I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw what I found deep in the hilly Sherman Woods. The city had been pressured into declaring this native woodland a public park, an urban wilderness they called it. Of course calling it urban implies something entirely different than what it was. It was hundreds of untamed acres of woods. The timber company had owned it before the city took it back. It lie upon the edge of the suburban area I lived in. Luckily it was less than a mile from the house so I could walk there and take a backpack.
At the gates to one of several rough trails was a warning, this is what it said:
Welcome to Sherman urban wilderness area
In the spirit of preservation we have not developed this area at all.
The trails you travel are just game trails widened by man's footsteps.
Hunting is forbidden, and if you are found past this point with a firearm or bow you will be prosecuted.
Prepare before you enter because once you pass too far into the wilderness there will be no cell service, rangers, and unless you have alerted someone to your plans and where you will be then there will be no one who is aware that you are.
The community of Adamsburg will not be held responsible for any injuries resulting from ill prepared hikers.
I suppose this was there to cover their interests in case someone turned up missing. I had of course no fear of the woods, I had grown up going camping and hiking. Interestingly enough I had never gotten to hike this area.
It was on my third or fourth trip of exploration that I found a new trail. It was off of a secondary trunk of one of the main trails. I say new but in fact it may have been quite old. First it was only open because a recent storm had downed several trees alongside the path. Over the downed branches I could see a game trail that I knew was not on any map. At this point I was several miles in so it wasn't particularly shocking this trail had not been developed out. I realized however that it led towards an area I had not gotten a chance to explore yet.
So I pushed the branches aside and cleared a walkway between the main trail and this offshoot. I marked my map where I was covering new ground. As I walked down the trail I found things that indicated the trail was not entirely natural. Every once and awhile I found shockingly regular and flat stones. My suspicions were confirmed as I climbed a particularly large hill. As the ascent begun I found regular stone steps. They had obviously been carved out and made even by human hands. Though erosion had wiped away all chisel marks the stairs themselves were far too regular and straight to be anything but an artificial aid to my climb. After a 10 minute climb to the summit, which regardless of the steps winded me a bit, I made my next discovery.
There, at the summit of the hill there stood a cabin, rustic and looking fairly abandoned. There of course was no way for me to know how long this cabin had stood untouched, but the walls and roof were solid and the windows unbroken. Several windows were cracked, and all were somewhat foggy, but nevertheless it was intact. I found the trail continued past the house over the hill. On the other side of the hill I descended until the trail met it's end at a natural spring and pool. The water was crystal clear, and so I took some from the spring and had a drink. I was now more than three hours deep in the forest, and though I had food in my pack I didn't trust my luck enough to sleep in the open, or even in the abandoned cabin. I decided to return the way I came and return tomorrow for mapping purposes. As I returned along my new trail I felt somewhat proud of myself. I felt like an early explorer, finding new territory. How lucky I was to be the first to reclaim this area for the hiking community. I expanded and further cleared the trail as I returned, it took me an hour to again meet the main trail.
By the time I got out of the woods the last rays of the sun were on the horizon. Next time I would come more prepared.
Chapter 2
The next day I woke with the dawn. It had stormed pretty heavily overnight but I was lucky enough to find the storm clouds clearing as I prepared for my trip. I packed everything I would need to stay overnight in the woods into my backpack and hit the trail as the early morning light started to bring the city to life. There is something magical about the city in the morning, even more so after a storm. The quiet still and the wet pavement with the blue sky overhead could turn even the least attractive city into a paradise for the soul. The city I lived in was already decently attractive even on a cloudy day, so on a day like this the land itself seemed to sing. This gave me a very good feeling about the day. I saw the newspaper delivermen and garbage men doing their rounds as I exited the urban sprawl and entered once more the wilderness. I hiked with determination and speed despite my increased weight load in my pack. This cut more than 20 minutes off my time. The woods had this intoxicating aroma today that can only be produced by wet flowers in the sun. Honeysuckle and wildflowers only added to the magic in the air. Such are the days that make one feel lucky to be alive. The rain had washed away more of my new trail, but this had only made it clearer. I walked slowly marking my map with rough marks indicating the path I followed and landmarks along the way.
I don't know that I planned to share my discovery with anyone, it was much more for my own benefit and so I would have a basis for blazing new trails. Sometimes when you find something wonderful you just want to keep it to yourself. I didn't want to see this beautiful area so unspoiled fouled up by vandalism and garbage. Of course most of the wilderness was not, but I had noticed that certain landmarks and destinations had become completely ruined by graffiti and trash. People can be so inconsiderate. I once again climbed the hill and found myself looking at the cabin again. I took off my pack and limited myself to my smaller pack containing water, flashlights, and a few emergency supplies. As I trekked down the trail to the pool, off to the left against the hill I saw a break in the foliage that I hadn't notice before. It appeared that a rockfall had revealed the mouth of a cave. My curiosity got the better of me and so I pushed aside the shrubs and proceeded towards and into the cave.
To be continued.....
This was my first story in a very long time. I hope to get back into the groove of writing this year and work some more on the book and finish this and other stories.
