Judgement call

Unfortunately my ankle is still very swollen and kinda yellowish looking.  I made the call to get off this morning. A trail friend, Sypsie, is picking me up I
n the park and my folks are enroute to get me in Waynesboro, Va.

Im gonna take a week off and see a doctor back home.  Then im getting dropped back off where i left trail to hike to the halfway point......maybe a bit further, depending on time?

The week off will allow me to settle all school matters and ending early will allow me to earn and save some money before the move west.

This is all very hard for me to accept and very upsetting.  I just have to stay focused on grad school and new adventures in Colorado.  Im gonna go stir crazy till i get back on the trail to at least finish the next 180 miles.

In the Shennies with an uncertain future.

So first off, it's been a while since my last blog.  Much has transpired since Damascus including about 442 miles of ups and downs. Virginia is so amazingly beautiful, more so than I expected.  We've traversed gorgeous rolling hills and farmland in between stands of lush green forest.  It's also become MUCH hotter, especially when out from under the tree canopy.
So much has happened ill just stick to the highlights.
Our first town resupply stop was Atkins.  We rolled in on a very hot and sunny day. We split a room five ways to shower and escape the heat.  At this point it was myself, Nokey, Flash, sprinkles and Dances with flies. Dirty girl was just down the way from us.
The next big stop was Dismal Falls.  We planned on lunch there and some swimming. We were joined by brownie, her dog, Wally, lantern, lipton and crispy cream (now broadsword).  This turned into a big drunken party as i got a ride to the store with wally to pick up 4 more cases of beer.  Lipton got his trail name that night after passing out and getting teabagged.
Next stop was Woodshole hostel.  An amazing sustainable/organic farm with a very relaxed hippie vibe.  The first night there some of us went into town for dinner.  The owners do this once a week to give themselves a night off from cooking.  During this time I checked my email and got my acceptance to the University of Colorado's Environmental science program.  I was so stoked and celebrated with a few glasses of good red wine and took a zero the next day there to relax.
We did about 10 miles in the cold rain down to Pearisburg and ended staying there to get warm.  The next week saw us over the dragons tooth and into the four pines hostel in Catawba, Va.  The hostel was awesome and we zereod another day to avoid bad weather for pictures on McAfee knob.  My FB pic is from that spot.
Next town stop was Daleville which ended up being a reunion of sorts at the Howard Johnson.  I even got to hang with Birdman again as well as secrets and shenanigans.
Our group had split up by this time and I made my way out of town towards Jennings creek.  Polaris and his friends had plans to meet his folks there and invited everyone.  They fed all of us for two nights with hotdogs, hamburgers, beer etc...it was just amazing!!!!!  They also were kind enough to facilitate a day of slack packing.  It was a great two days with fantastic people.
From that point on I hiked with Dances with flies, Q-tip and his Awesome Australian shepard Charlie.  We got to Waynesboro together after some fun, big days.  I had some ankle issues coming out of Jennings but they seemed to resolve themselves......or so I thought.
We camped for free at the ymca field with DW.  Talks of renting canoes to aqua blaze the Shenandoah split us up.  Flies and Q-tip stayed an extra day to make that happen and DW and i hiked on into Shenandoah park.
After some long days over mild terrain I now sit in the park with a swollen ankle and i guess shin splints.  Basically, the tendons from atop of my foot that run up into the shin are swollen and painful. It sends really nasty pains up my shin to about halfway.
The day i spent hobbling into the grounds was my lowest point yet.  I was having to come to terms that finishing may now be impossible.  If I had more time i could allow time off to heal, but I'm already behind schedule and UCD starts August 20th.
The plan as it stands is to rest/ice my ankle then hike/hobble/crawl till i get through WV into PA and the halfway point at 1,089 miles.  Its only about 100+ more from here, totally doable.  If the body cooperates ill push further, if not then ill head home.
At halfway i will have made it further than most do, and to have hiked over 1,000 miles isn't so bad.  Plus, ill be able to work and put away money for CO as well as have an easier time squaring away registering for classes etc..
Its all up in the air right now and I'm very heavy hearted at the idea of not having enough time to finish.  Guess we'll see what happens.

3 States down, 11 to go!

Well, it's been very interesting since the departure from Erwin, Tn.  It has rained the most the past week than any other stretch.  However, I've also been very lucky with weather for most of this hike.

After the first day we popped into the Greasy Creek hostel for lunch.  The sun was out and allowed for us to dry out our gear.  After a cheese burger and pint of Ben and Jerry's, for yours truly, we set off for Roan mountain. Fueled by 1,000 calories of icecream and pacing up some awesome new switchbacks I cruised my way up Roan.  Nokey tends to lead with his fast pace, but not today.  Over 2,000 feet were tackled as Roan tops out at around 6,200.

We stayed up top at Roan high knob shelter.  As the first to arrive, cold and drenched in sweat, i was greeted by some perky Floridian sectioners. These [insert curse word] set their tents up INSIDE the shelter, leaving very little room. I was a bit outspoken about my anger with this as I told them other hikers were on the way. Nokey was even louder with his disapproval and our annoyance with their stuff spread all over the place.  We had to set up upstairs around another tent that practically blocked our entry.

The next morning they were being overly nice and kissass to us, too late.  The rest of the day would prove to be much better as weather and everything else improved.

We were met at Carvers Gap by trail angel and 2011 thru-hiker, Mothership, with sandwiches and other goodies. We departed for what would become my favorite stretch of the trail so far. Cloudy skies and fog soon gave way to blue skies and impressive views as we crossed the beginning of the Roan highlands. We visited the well known Overmountain shelter, which was a converted old barn with a gorgeous view.

The following walk over Little hump and Hump mountain was just Amazing (pic below). It reminded me of hiking in Scotland so very much! 

We ended up at 19E by Elk park, Nc.  We camped by the road that evening along a nice little creek.  With stomachs growling we called a steakhouse that posted an advertisement to hikers and offered a ride to and from.  Within 5 minutes we were in the back of a pickup enroute.  Shortly upon arrival the owner sat down to chat with us and offered me a 40oz porterhouse (pic below) for the 32oz price.  I demolished the whole thing with a salad and half a baked potato.

The following morning we departed with a group from the local hostel including dirty girl, hot feet, secrets and shenanigans, spirit, talks a lot, woof and a handful of others.  Finally crossed over into Tennessee for good and left NC behind as we crashed early at Mountaineer Falls (Balls hehe) shelter.

The next day was a bit rainy with some snow flurries up on Ponds Flats.  The rec area at Watauga lake brought more trail magic as some angels grilled skirt steak and chicken for everyone.  The weather cleared up and we pushed on to Vandeventer shelter for another 18. 

The following day we pushed 22.7 into Abingdon gap shelter, the last shelter before Damascus, Va.  The promise of thunderstorms held true the following morning as it opened up and soaked all of us on the way in with strong gusty winds, lightening and thunder.  I did the mileage in about 3 hours.

Damascus has been amazing since arriving!  Great small town all centered around biking and hiking.  The social dynamics of the trail community.  Meeting new people and seeing all sorts of others here has just been a lot of fun.  Our first night jason and mary lou came in from Johnson city for karaoke and mass quantities of beer.  I do not recall leaving or walking across the street to my bunkroom.  The following day was a lazy day with some resupply shopping.  I needed a new water bladder as my camelbak developed a hole in the top as well as some gaiters (shed water off of my socks and shoes) for the next deluge.

Yesterday we packed up and got ready for the climb up and out of here.  While waking up at the local coffee shop we spun the idea of slack packing (getting shuttled ahead with a small day pack and walking back).  Its a nice way to get mileage in without the full pack weight.  Our friend Otto had a truck here and dropped us off about 18 miles out. I cleared it all in about 6 hours.

Today I'm stuck waiting around for a 2pm shuttle to where we started yesterday.  I'm very ancy as I write this blog.  At this point I'm ok with a day off, but not a fan of wasting more time.  I've calculated that i must average no less than 18 miles per day from here on out to summit Katahdin on my birthday at the end of July. This shouldn't be an issue as I plan to up my average to 25 per day (i want to break some 30 mile days) through the 4 weeks it should take me to clear this state.

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying life as much as I am right now!

Margaritas and Icecream

Departed Hot Springs after a zero day there with Flash, Nokey, Barefoot and Gypsie soul. Nokey, Muck and the girls (barefoot/gypsie) had been there for 4 days due to barefoot falling ill.  Since she wasn't totally up to par, we only planned a 5 mile easy hike to a pond with a campsite.  By the time we reached our destination barefoot wasn't looking very well.  Luckily Chuck Norris, the owner of the hostel in Hot Springs, had offered to pick her up anywhere if she didn't feel well.  Nokey called and he was there within minutes at a dirt road just above the campsite.  Such a great and caring guy!  To any reading this on trail journals, be sure to stay at the laughing heart hostel at the foot of the trail.
We met and camped with stingray, steady, F-100 and glogg. The temps dropped into the low 30's that night and I shivered in my 40° bag.  This would be the start of my regret of switching out my colder 10° bag.

The next day we did a 15 mile trek ending with a nice climb that froze my troublesome knee in the final stretch.  Sheltered this night with the same group as well as Secrets and Shenanigans.

The next day was Sooooo effin Cold.  I barely slept that night as froze my ass off in temps of the upper 20's.  I wore everything i had including rain gear.  We all waited to slowly crawl out from the insides of our sleeping bags.  It was a very lethargic morning and a late 10:30 departure.  It was so windy for the first couple hours!  By the time we peaked Big Firescald knob the sun was out and the wind had abated.  However, the knee was trying to lock up again.  We relaxed in the sun and ate lunch up there as i waited for a 800 mg ibuproferen to take action.
Everything went well till the next shelter when it acted up again.  However, it was late (too late to push for the next one) AND this place had tarps covering the front with a built in fireplace.  After the past freezing evenings the idea of  warmth kept us all there.  Joining us was a couple from Germany Fredrica and Sebastion.  We would travel with them till Erwin from this point on, very cool people to be around!

We pushed for 15 miles the next day.  Gorgeous weather and all went well for most of the day.  I changed my hiking style to a slower pace and shorter stride.  The last 2 miles got rough.  I said F U knee and pushed it through.  Instead of hobbling and babying it I made it  move full motion (doc said I couldn't damage it) and man it hurt for a while, almost made me puke.  Yet, it eventually gave in and worked with a mild ache.

We hiked a couple miles into Sams gap early the next morning and hitched a ride to a cafe for breakfast. We resupplied at a market/gas station and hitched back to find trail angels giving out food and drinks. For those not familiar,  trail angels are hikers and exthru-hikers that show up at crossings and such with food, drinks and snacks for section and thru-hikers.  Always a very welcome sight!
The rest of the day was a long fantastic hike!  We ended at No Business shelter at about 9:30 pm for 20.7 miles and had a short 5 miles into the hiker hostel on the Nolichucky river the following morning.

Jason Clark, my long time buddy from highschool, picked us up and took is into Johnson city.  Him and his better half Mary lou have a gorgeous house they're restoring. We  were so kindly treated to dinner by them at a Poblanos.  Yours truly had two fishbowl sized margaritas and meal that was ginormous (see picture) and came back in a box.

We were supposed to hit the trail the next day, but we slept in and got a late start into town for resupply. Jason took us to a fantastic burger joint and we finally agreed out loud to take a zero day.  We hit the movies (Hunger games) and were treated by our hosts to a spaghetti and salad dinner which incorporated fresh ramps (wild onions) that I picked along the trail. The remainder of the evening was filled with laughs, tv and good ole Ben n Jerrys icecream.  Nokey ate 2 pints to himself, it was impressive.

Today was a late start and a short 5 miles to the first shelter.  We'll wait out tonights rain storm here with shenanigans and secrets as they came in late from a zero as well.  Gonna be raining all day tomorrow.  Shooting for a 22 mile stretch, maybe 13 if the rain is really bad.

All for now :-)

Loving life

What an amazing week this has been!  The knee started out sore but has gotten much better since i started back at Fontana dam.  Smokey mountain national park was fantastic!  The initial climb was brutal, but once you're up there the elevation gradients aren't so bad.  About the third day in the knee started cooperating with me.  The views were great as was the weather. Finished a 12 mile day (hardest section in the park) by being chased in by a storm.
I hiked the last part of the park with a new group that was a lot of fun.  Skillet and perch are from Belleair and Tampa, Fl.  Vicegrips and Sap, a married couple from....i forget.  We're all about the same age except Otto who's in his 50's and hails from Boone, Nc.  We did a night hike for the last stretch of the park, such a blast!
Spent a day and a half at Standing Bear farm hostel.  A great place to stay, great people and a lovely setting.  Skillet, vicegrips and myself killed a lot of beer while we were there. Good times!
I hiked to Max Patch yesterday from the hostel.  Fantastic weather, great hiking and gorgeous views from atop. Watched the best sunset yet that evening and then did a 180 to watch the full moon rise out of the horizon. So awesome, i can't even do it justice here!
Hiked 16 miles today in perfect weather.  So much vegetation is sprouting up everywhere along trail and throughout the mountains.  Its such a pleasure to watch it all coming to life.
Tomorrow I have a short hike into Hot Springs, NC.  Meeting my folks there for lunch and hopefully i can get a soak in the spring water.

Snaggle Foot

Since my last post from NOC I have rafted the Nantahala, put another section behind me and been sidelined by the knee again….OH, and I now have a trail name!  I am now known as Snaggle Foot ;-)  This came about as my friend Jen made a comment on FB about my (blogged) foot issues and all the silly names (trail names) she was reading about and called me snaggle foot.  I found this very funny and read it out loud to everyone…and well….it has stuck. lol

The zero at NOC was great!  Runoff, Bookworm and I rented a raft and I guided them down the Nantahala River.  Perfect weather for it!  Then while at Rivers End Birdman showed up with BLT and Dak.  He offered us to come to Asheville for the night for some beers, pizza and pool….not to mention comfy beds and showers.  Dak, runoff and I took him up on the offer and jumped in the car. 

Once there I crashed and the three of them went out.  I knew if I joined them there were only two unfavorable scenarios in my near future.  1. I would be the tired whiny guy that just wants to leave (Lame) and 2.  I would end up getting drunk in an effort to stave off the sleepiness and not be that whiny guy.

The sleep did me well and offered me the opportunity that evening to reorganize my gear before passing out.

The following two nights and three days were spent going towards Fontana Dam.  This started off with a 6ish mile (3100ft elev.) climb up and out of Nantahala gorge that we flew up.  We ended that day shortly after the climb at the first shelter.  The following was a 15 miler that left my knee in pain during the last 2-3 miles.  This is the point where I started to feel maybe a doctor visit would be best just to make sure of what’s going on.  The next morning was only 5 miles into the Dam and I hobbled a little bit towards the end of it.

I offered Dak and runoff to crash at my joint instead of the shelter for the night and they took me up on it.  The next morning I got up to drive them back and between the case of beer from the previous night and the promise of nasty storms they decided to take a zero and spend another day here.  I couldn’t go anywhere since the Doc wouldn’t be able to see me till Monday morning.  

They accompanied me to REI so I could return the other boots that tore up my feet and my failing Steripen that only seemed to work when it chose to.  A HUGE shout out and Thank you to REI Asheville for being so awesome and allowing my exchanges!  Such a RAD store!  The rest of the day was filled with other errands, movie rentals, pizza, wings and beer.  I ran them back to the dam the following morning.

The doc checked out my knee and gave me some great news.  No major problems, and it wasn’t my IT band.  It’s the lateral collateral ligament in my knee.  This is towards the outside of the knee which is why I assumed it to be the IT band from the pain.  It’s a direct result of pushing to far too soon and will get better as it acclimates to the daily grind.  The biggest problem will be keeping to 10 mile days for a couple weeks.  I can do more and will want to, but need to allow it to heal and get used to the strain.  He said eventually it will go away all together; I just have to take it easy for a while.

I’ll be back on trail in a day or two to take on the Great Smokey Mountain National park and break 200 miles….at a snail’s pace ;-)  I will also be comforted in knowing that the knee issue isn’t serious and will eventually work itself out as the body acclimates to the strain.

BTW, my feet are healing well and kind of looking better.  I love my new Merrell shoes and superfeet insoles!

Beautiful weather, horror show feet.

I left franklin on sunday after spending an extra day there.  I made up a day as i hiked past Wayah bald and on to the next shelter.  Met some new people (gail, spoon, cheddar, boxhead, runoff) and ran into bookworm and magpie agian.

Hiked (hobbled) into NOC yesterday.  All the downhill aggravated my knee a bit.  Nothing like last time, just some mild pains here and there.  We spent about 3 hours at the rivers end restaurant eating and drinking.  I was able to ice my knee there while numbing my aches with icecold beers.
Looks like today will be another zero day.  I dont want to, but my body feels like it needs it. 

Mentally i want to push on.  However, the new shoes rubbed my left foot (its smaller than my right) and formed that blister on the bottom and a small one in my heel.  Today the bottom blister is a bit infected, so im tending to it with rubbing alcohol and antibiotic ointment.

I bought some superfeet insoles which should solve the blister issue and provide extra cushioning, support and stability to help with my knee.

Im taking a picture if my feet today as they seem to be a hot mess.  Between calluses, blisters (old and new) and 3 soon to fall off purple toenails......they are pretty gnarly looking, lol.

Since its so nice today a couple of us are thinking about renting kayaks and doing a run down the Nantahala river.  A day on the water with some rapids will make up for taking a day off ;-)