I wake up at 6:00. Late. I should have been on the road by then. At 6:30 I throw everything into my trunk and head off to meet Andy. The weather is shit - rainy, gloomy, early. I get to Indy by 8:30. Andy is still sleeping and answers the door, he actually won't wake up for another 2 hours or so. We drive south. Me in the Miata, He in the Nissan. We find Delany Park without any problems. We pass the types of places that let you know that you are in America. A Jellystone campground with Full-size Yogi, a stand selling pure honey, and a museum to archaic gas station signs. As we are trying to find the trailhead, and the nearest parking lot, I start to head down a single wide gravel road. After about 100 feet, the road curves and I realize that the road ahead is flooded. We negotiate back up the road, reversed - praying that the cars don't get stuck. I drop my car off, make sure that all valuables are in the trunk, and throw my pack into the Nissan.
Andy realizes he doesn't have an atlas in his car so we turn a 25 minute drive into an hour because we have to backtrack to get to the right highway. At Sellersburg, we stop at BK to have my last real meal for a couple days. (This turns out to be false) After a few wrong turns and pleasant directions from a gruff old man, we find the Knobstone trailhead. Andy remarks that it is going to feel weird leaving me out in the middle of Southern Indiana. I say that it will be like college. He plays along and says that he will sob on the way home. 12:45 p.m. April 2, 2005. Mile 0 and the long walk back to my car begins.
The trail is amazing but a little muddy at first. Almost impassable without getting stuck at first. Near Bowery Creek I meet a man carrying a large stick. We are both surprised at the other's presence. He says, "Pretty quiet today except the wind." I agree and we part. I notice as I walk, literally, hundreds of fallen trees. The ranger's have done a great job at cutting the logs so that the path remains unobstructed. I rest at Bartle Knob Run, fill my water, and force myself to eat. The weather by now is brisk but sunny. The water in the creek is ice cold. The wind is so strong that it sounds like jets in the sky overhead.
As I'm ascending Round Knob I see a burst of white and find that I'm looking straight at a huge deer. Even though I'm staring directly at it, it blends in so well that I begin to think that I'm imagining it. Just as quickly at it arrived, it turned and ran. At mile 8, I realize I haven't seen a marker in the a while. In fact, I can't find one anywhere, ahead or behind. I'm lost. Initial fear sets in for a minute but it's only 5:00 and I have plenty of light left to recover my senses and the path. I soon realize that I was on an ATV trail and didn't make a sharp left to stay on the KT. I hike for a few more miles and then set up camp. As I take a picture of my campsite, the batteries in my camera die. How I have useless extra weight to carry.
I am completely alone but I can still hear the sounds of real planes, animals, and gunshots. I figure that they are illegal hunters starting early on the wild turkey. I fall asleep quickly.
