Trip Journal – Tuscarora Trail Backpack Sec 6 and 7行程記錄—Tuscarora步道之Backpacking之旅

It was hot; it was over 90 degrees both on Saturday and Sunday. It was dry; on both days we had to hike about 10 miles without encountering a water source. I couldn’t forget that the sunlight was poisonous and the mosquitoes at camp were mischievous because of the tanning and bug bites on my arms.

Not like the sections 3 and 4 of this trail, the sections 6 and 7 we hiked this time were not well marked—both the starting point and end point were hard to locate. If not because we had a participant with sharp eyes, we could have wasted so much time even before we headed into the woods. Most of the trail was either rocky plus wobbly or covered by overgrown ferns and sometimes poison ivy. But the worst experience happened when we almost got lost because a lumber company used the same color paint as the trail blazes to mark their logging area.

So you might ask, “why were you guys there?” It was fun regardless of all the hassle and sweat, and we were so excited when we finally reached a big creek, dipping in the chilling water and drinking from an abundant water supply. At night, camping at a clearing, sleeping so deeply under the starlight generated thousands of years ago. Water, food, and rest. It’s so easy to feel satisfied in the outdoors, because other than those basics, what else do we really need?

Saturday morning, the trip started with a long but gradual uphill on paved roads and dirt roads. We traveled by farms, passed some houses and a church. Local residents waved at us and we didn’t see other human beings until the next day we hiked through the Cowans Gap State Park. The road walking was pleasant but a bit boring. I was anxious to be in the woods, and hike on the “real” trail.

The trail was very real. At numerous occasions, we had to walk on top of exposed rock fields. It was not like hopping rocks in a river. It was jamming the toes this second and trying to maintain our balance the next second. Stepping on an uneven rock field was hard enough; however, on top of it, we had to deal with sharp edges of the rocks and the fear of falling off while our centers of gravity were swinging.

Another challenge was the overgrown vegetation, and the worst enemy was not poison ivy, but thorns. I was in a long sleeve shirt and pants, but I couldn’t get away from them. They covered their identities with other greens and those spikes were like those shining eyes of wild wolves in the dark. They were always ready for an ambush, and there was no way to pass through them without putting on some scars.

My water was getting low. I carried 3 liters, and that was not enough. Participants were curious about where the next water source was. “Based on the guidebook, we will cross a stream in 2 miles, and then another stream 0.1 mile after that and another one 0.8 mile after that.” An hour had passed, there was a stream but it looked more like a stream ruin; it was basically dry, with some puddles of water which didn’t look drinkable. The situation was the same for the one which was 0.1 mile away from the current one.

“Now, participants, I have an English question. Is a stream bigger or a creek bigger?” Nobody could give me an affirmative answer. “There’s a creek in another 1.7 miles.” I continued. My participants wondered whether they should aim their hope to the creek. “Wait, this creek has a name, “I happily announced this piece of new information which I just noticed, “it says ‘cross south branch of Aughwick Creek on bridge.’” “If it has a name, then it must be bigger,” said one participant. “On bridge?! Bridge is the key word,” said another participant. Every piece of evidence we gathered pointed to the direction that this creek was very promising.

Baker couldn’t wait to take off, and said “I’ll wait for you guys on the BRIDGE.” The rest of us kept our steady pace, and non-surprisingly the stream 0.8 miles farther was also dry. When the trail turned into a logging road, another stream showed up and at the side of the road, some water looked usable. Mike and Cate decided to gather some water first because they didn’t have much water left. “We will meet you guys on the bridge.”

The four of us departed and followed the logging road. “Wait, where is the trail?” It was not because we couldn’t find any blaze, but because we found a blue blaze on every tree right next to us. It was weird, but we didn’t remember we saw any turn or side trail, and we saw the creek which had a name shortly after. “I didn’t see a bridge, and… where is Baker?” I asked my participants to gather some water, and in the meantime, I blew my whistle really hard and anxiously looked for Baker’s image towards upstream and then downstream.

“Szu-ting, where are you?” I heard Chiungyu calling my name. I got back to where we dropped our packs, and I saw Mike walking towards me without Cate and without a pack. “What is the situation now?” I asked myself, puzzled. Soon enough, Mike solved the mystery, “The trail turned to the right just shortly after where we stopped for water. We saw the bridge and Baker.”

We regrouped at the bridge, and I saw Baker who had be chilling out for a while. I complained to Cate about the mean and unforgiving mistake the lumber company did to us, “couldn’t they use another color to mark their trees?” Holding my water filter, I pumped and pumped, and kept filling up water bottles one after another. I drank a whole water bottle, nonstop, so did other participants. The water tasted so good, sweet and cool. Everybody was happy.

We reached the campsite late, around 6:30 in the evening. It was a long day, 13 miles. Sweetly we had a piped spring right around the campsite, and it was not dry. After dinner, I couldn’t stand the mosquitoes anymore and escaped to my tent. It was eight-something and the sun had not set. I vaguely heard people walk back to their sleeping pads. All the noise began to settle, a quiet night therefore started.

Not much noise during the night, except for occasional snoring. I had to get up at 3 to respond to a natural call, and I walked to an appropriate spot without the help of a headlamp. Before I re-entered my tent, I gazed at the sky, the stars were bright. I also looked around, guessing what kind of sweet dreams my participants were having. Everybody must have been so tired, and it seemed that their sleep couldn’t be interrupted in any way.

Oh, everybody having a good night sleep was only my wishful thinking after all. The next morning, Jay asked everybody, “Did you guys hear a bear last night?” Jay, our professional bear bag hanger, must be so good at recognizing movements and noise from a bear. Poor Jay was holding his walking stick inside his tent after he sensed the possibility of a bear appearance.

Sunday was another long and dry day. After we passed Cowans Gap State Park at the first mile, we would have no water for the rest of the trip. I changed to my sports top and shorts, because the previous day too much clothing had irritated my skin. Even though long sleeves were more effective against UV and pants would shield off thorns, I figured it was worth trading the extra protection for less itchy rashes.

Mike and Cate bailed out at the state park, because poor Cate had blisters, hikers’ worst rivals. The five of us continued our journey, and that was a hard decision, because the smells of grilling hamburgers, bacon, and hot dogs were so tempting. Jay bought a soda from the park and wished there were a hot dog stand, which made me wonder whether he would be the next one to bail out. In the park, the blue blaze disappeared out of the blue; we lost the trail again and got back on track after a long while.

The trail for the second day was actually more interesting—it had more ups and downs, numerous nice vistas, less rocky terrain, and was better maintained. Along the trail, the state flower, mount laurel was in her full blossom. Everything was pleasant except for the steaming temperature; we all wished there were another bridge on a creek, even if the creek had no name.

We also had a breathtaking incident—Neil tripped on a root and fell on his face. I was behind when that happened, and I remembered I heard a loud crash, and the next second I saw the right side of Neil’s face was completely covered by dust. Thankfully he was alright, and because of his sacrifice, nobody tripped on those malicious roots again.

I only brought three liters of water with me because that was the maximum amount I could carry. I had to evenly distribute my water intake so that I could have something to drink through the whole hike. The merciless sun kept toasting us, and turned on our napping mode. During the trip, we had to stop several times just to cool down and recharge our energy, but we never dared to stop for too long in case we could never move again. It was the first time I felt so close to heat exhaustion.

We hiked out of the trail between 2 and 3 o’clock in the afternoon, we shook hands, saying goodbye to each other. Despite the hot weather, I knew that everybody enjoyed their hike according to their smiles and elevated spirits. Most importantly, all the male participants made it back home in decent hours to celebrate their Father’s Day.


這次的行程，如果只以兩個字來概括形容，就是熱和乾。兩天的氣溫都超過攝氏三十六度；同時，行程中，每天各有超過十五公里的行程，是毫無水源的。回到家中，曬紅的肌膚以及紅腫的蟲咬痕跡，再三喚起，我對於行程中，豔陽殘酷，以及營區蚊子無情的記憶。

此次健行的區段，不似四月時健行的另一區段一般，標示地清楚明白。要不是一個隊員眼尖，在行程真正開始前，還不知道要浪費多少時間，在確定健行起點以及終點的所在地上。大部分的步道都是岩跡斑斑，該些石塊在隊伍走過時，不論大小，總是會不停晃動；另外，春夏之際，雜草樹木叢生，加上滿地都是有毒的poison ivy，將步道幾乎整個掩蓋住了。但這些還不是最壞的，最令人沮喪的經驗是：當地的伐木公司用和步道標示一樣顏色的油漆，來劃分他們伐木的領域，害得隊伍差點迷失路徑。

看到這裡，也許你會問我：「那你們去那幹啥？」旅途的艱辛，和眾人揮灑的汗水以外，得來的經歷是令人愉悅的。不能忘記：隊伍好不容易抵達小溪，浸入沁涼的溪水，恣意地享受不虞匱乏的水源的歡喜。傍晚，隊伍在視野開闊處紮營，在數千萬年前產生的星光下沈睡。水、食物、休息。在戶外，心靈很容易就得到滿足，畢竟，除了那些基本需要，我們還要要求什麼嗎？

星期六早晨，一段在柏油路和砂石路上，長且緩的上坡路，是旅程的序曲。隊伍穿過農田，鄉間人家，教堂建築。當地的居民閒坐在庭院間，友善地和我們揮手招呼，這些居民也是當天見到的最後人煙。走在這鄉間小路，悠然愜意卻也有些無趣，讓人等不及要走上「真實」的步道。

步道還的確相當地真實。多處都是暴露在外的岩石層，高下參差。走過這些岩石層，可不像在小溪流中跳石頭那樣好玩。這一秒腳指頭給擠得難過，下一秒嘗試著努力保持平衡。這已經夠受了，卻還得擔心被銳利的岩石邊刮傷，重心搖擺的時候怕會跌落太大的距離。

另一個挑戰則是崢嶸生長的植物，最可怕的還不是poison ivy，是多刺的枝條。我穿著長袖和長褲，還是不能倖免。這些長滿刺的枝條，用著其他植物的綠顏色作為掩護，那些刺，就像夜晚間野狼的冷眼，隨時隨地準備著偷襲，想要全身而退，簡直是天方夜譚。

我的飲水逐漸將要告罄，帶了三公升，還是不夠。隊員紛紛問著還要多久才會抵達下一個水源。「手冊上說，兩英里之後有條細流（stream），之後0.1英里還有一條，再來0.8英里之後則是另一條。」一個小時後，呃，看到的哪叫做細流啊，叫細流遺跡還差不多。它基本上是乾的，點綴著三三兩兩的小水窪，盛著的是非常可疑的水。0.1英里後的那條細流，情況也是差相彷彿。

「隊員們，讓我問你們一個英文問題，是stream大還是creek大啊？」沒有人給予我肯定的答覆。「1.7英里過後，有一條溪，」我繼續說著。隊員們思考著該不該將希望灌注在這條溪上。「等一下，這條溪有名字ㄟ，」我興奮地宣布這條剛從手冊上翻來的消息，逐字地唸著「cross south branch of Aughwick Creek on bridge.」「如果有名字，鐵定是比較大條了，」一個隊員這樣說著。「過橋？『橋』可是關鍵字！」另外一個隊員喊著。根據收集到的證據，這條溪肯定是條有出息的溪啊。

Baker等不及要出發，跟我報備說「我先走一步，會在『橋』上等你們。」剩下的隊伍則踏著篤定的步伐前進，果不其然，0.8英里之後的細流還是乾的。不久之後，步道轉成一條伐木道路，道路旁轉出條細流，有些水看起來還可以用。Mike和Cate決定先取些水再說，他們實在不能再等太久，我微微頷首，說：「那我們在橋上等你們囉！」

剩下的四個人繼續沿著伐木道路前進，「等一下，步道呢？」這可不是因為我們找不到步道標示（trail blaze），而是在身旁的每一個樹上，我們都看到一個步道標示。這可怪了，但是我們明明沒有看到轉彎或是岔道啊？！同時，那條鼎鼎大名的溪也很快地出現在眼前了。「嗯，沒有看到橋呢，而且……Baker呢？」我讓其他三人先取些水，自己則用力地吹著哨子，焦急地上游下游走來走去，尋找Baker的蹤跡。

「思婷，妳在哪？」我聽到瓊玉的呼喚，於是走回卸下大背的地點。看到Mike緩緩地向我行來，奇的是他背上空空，身邊也沒有Cate的倩影。疑團馬上被Mike的告白所打破「步道在我們停下來取水後不遠，就往右轉了，我們看到那座橋，也看到Baker。」

隊伍總算在橋邊團圓了，Baker已經乘涼了好一會兒了。我絮絮地和Cate抱怨著伐木公司，殘酷而且不可原諒的錯誤：「他們難道不能用其他顏色的漆嗎？」一邊提著飲水過濾器，汲著一罐接著一罐的水。我一口氣灌下了一整公升的水，其他團員似乎也咕嚕咕嚕地喝了不少。水的滋味真好，又冰又甜，大家都開心的了不得。

到營區已晚，約莫傍晚六點半左右。這是一個冗長的一天，十三英里的健行。令人高興的是，營區旁有水流不斷的清泉。用餐罷，被蚊子騷擾地受不了的我，決定快快躲到帳棚裡去，當時已經八點多了，太陽卻還沒有下山。隱約間，我聽到團員一個個走回睡覺崗位，慢慢地，各種聲音都沈澱下來，夜晚於焉開始。

除了偶爾的打呼聲，整個晚上都很安靜。凌晨三點，起身回應自然的呼喚，不需要頭燈的幫助，就找到了適宜解放的地方。在重回帳棚之前，我抬頭凝望著天空，星星正對我眨眼。環顧四周，心頭猜想著團員不知道正做著什麼好夢呢！大家似乎都睡得很沈很香，恐怕沒有人可以打擾他們的睡眠。

後來，才知道那只不過是我一廂情願的猜測罷了。第二天早上，Jay問著「昨夜，你們有沒有聽到熊的聲音？」Jay，隊伍的專業熊袋懸掛家，想必對於辨識熊的動靜，相當地有心得。可憐的Jay在昨晚，聽到疑似熊的聲響之後，在帳棚裡心神不寧地緊握著木杖，輾轉了一晚上。

星期天，還是一樣乾，也是一樣長。在第一英里，過了Cowans Gap州立公園之後，就再也沒有水了。由於前一天衣著太多，悶熱的結果，身上長了不少疹子，今天，我換上清涼的運動上衣，以及短褲。雖然說長袖防曬較為容易，長褲也可以擋一些荊棘，我還是寧願用一些額外的保護，來緩取少一些紅癢疹子的折磨。

Mike和Cate在隊伍經過州立公園的時候，決定先行撤退，這是個不得已的決定，但考慮Cate的雙腳，都長了登山者的最終敵人—水泡，我了解也同意這個抉擇是相當明智的。剩下的五人，則繼續接下來的行程，而這也是經過相當的一番掙扎，想想，州立公園間，到處都是遊人燻烤著漢堡肉、培根和熱狗，這香味是要多少意志力才抵抗地過啊？Jay在州立公園的合作社買了罐汽水，嚷嚷著要吃熱狗，真怕他是下一個脫隊的人。在該個州立公園中，步道標示又神奇地失蹤了，花了好一番功夫，隊伍才又回到正途。

第二天的行程，說實在話，比第一天有趣些：多了些高低起伏，多了些絕佳的瞭望景點，少了些岩石區段，更重要的是，步道似乎較有整理。步道旁，賓州州花—mount laurel—百花爭放。除了居高不下的溫度以外，可以說是完美了。這溫度讓隊伍心裡頭，默默希望可以再穿過一條小溪，就算這條溪沒有名字也沒有關係。

喔，忘了提起一樁有驚無險的意外：Neil絆到了一段突起的樹根，整個臉栽進步道上頭。事件發生時，我在隊伍的最後頭，只聽到動魄的轟然巨響，接著就看到Neil的右臉灰撲撲的沾滿了泥沙。幸好沒有什麼大礙，也因為他的犧牲，其他隊員沒有再被惡意的樹根絆倒。

當天，我帶了三公升的水，也是我能夠攜帶的最大水量。小心翼翼地，我平均分配一路上的飲水量，免得在後面的旅程，遭遇到無水可喝的窘境。無情的太陽持續地煎烤著眾人，眾人都熱得想要打瞌睡了。一路上，好幾次隊伍必須駐足歇息，藉著沈靜期許一些降溫，順便兒吃些零食，補充一些能量。不過大夥兒也不敢停留太久，怕一停下來，就賴在那兒，不想動了。那天，真是我離中暑距離最近的一次。

下午兩三點左右，終於到了目的地。大家握著手，互道珍重。這次行程的客觀條件實在不佳，但從眾人的微笑和振奮的精神間，我知道大家從這次旅程得到了滿足。最重要的是，男性團員們，趕上了爸爸回家吃晚飯的光陰，享受父親節最後幾小時與妻兒共處的溫馨時光。（註：該日是美國的父親節）

Related Link:
Trip Announcement: Tuscarora Trail Backpack (Sec 6&7)