Bradwell Bay<\/a>, which is a lot for a swamp, I planned to hike just 12 miles overall. In swamps, the average person goes about one mile per hour.<\/p>\nIntel on Bradwell Bay<\/h2>\n
Trail angel Linda Patton told me the east end of Bradwell Bay was dry, but the west was wet. Good to know. So, I had about seven miles of hiking to start with before entering the east end of Bradwell Bay. These seven miles were pretty overgrown, so I had to do a lot of what I call “bushwhacking light.” It wasn’t terrible, but annoying. This is the start of hiking season, though, so the volunteer crews are just getting out to maintain the trails. I knew this going in, so no big deal.<\/p>\n
At one point while I was hiking in an area akin to a garden\/hedge maze \u2013 tight walls of bushes on either side \u2013 I heard this chuffing sound for several minutes. First, I thought it was some of the wild pigs or boars that you have to watch out for. But no, that wasn’t the sound. What was it? After a few minutes, I realized it was a bear. I couldn’t see where it was, but I could tell (or I thought I could!) that it wasn’t agitated. It appeared to be calling to another bear, or maybe to warn that a human was near. I grabbed my bear spray and held it in my hand for about 10 minutes until I was convinced it wasn’t coming after me. There wouldn’t have been any place to run in that narrow, tight maze.<\/p>\n
No Bragging Rights<\/h2>\n
Bradwell Bay turned out to be a disappointment. It was 99 percent dry, something that is very rare. And I was really looking forward to a challenging stretch that I could conquer solo. But we live in a time when the climate is never predictable anymore.<\/p>\n
Actually, I did have one slight challenge. There was one soggy part where the mud sucked your feet down to the ankles, and I feared I’d lose my shoes. It was hard to get my feet out. Once, I even sunk down to one knee. Being alone, that was concerning. But I managed to get my leg out, and this mucky stretch wasn’t too long.<\/p>\n
Snowshoe<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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