Have no fear. I’m working on the Rutgers preview and prediction, but I want to chronicle yesterday’s hiking misadventure, which I won’t soon forget.

Anniversary Hike

Monday was the eighth anniversary of the hike on which Artificially Sweetened and I first met. I wanted to commemorate that event with an anniversary hike, but AS has been encumbered by a plethora of issues while this retired turkey can frequently find some free time. Accordingly, not wanting to let the event pass yet another year without a proper celebration, I decided to do a solo hike in the same wild area in which we had hiked eight years ago. I felt that I could get out to my remote Kerberos cache and do some maintenance on it to provide additional purpose to my hike.

I arrived that decision around noontime yesterday. The first sign of an impending calamity evidenced itself when I checked out my handheld GPS unit, which it turned out had been incapacitated by a percussive encounter with concrete pavement suffered at the Heart Walk on Saturday. Okay, I thought. No dedicated GPS unit. But hell, GPS is built into my Android phone and I have a couple of mapping/tracking apps. Besides, I’d be sticking to well-marked trails on which I’ve hiked many times.

So, I made my way to Seminole State Forest with a fanny pack, two large bottles of water, some cheese and crackers, and my hiking stick. Upon arrival, I sprayed myself with the obligatory DEET, for bugs are much happier about 92° (F) weather than are humans. I was dressed lightly to accommodate the heat, which meant I was wearing shorts, which I don’t ordinarily do if there’s a chance I might be bushwhacking. This was going to be a wide open trail hike, so no problem.

Yeah, right. If you believe that, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.

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