My beautiful mind. Or not.

This morning I decided to go on some hikes by myself. I have been doing some relatively short walks during y South Coast trip. I’m currently in North Durras and there was a hike that appealed to me. It was a hike from Pebbly Beach to Durras Mountain Summit. I got there about 9:30 this morning and saw that it was about 4 kilometres one way. An 8 kilometre return walk for me. Easy-peasy. Nothing to it.

So off I went, hiking backpack and all. It seemed like a relatively well-marked track and there was little chance of getting lost. I bumped into a couple of kangaroos on the way and well, enjoyed the sounds of the beach on one side and the birds among the bush. Slowly and steadily, the track headed more and more into the bush. I was tracking my walk on my phone and about 1.5 kilometres in, it got very quiet. And then as I looked behind me through the bush, I saw someone. A man in red board shorts. He seemed to be walking on his own. Not hiking. Walking. Because he didn’t have any backpack or water.

That’s about when my mind went a bit crazy. Paranoid.

I began having thoughts about being murdered in the bush. Or being raped. Or both. At some subconscious level, I increased my pace. Only to realise that just like in the horror movies, if he was in fact following me from a distance of 500-800 metres away, I was headed to the top of a mountain with no way out! {Do you ever wonder why they always rush upstairs in horror movies when a murderer is chasing them? Yeah…I never got that!} I started creating scenarios in my head of what I would say to him if he did catch up with me. “My friends are way quicker than I am…”, “My partner is a few hundred metres ahead…”, “Boy this walk is exhausting…you go on ahead, I need a break here!” And so on…

I kept going until there was a spot where the path broke into two. One to the summit which I intended to go. And the other to Snake Bay. I chose the summit hoping he wouldn’t. At about 2.5 kilometres, the summit walk seemed to be getting more and more bushy and forest-y. And I still didn’t know if Mr Red Boardies was behind me. I turned around and waited. Seeing no sign of him. That’s when I decided.

Screw the mountain summit. I’m out of here. He’d obviously gone the other way. And I rushed back. I don’t think I have ever hiked faster. In fact, I finished a 5 kilometre walk in less than an hour. I was sweaty and hot but didn’t want to stop to take off my jumper. I just kept going until I reached the car park. Where there was human civilisation.

Now in the safe haven of my cabin porch, I’m pretty certain Mr Red Boardies was harmless. But out there in the bush, I wasn’t willing to take a risk. I have to laugh at my paranoia. And really need to make sure I don’t watch SVU or read thrillers as much anymore!

But apart from that, I doubt I’m going to be doing too many solo hikes in the bush. Solo road trips and solo hikes on the beach are fine. But not the bush for now.

What about you? Have you ever hiked alone in the bush?

Does your brain go mental like mine in such situations?

Do share!!

***Linking with the lovely Emily for this week’s Laugh Linkup and Alicia for Open Slather***

Until next time,

Cheers!!!