Follow Me Stripes

There's a term in wildlife biology (a few years of volunteering at the Bronx Zoo, thank you) called "follow me" stripes which are the markings on the hindquarters of herd animals that enable them to follow each other when they're on the move in large groups. I put this theory to practice last Sunday on our group hike to the summit of Mt. Tam.

I have to be honest...I had been dreading this hike all week. I had to miss the last one because I was sick. And it was going to be 12 miles with 6000 ft in elevation gain/loss over the course of an estimated 6 hours with a 30lb pack on my back. I had not been sleeping well and I just had a feeling this hike would kick my butt. The weather forecast of rain and wind all day had sealed my foul mood.

The weather held OK as Abbs and I drove over to Marin to the trailhead at Madrone Canyon. We needed to be there at 8:45 for a 9am sharp departure. For whatever reason, that 9am start didn't happen and we stood in what became a steady downpour for 45 minutes before we started off. Cue the foul mood in full force at this point!

So we were wet and cold as we took off with heads down in frustration and in looking to make sure we didn't slip. The rain subsided as the hike wore on which was good. But the hike was still hard - sections of it were quite steep and looked more like water runoff than trails. The pack felt heavy and so did my legs. Our rest breaks felt even shorter than usual (our training plan always consists of hiking for an hour then resting with snacks & water for 5-10 minutes before we're back on the trail.) But I stayed with the lead pack and soldiered on - basically using Abby's shoes as my follow me stripes.


When we finally reached the summit of Mt Tam (2600 ft.), the icy wind was blowing and there were spots with snow on the ground.


We stopped to take in the gorgeous views at the top, took some victory pictures and felt a little better now that we were half done (Gil's Almond Joy treat also helped to lift the mood.)


In the early part of the return trip, Abby had to stop and tie her shoe. That minute or so put she and I back in the middle of the pack - back far enough that we couldn't see the lead three as they wound through the trail.

Not phased by this, Abbs and I enjoyed our descent chattering about boys and music. About a mile or two from end of the hike, our friends Gil and Marcella had caught up with us and the four of us rolled on -- excited we were nearly finished with a full day of hiking.

We crossed a wooden bridge over a creek and tried to turn right but realized the trail went left. It felt weird to all of us, but we started the trail up the hill. Because we had started the hike in miserable conditions, none of us were 100% sure if this trail was right or not. But most of us had a gut feeling that we had taken a wrong turn since we were climbing upward again and the terrain was changing.

It wasn't until we got to the top of the hill (approx. a 1/2 mile) that we finally saw a trailhead marker and didn't recognize the trail name. We knew we were lost. And we had no map. No cell service on the first phone we tried, but I was able to get a signal on mine and I got Connie, our climb coordinator's number from someone. Although she broke up repeatedly & I couldn't decipher her directions, I heard two bridges and realized we had made some sort of mistake at the wooden bridge we crossed.

Dejected, exhausted and frustrated, we descended back down to where we came from. About halfway down, we heard Joe calling for us. Joe is a personal trainer at CLIF and the third member of the LUNA climbing team. He is a boundless source of energy and came running back into the forest looking for us when we didn't show up at the end of the trail. We were glad to see him and glad he came to look for us.


Turns out there were two wooden bridges not far from one another. And we crossed the first one when we should have crossed the second one. So about an hour later and more than a mile out of our way, we crossed the finish. The first question the team asked us was who was leading. We refused to say then as I will refuse to say now. Because it really doesn't matter. And our refusal to say speaks volumes about the level of team building we've achieved.

I don't yet know about my faith in the whole climbing team, but I know the three people I was with that day will have my back...will be there if I need them...will not leave me behind...and I would do the same for them.


Which made the whole thing worth it. They've earned their stripes.

.w