>>1029275> Right after this, the temperature plummets and it starts raining> The fog still doesn't let up at all> Start getting lost because the trail is so scarcely used and overgrown> Not precisely overgrown, but everything looks the same (the ground looks the same in every direction because the canopy killed off all the underbrush). Maybe poorly defined is what I'm looking for> I take over as the lead since I have more experience tracking than he does> Make our way to the backside of the mountain. > At one point, he nearly steps on a quail and scared the shit out of both of us> Come across pic related meadow> Great photo op> We take lots of pictures before moving on> Now the rain really starts up> Finally put on my rainjacket and when I go to put my pack back on, notice a shoe that's definitely not mine on the ground"Dude, is that you shoe?"
> Even before his response, I knew what it would be. We're both very experienced backpackers, and neither of us would bring street shoes like that on the trail> Go back to half alert mode, scan the trees while we continue to hike> A couple miles later, we come across an abandoned tent. > Literally looks like someone had smashed the fuck out of it and left. All the poles were busted in half, it was flattened, and had muddy shoe prints all over the outside of it> We look at each other and agree to start hiking faster (we already have a pretty blistering pace. We average 2.5-3 MPH in the Appalachians)> Over the course of the next probably five miles, we see an abandoned tarp (probably the biggest tarp I'd ever seen, really), several more abandoned shoes, abandoned clothes, and finally an abandoned backpack. > We're both freaked out after the third shoe we found. Like I said, this trail barely gets any use during the summer, let alone the end of winter and after two days, we still haven't seen a soul 