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Final Day

It is a twenty degree night in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and I have hiked fifteen miles today with my forty pound pack. I am lying in my tent, snuggled in my sleeping bag with four layers of clothing covering me, but my feet still feel cold.

I am not prepared for a twenty degree night. I am prepared for a forty degree night. Now it is below freezing, I have no fire because they are prohibited at this time of year and I write this, for you, my reader, my friend, by a dimming headlamp with numb, ungloved hands for my clumsy gloved hands would not allow me to write.

I have so much to share with you, my reader, but I fear as the sun has faded to darkness and the temperature quickly drops, my hands will no longer be able to hold onto this pen. Still I will try to get my message across because some part of me believes there is something you need to hear from me.

I am nearly twenty eight years old, I am a woman, and I am a solo adventurer. I have, by choice, set out in this world to travel to far off places, attempt adventurous feats, and to see things that few people have the opportunity to see in their lives, all without the company of another person. There was a time in my life when I sought people out to explore with me but I continually found preference in my own company so eventually I stopped looking, stopped asking, and simply set off on my own.

I went dog sledding in Minnesota in the dead of winter without a tent for fifteen days, preferring the exposure that a simple tarp provides. I kayaked the coast of Alaska, backpacked through Europe, hiked the Appalachian Trail, and explored countless tropical islands. I swam with dolphins, had a run-in with a brown bear, and climbed 14,000 foot peaks in Colorado's Rocky Mountains. I've gone cliff diving in Hawaii, climbed Machu Piccu, and snowboarded in the backcountry of Utah.

And so it is, my reader, that I write to you on this night from a remote spot in the backcountry of this great National Park, to inform you that this is the last of my many solo trips. It is the last because on this night, on this very night, I am going to die.

I came to this park four nights ago to hike for seven days. I have driven through the park several times in the past, the scenic Skyline Drive that takes hours to complete, but this is my first exploration on foot into its backcountry. The hiking has been pleasant, not too difficult, and the days mild, but the nights have been cold and I am ill prepared for the temperature.

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