing our wounds for a while at the waterfall, we searched for another way around the hornet’s nest but to no avail. So, we got ready and planned our escape. We decided to run as fast as we could through the hornet’s nest and hope to be through and get ahead of the bees.

“On three,” Dad whispered.

“One…” our bodies tensed with growing anticipation.

“Two…” swatting down the “What if this doesn’t work?” thoughts that flooded our heads.

“Three!!!!”

We took off like the Rough Riders as they charged up San Juan Hill. Buuuuutttt, we didn’t fare as well. Looking back, the screaming probably had little to no effect. The ground hornets were waiting for us, still agitated by our previous invasion. It was in that moment that we realized why they hadn’t chased us all the way to the waterfall. They knew that we had to come back. They simply prepared an ambush that put their previous ambush to shame. But, we charged on anyways. The next thing we knew, we were running up the hill with no idea where the trail was, tearing off our shirts (except for my mom) to get the hornets that had flown up our shirts. We ran, we paused, we ran some more. Here the screaming helped. We were waving our shirts around to try to knock hornets off of ourselves and each other. Poor BabyDoll, our German Shorthaired Pointer, had three hornets clinging to her rear end like they were drilling for oil.  We finally made it up the hill and managed to find the trail again. The hornets decided that they had sufficiently vanquished their foes and decided to leave us alone. Get this, the only one that didn’t get stung—Gavin (maybe screaming like a little girl was more effective). And yes, the rest of us are still a little bitter about that.

Justin