Going Hiking

Carter was thrilled. The meeting had been wrapped up the evening before, which meant the last two days of his business trip were now a mini vacation. So far everything he had read about the Berkshires had been true. The people were friendly, and it was gorgeous in the fall. He was looking forward to a long exhausting hike, followed by a day of site seeing before he returned to Kentucky on Saturday. The weather forecast was calling for a seasonably cool and overcast day, with a 10% chance of rain.

"I'll take those odds", he thought as he packed his back pack: water, energy bars, fruit and two peanut butter and fluff sandwiches; enough for lunch and a snack. According to his trail map there was a small "packers cabin" in the middle of this section of the Appalachian Trail, about a two hour hike in from where he planned to set out. The trail continued past the cabin to the next inlet to the trail, about another 2 hour hike from the cabin. He was aware that the sun set around five p.m. this time of the year, and the notion of being caught in the dark in unfamiliar woods was not at all appealing. His plan was to hike to the cabin, have lunch and enjoy the forest for a bit, then set out to make it to his rental car by four p.m., enough time to allow for unexpected problems. Arriving at the pull off he checked his watch, eleven a.m., right on time. He went through his pack one last time, double checking that everything he could need was there. Slipping his muscular frame into the pack, he set out.

Tess loved autumn in the Berkshires. She loved the woods, and the peace and serenity they gave you when you hiked though them. Judging her on appearance no one ever took her for an experienced hiker. She stood only five foot eight inches, and weighed 120lbs. Her body was trim and toned, but not glaringly muscular. Her long blonde hair, ample chest and curves led people to stereotype her as a typical blonde when in reality nothing could be further from the truth.

She had been a tomboy growing up, even after her body began to develop, and she wasn't ditzy as people were wont to believe. Over the years she had fallen in love with the outdoors, something that was easy to do growing up in the Berkshires.

It was Thursday morning, and she was setting out on her stretch of the Appalachian Trail. She was a "Trail Volunteer"; someone that hiked a specified stretch and kept the trail clear and clean for everyone. Today she intended to go through the first half, noting anything that needed to be done, and continuing to the cabin. She would stop for lunch, and then hike the second half of the trail to the pull off area, taking note of anything that had to be done on this side. Then she would turn around and head back to the cabin, clearing the way and maintaining the trail as she went. When she got to the cabin, she'd have dinner and spend the night. In the morning she'd set off for her car and clear the first half of the trail on the way.

The weather concerned her slightly. The day had started off with a 10% chance of rain, but as she set out the weather report had upped it to a 20% chance of rain and storms. She knew with her schedule that if she didn't do this section today, she would fall behind on all her trail work this month. Hoisting her pack she set out, with her little weather/GPS unit clipped at her waist.

"I made great time", she thought as she came into the clearing where the cabin stood. The temperature had dropped about 10 degrees in the last hour, and the sky had turned a frightening color of gray. Tess checked the cabin to see if there were any other back-packers in attendance. Knowing that the cabin was used less frequently in the fall, she wasn't surprised to find it empty.

She set her pack on a cot and removed her flannel shirt, leaving her in her black tank top. The last weather report had warned that a nasty front had swept down from the northeast and was bringing thunder, lighting and hail with it. She was certain her hiking for the day was done. With the likely hood of bad weather hovering above her, she decided to wait it out in the cabin, and continue on in the morning. The first part of the trail only had two small trees across it, not even an hours worth of work for her.

Stepping onto the small porch of the cabin she removed the scrunchie from her long blonde hair and shook it free, running her hands through it trying to get out the leaves and sticks that had accumulated during her hike in. Pulling her hair back she put the scrunchie back in, making a tight pony tail.

She set out to find some firewood for the night. Looking up she knew she had maybe thirty minutes before the weather hit. She decided she'd gather as much as she could before the rain came, and then she'd have lunch.

Spying a few fallen trees nearby she smiled. She brought her collapsible saw with her, and set to work cutting the trees into stove lengths. Within twenty minutes she had worked up a sheen of sweat despite the cool air moving in.

Between the hike in and gathering the wood, her tank top was soaked. She listened and heard nothing. Drawing her tank top over her head she couldn't help but feel a small rush of excitement. It brought back memories of last summer, when she had hiked here with Darren...

...They got in the cabin and within minutes were stripping each other. They managed to fall onto one of the four cots and had made love.

"No", Tess thought, "we fucked. It was loud and passionate. We were like two animals that couldn't get enough of each other".

When they were done they simply laid there in each others arms. She had mentioned that they would need fire wood for that night, and it was best to get it early. Tess had reached for her clothes but Darren held her back then handed her hiking boots to her.

"You don't expect me to get wood naked do you?" she had asked him, feeling turned on at the idea of it. He had grinned at her as he put her socks and boots on her.

"That's exactly what I have in mind," he had said.

Grabbing his boots and socks she said, "Then you're coming with me."

They set their packs on top of their clothes and set out in only socks and boots. She could feel him staring at her bare ass as they hiked through the woods looking for firewood. Tess found a good bunch of clean dead wood to bring back a short distance from the cabin.

She heard Darren walking behind her to where she was, assuming he was coming to help her drag some wood back to the cabin. As she bent down to grab the first branch she let out a lust filled moan; he had grabbed her waist and slid his cock into her from behind. He slid his right hand down to where they were joined and rubbed her, knowing how much it drove her crazy, while gently tugging her long hair with his other hand.

Tess turned her head to kiss him as he fucked her. Within minutes they both came with a yell. Barely able to stand they held each other and regained their breath until his limp penis slipped from her. Then they carefully gathered some wood and set off for the cabin, with Tess leading the way.

Just as they were about to exit the clearing she stopped, and he almost knocked her over. They stared at the cabin with their mouths agape. There were four people, presumably a family from the looks of them, eating lunch on the porch. Quietly they set the wood down and squatted down to wait. Tess turned to look at Darren with a mix of anger and amusement in her eyes.

"What are we going to do if they are spending the night?" she had asked him. He looked at her and grinned.

"If they aren't gone by dark, I'll walk in there and grab our stuff and leave. This was my idea, so I'll do it," he answered.

As luck would have it, the family set out after their lunch, allowing Tess and Darren to slip back into the cabin without incident. They had made love all night long in front of a roaring fire until neither of them could move...

...She draped her tank top over the porch railing. Standing in her sports bra and khaki pants she felt exhilarated. Setting to work she brought in all the wood she had gathered so it would stay dry from the coming storm. Tess removed the portable solar shower from her pack and set it up in back of the cabin, hoping that whatever weather was coming, it didn't destroy the shower. "I'll want a warm shower after this night", she thought as she secured the unit.

With her work coming to an end she felt the coldness that had descended in the day biting at her. Rubbing her hands over her arms she went back into the cabin and put her flannel shirt back on. She checked her GPS unit, and saw that the current temperature was down to 45 degrees. "With the wind expected to pick up it's going to get down right nasty tonight", she thought with some slight concern. She closed the shutters on the windows, slid a cot in front of the fireplace and set to work building a fire as the storm arrived.

Carter knew he was screwed. He'd been caught in enough storms to know the signs. The clouds had moved in at first. "Which was still inline with the days forecast," he had told himself. When the temperature started to drop, he knew it was a bad weather front that had moved in. He was about ninety minutes into his hike, and he knew that even if he double-timed it all the way back, he couldn't hope to make it in less than an hour. Looking at the sky he knew he had twenty minutes before the storm hit, maybe thirty tops; that meant he would have at least thirty minutes of exposure to the storm if he tried to leave.

Cinching his pack tight, he decided to try for the cabin. "I'll just stretch the food I have until breakfast," he thought, "and when I get back to my car I'll go grab a big lunch." Fifteen minutes later the sky opened up as the winds slashed at him. Carter knew that with the drop in temperature, vicious wind and rain the conditions were right for hypothermia. If he didn't find the cabin soon he would have to look for some kind of shelter to ride out the storm.

About ten minutes later with chattering teeth he saw a warm glow ahead. "It must be the cabin," he thought, "and it looks like someone's there." Pushing himself he tramped through the woods and ran up the porch, bursting through the unlocked cabin door with a yell of relief.

Tess was sitting on the cot in front of the fire, heating some water to make coffee when the door burst open, and a man fell through it. She'd screamed and leapt from the cot. Coming to her senses and accessing the situation she could see the exhausted man was a hiker caught in the storm. She rushed across the room and shut the door, then turned to the man. He was sitting up and trying to smile through chattering teeth.

"Names Carter," he said with a southern drawl, "mind if I stay here for a bit with you?" Tess squatted near him and began examining him, looking for signs of hypothermia. "I'm wet and cold, but I'm not hypothermic yet if that's what you're looking for," Carter said as she looked him over.

Tess stood up and looked down at him. "Hi, name's Tess. We need to get you out of those clothes," she said walking to her pack.

"Now that's more like it," Carter said standing up and removing his pack, "I like a lady that knows what she wants and goes right after it." Carter removed his sweatshirt and t-shirt. Tess turned to look at him. Carter was about six feet tall and muscular, yet not body builder muscular. His short dark brown hair was matted to his head, and his deep blue eyes were staring intently at her.

"I beg your pardon?" Tess replied with a small smirk on her face as she watched Carter struggle to work his wet pants down his legs.

He looked up at her as he finished getting his pants off. "Bad joke, I'm sorry," he replied carrying his cloths to the fire place, "clothes are off. Got a blanket or something I could use while these dry?"

Tess stared at him as he walked towards her. His white boxer briefs were all he had left on and being soaked, they clung to him leaving very little to the imagination.

"It was Tess right? Are you ok?" he asked as he began laying his clothes on the hearth near the fire.

"Yes, I'm fine. I do have a blanket with me, I was planning to stay the night," she said turning from him and pulling her eyes from his tanned physique with a nearly physical difficulty. She lifted her blanket and offered it to him saying, "You can have the blanket, but you gotta lose your shorts. It's the only blanket we have and we can't afford to let it get wet."

Looking her right in the eyes, Carter removed his underwear and laid them next to his shirt on the hearth saying, "You're the boss."

Standing in front of her naked he took the blanket from Tess and draped it around his shoulders. Sitting down on the cot in front of the fire he held his hands to the fire trying to warm them, feeling the last tremors of cold shiver through him. Tess kneeled behind him and rubbed his back and shoulders vigorously through the blanket trying to warm him.

"I just put water on for coffee," she said, "is this helping at all?" Carter continued to rub his hands, enjoying the warmth from the fire and the feeling of her hands on his back.

"A little yes, but this chill runs deep," he replied with a small shivering stutter in his smooth southern accent, "if it isn't too forward, can I ask you to hug me, and use your body heat to warm me some. I don't have hypothermia but I know that's one of the safest ways to warm someone that has it."

Tess stopped rubbing and sat back on her feet. He figured he'd crossed the line and rubbed his hands again, relishing the warmth of the fire when he felt the blanket lifted from his back. He turned his head to look, and saw Tess pulling the blanket over her naked shoulders as she sat behind him. His cock stirred as he felt he bare breasts pushing into his back, and her arms wrapping around his flat abdomen.

"Pull the blanket tight around us," she said as she squeezed him, "it will help warm you quicker." Carter felt her nipples harden as they touched his cold back. He pulled the blanket tight and they sat that way for awhile.

A short time later he felt her grip on him slacken as she pulled away from away from him saying, "You aren't cool to the touch anymore."

Carter turned his head and saw Tess' bare back as she put her sports bra back on and then her shirt. He turned to face the fire as she turned back towards him. Tess walked over to his clothes to check them.

"Still damp," she said, "how about some hot coffee and lunch? The cabin is holding the heat well."

Tess removed the water and took the pot to the counter. Setting the boiling water down she asked, "How do you like your coffee?"

Carter turned to face her and replied, "Sweet and creamy. But today I'll take it however I can get it."

Tess went about making the cup of coffee and returned to the cot. "I hope you don't mind instant coffee and sharing, I only brought one mug," she said handing him the mug.

She grabbed his pack and brought it to him. "I brought enough food for one person to have a few small meals; I'm not a big eater. If we split it up, we'll have enough to sustain us until tomorrow but not nearly enough to fill us. I assume you have some food in here," she asked indicating his pack.

Carter took another sip of coffee and said, "Help your self. There is a couple of sandwiches, a few energy bars, and some fruit, as well as a canteen of water. Thank you for the coffee, right now it tastes like the greatest cup I've ever had."

Tess smiled at him, and melted a little more inside as his accent drove her wild. Carter smiled up at her as she continued to stare at him.

"Here finish this cup, and then you can have the first half of the next one," he said as he handed her the coffee. Tess took it and retreated to the counter with his pack to where her food was. She finished the coffee and made a second cup. Then she brought lunch to the cot where they ate and talked.

They had finished lunch and Tess had taken out a deck of cards. They had been playing various games for a couple of hours by candle light, conserving the batteries in their flashlights incase of an emergency. Carter suggested making some more coffee if it was possible. Tess placed a pitcher out in the rain to gather more water, than had run it through her portable purifier once back inside.

After placing the water on the fire she said, "Your deal, so what's the game?"

Shuffling the cards Carter grinned at her and said, "Strip poker, seven card draw." The cabin had warmed up considerably despite the violent weather outside. Carter had slid the blanket to his waist and had remained nude under it, and Tess had removed her flannel shirt.

She looked at herself, then at him and said, "Ok, why not. You do realize that I'm only wearing four articles of clothing, five if we count socks separate; and you are still wearing only a blanket." She sat at her end of the cot with her pulse throbbing faster.

Carter started to deal and said, "Guess I'd better do well then."

Three hands later he was doing well. They had agreed the socks count as one item, and he hadn't lost yet. Tess was sitting in her bikini cut underwear with her socks, sports bra, and sweat pants piled neatly at Carter's side.

"I guess this is the last hand," she said as she leaned forward to take her cards. She noticed Carters gaze never left her breasts as she did this, and it excited her. Leaning back she looked at her cards then looked at him. She could see his erection pointing up through the blanket, as he did his best to quietly conceal it.

"Don't bother,' she teased him, "that blanket's going to be mine in a minute anyway."

Carter laid his hand down, he had a full house. Tess let out a small whoop of victory as she laid down her four aces.

Carter stood slowly and said, "Good hand, here's your prize." He unwrapped the blanket from his waist and took his time folding it for her. He stepped forward to hand it to her, his hard cock was only a few inches from her mouth. She took the blanket from him as they stared into one another's eyes. He opened his mouth as if to speak when the cabin was filled with a flash from lightning, and was shaken almost simultaneously by the crashing thunder. They both let out a startled scream, as Tess leapt from the cot and hugged him. Carter felt her heart pounding as she squeezed him.

As the thunder rolled on and the moment passed she let go of him saying, "I'm sorry, that really scared me for a minute. I'm ok now."

He could see her shaking as she turned from him towards the fire. She tossed a few more logs on the fire, and then grabbed his pants and underwear.

When Tess turned back to him Carter stepped forward and took her in his arms. Pulling her in tight he kissed her deeply, thrusting his tongue passionately between her parted lips. Tess moaned as his hands roamed over her nearly nude body; savoring the feeling of his hard cock pressing into her stomach as he held her tight.

They tumbled to the cot as one, their mouths never parting. Tess lay atop him as their tongues danced, feeling his throbbing cock between them. Finally breaking for a breath, she sat astride him running her hands over his muscular chest and tight abs, keeping her hands far enough from his penis to drive him wild. Leaning forward she wiggled back and forth tickling his chest with her breasts.

Cupping his face in her hands she kissed him again, sucking his tongue gently into her mouth. Carter moaned as he she began kissing her way down his chest, planting delicate kisses and playful nibbles all the way to his lower abdomen. Tess gripped his rigid cock at the base with her left hand, it wasn't the largest cock she'd ever held, but it was at least seven inches long and more importantly to her...it was thick.