A Gorge-ous View

We did the responsible thing and turned in just after midnight last night.  The noise and the fact that we had set up our tent on a slight incline made it difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep, but for the most part, I woke up feeling well-rested and ready to rock.

Let's do this!

Our timeslot was delayed and shortened because of Buddy Guy's band's soundcheck.  Eventually, we started about a half hour late.  I felt we played well and gained some new fans.  One of the stage managers thanked us for being so "patient and zen" about having to wait.  I thought that was cool.

We only got to play twelve of these tunes!

So I left the boys to enjoy the festival in their own way, and I rode Shadowfax around the festival grounds and found the artist hospitality tent to take advantage if my meal ticket.  They had several tasty-looking vegan options.  I'm not a vegan, but I eat vegan meals often.  I'm glad I loaded up on the delicious offerings; as it would turn out, I would be needing all the nutrients I could get.

Delicious and vegan!

I rode over to the Outdoor Adventures tent to see what was available.  It sounded like the mountain bike trails were intended for fairly intense mountain bikers on fairly intense mountain bikes.  While I'm sure Shadowfax could've handled it, I wasn't so sure I was up to the challenge.  I took a free map from the table and decided to hike the Rock Castle Gorge Trail.  It turned out to be a doozie!  I had to do some bushwhacking just to find the trail.  Once I did, it was an eleven-mile loop.  The terrain was quite varied and included creeks, cow pastures, and a mountainsides overlooking a huge gorge.  I saw two deer quite close up along the route.  The hike was very steep and challenging at times.  I was told the entire loop could take over four hours; however, thanks to me getting lost several times along the way, my adventure would take a bit longer.

My first wrong turn took me off the trail and down an old service road.  It was after about 30 minutes down this road that my cell phone died (hence the reason I didn't take more pictures).  As soon as it did, I felt a sense of panic that I could be lost with no way to call for assistance.  Suddenly the fact that I had turned right when I should have turned right dawned on me, and I retraced my steps back to my point of departure from the trail.

Once I was back on track, the real uphill climb began.  What a workout!  At several points, I had to use my hands to help pull me up the rocky incline.  As the path finally crossed into open fields and rolling hills, it reminded me of the opening sequence to The Sound if Music.  I passed through an area inhabited by about two dozen cows.  The trail became less clear and marked only by wooden posts with white arrows pointing me to the next marker.

Soon the posts simply stopped, and the trail disappeared.  I found myself on the main road.  Two older women asked if I was ok.  I explained that I had lost the trail I was on.  They tried to find it with their GPS, but had no luck.  They offered to drive me back to FloydFest, but I declined.  In hindsight, maybe I should have accepted their offer because it would turn out my outing was far from over.  A police officer pulled up and told the women to move along.  He asked how he could help me.  Once again I explained my dilemma.  He told me to walk the opposite direction down the road to a ranger station.  Reluctantly, I took his suggestion but kept seeing nothing except more road.

Another officer pulled over and got out of his car to talk to me.  I told him about the trail I'd been on and lost, and that I had been directed this way to a ranger station.  Upon hearing that I had left from, and was trying to get back to FloydFest, he asked if I was sober.  I said yes, but I could tell he didn't believe me (I probably looked a bit crazy from my afternoon hiking).  To convince him, I added that I have been in the wagon for 60 days.  I was just rounding to that number off the top of my head, but as it turns our today was my 60th day alcohol free.  The officer was no real help.  The best I could do was get back on the trail and try again.  Once again, the trail disappeared.  This time I stayed close enough to the road to keep it on my right, as my map suggested.  I had to cut through some rough areas, but I eventually found the trail again.  I made it to the top of a hill in time to see a beautiful setting sun, and I could see the lights from the festival.

I followed the trail away from the road to find the spot from which I had first cut through.  I had completed the loop!  However, by this point, it was getting too dark for me to see how to get back to the festival.  I feared that if I continued along the trail I would start the loop over again!  I decided to cut my losses and backtracked toward main road.  I left the trail and walked down the hill to the parkway below.  I decided to simply walk through the street entrance.  However, another officer standing watch there stopped me.  I explained that I had hiked the loop, but it was too dark for me to find the spot to cut through back to FloydFest.  He informed me pedestrians weren't allowed to walk that part of the road and that he was supposed to direct me back the way I had come.  I said he could do that, but I would likely get injured or lost in the dark.  He asked where my headlight was, and confessed I hadn't planned on staying out for so long.  He changed his tune and said I could use the road if I stayed to the extreme left and agreed to deny we ever spoke.  Ironically, the only time I fell down all day was on the road, within spitting distance of the festival entrance when I moved to the left to avoid a car and didn't see a hole in the side if the road due to the bright headlights in my eyes.  No serious harm done, I walked back into the chaos of FloydFest.  I had made it.  I asked a vendor for the time; it had been over seven hours since I started my hike.

I went to charge my iPhone behind the main stage.  I realized Buddy Guy was on stage.  His band sounded great, though I'm not sure it warranted cutting into our performance time!  Exhausted from my hike, I enjoyed a few songs from backstage while I rested my bones and tried to text the boys.  I saw Buddy Guy exit the stage and leave the audience in the capable hands of his band as he got a head start to his tour bus.

Buddy has left the building!

Eventually I found Mikey and then Brett.  Apparently, while I was gone, Brett had been called to a private meeting with a production manager at the festival.  It turns out a few folks had complained about some of our lyrical content, and we had been asked to "tone it down" for our remaining two sets tomorrow.  I understand the main offender was Brett's  song Rachel's Revenge.  Brett told the powers that be we wouldn't play that particular song again, but we aren't going to edit every potentially-offensive murder ballad or drug reference from our material.  Honestly, after today's hike, I don't really care.  I'll play whatever Brett wants to play.

On top of everything else, I've misplaced my wallet!  I've looked everywhere, and even checked lost and found, but had no luck.  And yes, I checked the side pocket of my black backpack!  I hope it turns up in the van somewhere.

It's been one helluva day.  But I wanted to be sober and really FEEL, right?  Well, I did today!  I felt joy, fear, frustration, awe, embarrassment, exhilaration, exhaustion, a spring in my step, dead on my feet, the breeze on my skin, and bugs in my eyes.  Today's hike was probably the toughest I've ever done, but it also afforded me some of the most spectacular views and memorable moments I've ever experienced.  We play two sets tomorrow, and I suspect my body will be sore, so no eleven-mile hikes for me, but I'm sure I'll find some way to spend my downtime.  I'm curious to see what happens in regards to us "toning it down" and how that whole situation may or may not affect the results of the On The Rise artist competition for which we drove all this way.  I'm looking forward to the next adventure!

Happy trails!

- Jon