5btg OP t1_jdl4g4i wrote
Reply to comment by checkinginagain in I hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2020 during Covid (2,200 Miles). Ask me anything by 5btg
Well he took us to where we were trying to go. Which was a grocery/beer store. But the plan from the get-go was that he was going there himself, and he would drop us off where he had picked us up on his way home. This guy had a nice car (new 4 runner) and nice cloths and a beautiful english setter in the front seat.
So when we got out of the car we went into the store. He waited in the car. We immedatley were like "yo, what the FUCKKKKK" "were you feeling what i was feeling?" "YES! That dude is sketchy as hell"
"Well what should we do?" We talked it over. We were like 15 miles from the trail (and our friends, campsite, etc) and it did not seem like a place that we could easily hitch back to (many roads around, so not like a lot of people would be going to that random state park 15 miles away)
We decided that despite the fact that he was sketchy and weird as hell, he technically hadnt done anything: I mean, he did what he said he was going to do, he brought us to this store. My friend (a woman) said that she was cool with riding back but we should be alert.
So we decided to ride back with him. I bought him a 6 pack of beer as a "thank you" for the ride. It was tense. I was in the back seat right in the middle, sitting very much forward with my back upright, not touching the back of the seat. Almost leaning up forward into the front section of the car so that my head was pretty much right behind/next to his. Elbows on the two front seats type of thing if that makes sense. The entire time I was just completely fixated on his hands. If he had reached down or made any sketchy movement I was ready to reach up and grab that wheel and yank us into a crash. I made sure that he went back the exact way we had come, if he had turned onto any or we started going down any sketchy dirt road I was ready to crash the car. Again, now, typing this it seems bizzare and insane, but that is what was going through my head at the time. It felt like a survival situation. Plus, he was drunk, so I felt that I could easily take him if it came to that.
The ride back was less sketchy relatively, but was still very off. He seemed supperrrr nervous. He told us about the trees that were native to the area. My friend and I tried to keep the conversation flowing and light. He dropped us back at the state park. The tension easied up as we got closer to the park, but it was just a weird vibe overall. Intuition is valuable though, and I know that there was some weird shit going on there. I think that if I had not been totally proactive and right on top of his shoulder watching him it could have gone bad. On paper he did nothing but do us a favor, but my gut was screaming RED FLAG, and I acted accordingly - alert. Was it the best decision to go back with him? Probably not. But thankfully nothing ended up happening.
edit: changed a couple words after proof reading
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