Facing Fears

Hiking is great, it really is. Walking on sheer cliff walls in a misty rain isn't so much hiking as it is tempting death. Yesterday, I wanted to go for a hike and Rance wanted to photograph some old tombstones. So he dropped me of at the North Ridge trailhead which leads to the top of Cadillac Mountain and he went off with map in hand with several cemeteries circled.

The hike up was under a warm sun and as I climbed higher a cool breeze provided a pleasant relief. I stopped and ate wild blue berries and occasionally would turn around and enjoy the view that was the reward for climbing up the tallest point on Mt. Desert Island. I wasn't wearing the best socks for the hike and could feel the back of my heels rubbing on my shoes and causing some pretty good blisters. I kept thinking that soon I would be at the top and then the hike down would relieve that pressure as my foot would shift in my hiking shoe. If I'd only known how much they would shift.

At the top of the hill I tried to call Rance but coverage is really spotty on the island. He was somewhere where he didn't have service so I let him know that I was at the top and contemplating going down the south ridge towards Bubble Pond. Which is exactly what I did. I'd been biking around Bubble Pond before and thought it was beautiful. I even remember seeing the trailhead marker for the Bubble Pond trail and how serene it looked. So I looked forward to coming down and ending up in such a beautiful setting.

It wasn't long on the South Ridge Trail that I came across a marker for Bubble Pond and so I hooked a right and started my descent. The map at the trail head had the Pond trail listed as a moderate trail which is all I was really interested in doing. So it surprised me after about 100 yards into the hike when the trail turned into sheer rocks with a severe downward slant that I would at times traverse straight down and other times attempt to walk across. The weather had changed and I was now in a cloud bank which meant that I could only see about 50 yards ahead of me on the trail; which is a good thing, if I had known what was ahead of me I might have been frozen in fear.

The trail continued in it's steepness, staggering sheer rock slides with huge boulders that would require my short limbed body to slide down on it's backside to locate firm footing. At one point I had to stop and tell myself that the size of the steps didn't matter just as long as I continued stepping.

I couldn't believe how long it was taking. The trail marker said that it was only .9 miles to Bubble Pond but by this time I had been on the trail for almost an hour, often times going straight down. I tried calling Rance a couple of times only to get his cell phone. I wanted him to meet me at the Bubble Pond trail head and also just to let him know where I was at just in case.

These thoughts went through my head: "What the "F" am I doing out here by myself?", "Who in the hell marked this trail moderate?", "I could die out here."

Rance finally called me and told me that he was at Bubble Pond and asked if I was on the West Ridge Trail. I told him no, I was on the bubble pond trail and he asked if I was sure. I couldn't possibly be on the West Ridge Trail. The West Ridge Trail is marked as a difficult trail. Why just yesterday Andrea had climbed up the West Ridge trail to the top of Cadillac Mountain and told me how strenuous and scared she was and that she had taken the North Ridge back down because she couldn't imagine descending the Mountain by that same trail.

Sure enough at the top of the mountain I had taken an early turn and had gone down West Ridge trail, even though it was clearly marked Bubble Pond. I made it down and Rance was waiting for me. He was convinced I was on another trail as well, as he had started up the West Ridge trail to come meet me and was convinced I wouldn't have been able to come down the steep rocks.

Exhausted by my .9 mile hike, I was also a little bit proud that I had made it all by myself.