Yeah a couple times. Most recently I was in the joyce kilmer forest in TN. With no map.
>Plan for two night trip
>22, I'm hardcore don't need a fucking map
>First day no major problems, one backtrack that lost me an hour maybe
>Camp in a sweet spot
>No people around for miles
>Get up next day, set off on trail I know to be correct
>Hike 2 hours, come to forks
>Both options seem correct, opt for the left
>Hike another 3 hours, starts to drop in elevation as I expected
>Arrive at Creek I expected to
>Take a very fulfilling dump at some point
>Suddenly the trail opens up into a fucking parking lot
>Consult the map in the parking lot
>Can't figure out where it is, not marked on the map of the entire forest
>Decide to continue down the road to link back up with the trail I'm aiming for, rather than go back up the mountain I came off
>In the citico Creek wilderness now, walking down a gravel road
>Believe it was campsite 14 I came out at
>Walk 20 miles to the bottom of the road
>Finally encounter a car
>Some hippies, they have map, pretty much tell me I've been heading due west the entire time, I should turn around etc
>Fuck it I'm never wrong I'll keep going
>Walk another ten miles, pavement now
>At this point I've reached Buck Hwy, heading to highway 360
>Flag down an old man, hop in the back of his truck to get to the main road
>Ask him how to get back to Robinsville, NC, where my car is
>"Son that's 60 miles away across a mountain range"
>Tell him that I was looking for a fun time anyway
>My stoicism must have struck a chord in him, he drives me to the junction of 360 and 165, the Cherohala parkway
>He tells me to take care, "it gets cold on that mountain, good luck"
>Start walking, 35lb pack feels like a ton of bricks on my shoulders, feet are so tender I'm wincing each step
>Put in another 10 miles, it's getting dark
I'll type the rest of this out in another post
