Walking a few miles in my characters' shoes: Hiding out in the woods

I'm currently on vacation and have some time to breathe, so I FINALLY get to post this from the fall when I took all the pictures! *minor spoilers for Book 3 to follow*

If you've read the other two books in The Storm Series, you'll notice that every couple chapters I include interludes into the goings-on in other parts of the country, whether it be simple updates via the American Radio Relay League (which is a real thing you can learn about here) or short stories that show how the rest of the country is doing. There are a few one-off stories that just show the measures others are taking to survive in different parts of the Storm/Blackout/Border/Electricity Zones, and there are a few that link together throughout the books (actress Lily will be in all three books, the couple who are on the cruise in the first book are Clint's parents, etc.). 

There will be less individual interludes in Book 3, but there will still be interludes involving two separate groups which you may recognize from Braving the Storm: Ed and Patty--Meghan and Steve's former neighbors--and those who took over the Shoppin Eagle food warehouse in Pittsburgh. The gang who took over the warehouse are going to end up playing a crucial role in this next book, but Ed and Patty are doing their own thing--namely, getting the eff outta dodge. Things are precarious for this duo; instead of fleeing Pittsburgh, they stuck around, and they're paying for it. Starving and desperate, they finally make a break for it and end up traveling by foot to get as far away as possible.

I really like Ed and Patty. They're the type of people who had zero preparation for a scenario such as The Blackout, but they've adapted as best they could. They weren't able to flee west or south, so they really only had three options: they could joined the local gang to earn food, they could give up and starve to death/kill themselves, or they could learned how to survive. They chose the latter, and I admire them for it. Sometimes I wish I could give them a quick tutorial on what plants they could be eating or growing, but I don't want to metagame; they gotta figure it out themselves.

Anywho, after they got through the first leg of their journey (which you can read about in this blog entry), they end up at The Panhandle Trail. This trail will take them all the way to Weirton, West Virginia if they're so inclined. The entrance to the trail currently has a really handy map which will still exist in my story:

Not exactly to scale, but they can make a quick sketch so they know what to expect on their way.

The trail itself is paved with gravel which will be handy for making their way across the next 29 miles. 

Kaylee: my partner in all my adventures!

However, what it's not good for is camping out; it's too exposed, and they may catch the attention of other travelers. Thankfully, there are woods on either side of the trail with a creek lacing through it. By the time they get to the trail, they're exhausted, so they take the first path into the woods they can find.

Thankfully it's pretty close to the entrance.

After traveling for a while, they come across a cliff and some conveniently-placed boulders which will make a great hideout. As soon as I saw them while walking on the trail, I knew I had to have my characters stop here because it's too convenient not to.

Right next to the cliff are these two huge rocks. The way they're spaced, there's enough of a gap in between to set up a little temporary camp:

If you put your fire in the right place, too, it would not only direct the heat right at your camp but also be hidden from those passing on the nearby main trail (provided you kept it small).

Probably somewhere on the cliff side of the rocks.

Another good thing is that, a few feet down, there's a path that leads right to the creek, so they have a water source (and a possible food source).

My dog loved playing in the creek, too, when we were there :)

As a temporary shelter, this will keep them safe enough to move on, but the side trail gets a bit too hilly to continue on while carrying supplies. It does link back to the main trail eventually via bridge, though:

My pup also loved playing in the water there, too :)

One more thing I found on my adventure, which they're going to find, too: a really creepy looking house off one of the less-traveled side paths:

*Shudder*

My dog wouldn't go near the place, not that I wanted to, either. But Ed and Patty...that's a whole other story :) Stay tuned!