Originally Posted by
Dan Roper
Our minds play tricks at 3 a.m. and whenever contemplating a backpacking trip. Especially if we're taking our youngsters. I've dealt with that through the years, but it always evaporated once I stepped on the trail. From that point forward, it's just "take the next step" and "remain reasonably alert." As the years have passed, I recognize the anxiety and just dismiss it because I know it can't survive the first step anyway.
I've seen lots of vipers on the trail, more copperheads than timber rattlers. They don't bother me. Bears don't bother me. Ticks don't bother me. People don't either. The only thing that really is of concern, to me, is lightning on ridges.