Chapter 69: Mr. Bear and Kitty

We were descending from the ridgeline we’d been following for two days when Maggie broke her leg. We were coming down a slope after a morning shower, she started to slip, did a foot plant, and snap – a fall and broken leg. If she hadn’t been carrying a thirty-five-pound backpack, she might have just slid along the ground for a few feet.

Fortunately, I had cellphone reception and I had the GPS coordinates for where we were on the trail. We were northwest of Ashville by about forty miles.

Helen and I did the whole first aid thing. We immobilized the leg. I could feel the break inside her calf. She cried more at having to stop the hike and lose touch with me than from the injury. I assured her that we’d see each other again.

The paramedics found us over two hours later. They had a stretcher, and the four of us gradually got Maggie off the mountain and further down the trail where it crossed a North Carolina dirt road with more digits to its number than there were numbers in existence. It was a very small road, but the ambulance executed a turnaround, and we rode out.

They allowed Helen and I to ride into the nearby town of Hot Springs in the back where I got out. I kissed them goodbye, and was alone again. Helen stayed with her friend. We’d exchanged all sorts of contact information with each other.

Based on the recommendation of one of the EMTs, I checked into the Laughing Heart Lodge. The place was very pleasant and rustic. Even better, there was a diner just down the street. I could get a complete meal without worrying about preparing a freeze-dried meal. I also had a real bed. All the comforts of home, except I’d lost my female companionship.

I sat in an Adirondack chair on the front lawn of the lodge, staring off into space. I’d bought myself a bottle of wine and I had a slight buzz going. My trip was symbolic, I thought. I’d pretty well checked out of Cyber Solutions and was headed for something else.

I missed my family and friends. I knew I wanted to return to those and pick-up from where I left off. Leaving them seemed so long ago. I’d exchanged a few texts with Crystal each day The agreement we had was that she’d share my noteworthy news with the others.

I also had an app on my phone so that anyone in our group could track my whereabouts. I was sure I was being spied on several times a day and that was all right. I did have to be in cellphone range.

Crystal, Carol, Elynn, Jean, and the others were my love interests. They were ultimately important to me to the extreme. I wondered if the loss of my mother at such a critical age played into my unquenchable need to be loved. It didn’t matter, I had that need and they and my friends filled it.

I had a slash of guilt about Jean and little Matthew – our new baby, just over a month old. I wanted kids and to be a father, but I needed to be interacting with a young mind in some way. I knew that when my son got older that we’d have a fabulous interaction on so many levels. I wanted more children, too. Parenthood was important to me.

Many people work to accumulate wealth. I guess I’d been in the right place at the right time, plus one of my mentors, Kim Stanley, had thrown me a bone, namely to become the CEO of Cyber Solutions. She’d challenged me to grow the business and provided the funds to do it. I provided the horsepower and worried every detail as they happened. I’d built a technology empire of sorts, and then we’d taken it public. In the IPO, I’d made millions – hundreds of millions. The public liked us and made us rich – made me rich. Kim moved well into the realm of being a billionaire. Money was not a motivator or worry for me any longer. Still I was restless.

I liked giving to others. The whole situation with the Satanic Virus hurled me into the public eye, but I didn’t care as much about the fame as I did that I’d directly helped millions of people retain their important assets, even as markets around the world started to crash. I still liked the idea of ‘giving back’ to society in some way. I also liked the feel of being the expert – expert enough in that situation to solve a potentially devastating situation.

While I had many people reporting to me or under me at Cyber Solutions, I was not power happy the way some of our politicians are – even enough to lie through their teeth to keep their position of power. I was not power happy. I wanted to help the people that worked for me so that they could do a better job.

I thought about some other broad areas that motivate people, but everything else seemed to be irrelevant. I wasn’t a self-help junkie, didn’t care about fame or prestige, didn’t need to be widely influential, or feel a dedication to some higher calling like a soldier or priest might. I did like being free to develop my own ideas – my creativity. Where did that leave me?

I took another sip of the expensive wine I’d bought and watched the first stars pop out of the sky.

I arranged through the lodge to have an immense bouquet of flowers sent to Maggie’s hospital room. I had talked to Helen and gotten a report that they were going to keep Maggie at least two nights for observation. The break had been rated as severe. She’d actually required surgery to put in a steel rod and various pins to piece things back together in her lower leg. Her parents were flying in from Pennsylvania to help. Helen was going back with them.

I arranged and informed Helen that ‘my’ corporate jet and various limousines would be waiting to drive and fly them home or anyplace they wanted to go when Mag was ready to travel. She cried with relief and being able to move her friend without the hassle of public conveyance.

Hot Springs was my first mail drop. The next morning after packing up, I walked through the small town to the post office and got my General Delivery parcel – more food, new socks, a bunch of envelopes with love letters in them from my admirers at home – I was to open a different one each day or whenever I felt sad. There was even a throwaway flask with some wine in it. I packed all that into my back pack and headed for the French Broad River and the Lover’s Leap Hiking Trail that connected with the AT just across the river.

I shifted into high gear and began my trek up the switchbacks up to the ridgeline for the next set of hills and soon Tennessee – but that was still a few days away.

The weather was kind and the trail well trekked. There were other hikers headed north, and I tagged along behind their pack. We acknowledged each other, but didn’t really talk. They had an aggressive pace and I liked that. I stayed with them for four days, until we were just over the line from North Carolina into Tennessee.

Each letter that Crystal slipped into my mail drop came from one of my lovers. They made me laugh and cry. Some were long and full of details, and some were short. Everyone showed me that I was loved and missed.

I added some hustle to my trek. I got up exceptionally early the next morning, at first light. I got in twelve steady hours. I realized that my legs had strengthened considerably since I started. They didn’t feel so fatigued, especially on the climbs. I also noticed that I’d lost my sense of time, at least on a calendar basis. I didn’t know what day of the week it was.

I realized that I still liked my creature comforts. At various points along the trail, I could get to comfortable lodging and even find locales with restaurants. I took the bait every time. I made it through the Unaka Mountain Range between North Carolina into Tennessee – part of Blue Ridge Mountains. I came to vista after vista and was impressed every time. So far on the trip, I’d taken over a thousand pictures. Every now and then, I’d forge a stream, often with a waterfall or cascade nearby.

A couple of days later, I started a list of things I really liked or even might like to do. I was still searching for the key to my ‘Next Big Thing’, as Kim called it. After three days of hiking my list had the following items:

Crystal, Carol, Jean, Elynn, Everybody I love

Sex – cavorting with friends (esp. pretty women)

Adult videos – private porn/public porn

Flying (?) – latent interest

Martial arts

Mentoring people – Helping them succeed

Learning new things, especially technical

Computers and networks (tech stuff)

Hiking (maybe not 2,000 miles)

Solve tech problems no one else can

I thought about each item and tested whether I wanted it on my long-term list of things I like to do. I had really gotten into the hiking as I progressed north on the Appalachian Trail. I did find some relief to stop, but even on the crappy days when it was chilly and rainy, I didn’t mind my forward progress towards the middle of the state of Maine.

This list also reflected my technical background and deep-seated desire to have some technical roots.

I met my first bear in Tennessee. Well, one that wasn’t in a zoo. I was alone hiking down a narrow trail, the footing was good, and I was taking large steps. Suddenly, about fifty yards ahead I saw a big black fuzzy rock. The fuzzy rock was ambling down the same trail that I was on and I was coming up on the walking fuzzy rock pretty quickly.

I stopped, and the moving fuzzy rock kept going, but did look back at me. Mr. Bear then turned off the trail and went up the hill to my left side. I didn’t want to appear threatening lest I spark a defensive attack when none was needed. I backed away about a hundred feet from where I’d been even after Mr. Bear disappeared. I did get a quick photograph of the departing creature, but he’d probably only appear as a large fuzzy black rock. I also rummaged around in the side pocket of my back pack and got out my bear spray.

I waited ten more minutes, and also during that time started playing some music on my iPhone to make some noise – peaceful classical music. I almost tiptoed down the path after Mr. Bear disappeared, being especially vigilant about whether he (or she) were still lingering around the area.

The bear really gave me a fright. I actually wondered whether I, or anybody, could use karate on a bear. I doubted that would be a successful venture. Do you bow to a bear before and after sparring?