A little-known path lead Megan Willetts, 43, into an unexpected danger zone…
Strolling along the woodland path, I took a deep breath.
Whenever I went hiking in the mountains by my home in Asheville, North Carolina, I felt like a weight had been lifted.
The sounds of chirping birdsong relaxed me.
This is my happy place, I thought.
And it had been for years – moving to Asheville in July 2019 with my husband Jack and our children *Alex, 11, and *Emily, seven, I fell in love with nature.
When Jack fell ill with cancer, it became my refuge.
Even if my life was crumbling down, the mountainside gave me an escape.
I knew what to do if I faced wild animals
And it became a lifeline for me when Jack passed away, aged 50, in March 2020.
Two years later, I founded a hiking tourist guide business, Smoky Mountain Soul Adventures, where I showed tourists the natural wonders of the mountains.
But nothing could beat the sensation of hiking alone.
And I felt confident doing so.
Throwing myself into research, I was up to speed with health and safety precautions.
That included standard protocol if I faced wild animals.
The most dangerous animal native to North Carolina was the black bear, although I
sometimes ran into the odd chipmunk or a snake, too.
But I knew that if I ever ran into a black bear, I had to maintain 50 yards distance from them, give the bear space and make myself big and loud to scare it off.
Luckily, I’d only encountered a bear three times before and those steps kept me safe.
Fear didn’t come into hiking for me – running into the odd wild animal added to the fun.
And for me, 23 October last year was just another day of heading out to the mountains.
After dropping Alex and Emily at school, I stuffed my backpack full of essentials – bottled water, snacks and my fully charged phone.
Then at 9.30am, I sped off to Great Smoky Mountains National Park – a well-known tourist destination.
I rarely hiked there, preferring hidden gems away from the tourists, so I planned on following the most popular hiking path.
Yet as I pulled up into the car park, it was full. Guess I’ll have to go somewhere else then.
Finding another car park down the road, I logged onto my hiking app to find an alternative path.
The app suggested a new route through the mountains – and from the empty car park, I could tell I was the only one intending to follow it.
Maybe this is another hidden gem, I thought.
So, I hopped out of my car and began my walk along the eight-mile trail.
Only, I felt disappointed. Instead of stunning views, the path was devoid of scenery.
Climbing over fallen tree branches, it felt like I was out in the wild.
But turn
