I get lost a lot. Usually, I find my way but its typically after an hour or so of wandering around. Times when this is especially bad are like yesterday when I was in the woods trying to do a quick run.
The first question that might pop into your head, “Sarah, why were you in the woods in the first place?”
And I would respond, “ugh! I wanted to be outside and there is this trail that people have been telling me about and I’ve seen people on it so it looked legit and then I got there and it was actually kind of scary but at least the sun was out, the trail was shaded and not muddy, and I didn’t encounter any creepers.” (I often talk in run-on sentences.)
Also, the trail I was on was at Teddy Roosevelt Island.
The map was not clear at all. Or maybe I ignored marked trees. Or maybe it was just the fact that I honestly have zero sense of direction and three trail options were too much for my psyche to handle that day.
So, I ventured out blindly onto the island. (This is seriously how horror films are started.)
About fifteen minutes in I knew I had missed a turn. I was pretty much squatting to get under low hanging branches and I was jumping over logs. I turned around and then saw the pebbled, very clearly marked trail. But I didn’t know which trail option it was. I wanted to be on the 1.3mi one because it was the longest and looked like it just went around the perimeter.
I took the turn to the pebbled trail and continued forth going deeper into the woods. I passed a couple and kept on going. My only thought was that on the terrible chance that something went wrong that at least someone might hopefully be able to identify the time they saw me. I am so dramatic.
Another fifteen minutes of running later, I finally stumbled upon the whole reason people come out to this place.
The memorial is really beautiful. However, the fountains and a few of the pieces sustained damage during an earthquake we had a few years ago and they haven’t been repaired yet.
After I finally saw the memorial (this is my third time here btw… weather conditions kept me away the other two times to venture that far), I kept forth. And since I had no idea how I actually got there I just continued forward.
Another fifteen minutes later, I see sunlight and wide open space.
This was an unexpected find! No one had ever told me about the marsh.
I spent quite a bit of time running along the marsh. I had no idea where I was in relation to the trails or anything. So I just kept going.
Once the marsh area ended, I was kind of done with running for the evening. I just wanted to be out of the woods. I noticed I was running near the water, so I just kept going along with it because that’s sort of how I started along the trail in the first place. And then I saw this rock thing that I remembered seeing in the beginning and I knew it would only be a little bit longer until I saw this beautiful, beautiful site.
The exit! The bridge that brought me here in the first place! I was ECSTATIC! I ran across the bridge and down a little path I actually knew before calling it a night.
Overall, my run ended up being about 4.2 miles. This was not my strongest run by any means. I was slow and walking a good bit because I just had no idea what to do and there were so many tree roots and other nature related things. I entered the woods at .8mi and left the woods at 3mi. Originally wanted to be on the trail that was only 1.3mi long… ended up doing almost a mile extra. Oops.
Moral of the story: I should never be the navigator. Ever.
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Have you ever been lost on a run? How did it go?