Presentation

I will be making a presentation about my Appalachian Trail thru-hike.  I expect to give a brief talk about the nearly 6-month hike, show my photos I took on the trail, and answer questions about the 2,200- mile adventure.  This is will take place on Sunday, October 9 at 7:00 PM.  It will be held at the Western Campus Theatre of Cuyahoga Community College at 11000 W. Pleasant Valley Road  Parma, OH 44130.  No need to RSVP--just come!  Hope to see you all there.

A "BREAKING" Story

 

You will probably recall that on Thursday, July 28 I fell on a steep and treacherous rock descent on North Kinsman Mountain in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and twisted my ankle.  I decided to call a retired Orthopedic Surgeon, Dr. Kim Brown, whom I had met just ten days earlier in Lake George, NY.  Dr. Brown listened to me as I described the condition of my ankle over the phone.  He said that I should have an xray to really know the condition of the ankle.  However, he understood that an xray was not possible at that time.  From what he could surmise by my description, he guessed that I probably had a severe ankle sprain.  He suggested that I obtain an Air Cast Ankle Stirrup to use immediately and continue using it through the rest of my hike.  I was able to purchase one by phone at a Rite-Aid Drug Store in Lincoln, NH.  Lincoln was the closest town to where I was on the AT.  Later the same day two AT hikers hiked five miles up and then five miles down the mountain to get it to me.  After two days of rest and a small amount of walking on the tent pad where I had set up my tent, I resumed my hike.  The Air Cast certainly stabilized the side-to-side movement of my ankle.  Within a week after the injury the ankle felt much better.  When I finished the hike, I seldom thought of the ankle.

I finished the hike on September 7.  Two days later I called Dr. Brown.  He thought it would be a good idea to still have an xray on the ankle even at that late date.  Since I have been home the ankle is still slightly swollen and tender at times.  Today I had an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Robert Coale.  After an xray technician took three xrays of my ankle, I returned to await Dr. Coale.  Within a few minutes the xray technician came to the room where I was awaiting the doctor.  She had an expression of wonderment as she asked me if I knew that the ankle was broken.  Obviously I did not!

When the doctor entered I told him my AT tale.  He was quite surprised that I was able to continue hiking after just a few days of ankle rest, especially in the most rugged states of the AT-----New Hampshire and Maine.  He said that I must have a high pain tolerance.  I have never thought that I did.  He described the break as an "Oblique Distal Fibula Fracture."   He advised me not to jog or run for another four weeks.  He described the break as clean and now mostly healed.  He also said that in about four to six weeks the ankle should be fully healed and pretty much back to normal!

Now as I reflect on the whole episode I am glad that I didn't know that it was broken.  If I had known, I most likely would have taken several weeks off and gone home.  By now I would likely have been back on the trail still hiking.  I believe that the old saying is true, "ALL IS WELL THAT ENDS WELL!"

I hope to have one more blog within a few weeks to give you some final thoughts about my AT hike.  I'll be touch!  

Victory!!

Tuesday (9-6) started at 9 AM as the hostel owner (Ole Man) shuttled us back to the Abol Bridge.  Here is a view of Mt. Katahdin in the distance.

We had lunch along the Nesowadnehunk Stream which was deep and furious.  Fortunately, we didn't have to ford the stream because we wouldn't have been able to do so.  It was at least chest-high.  We reached Katahdin Stream Campsite at the base of the mountain at 2:15 PM.  After paying $10 to camp we were able to get a two person lean-to.  Chainsaw stayed in his tent and I shared a lean-to with Old Grand Dad.  We hiked 9.9 miles.  We were up early on Wednesday (9-7) to get our exciting day started.  We started hiking up the mountain at 6 AM.  The weather was cool and later in the morning it began to rain.  As we proceeded up the mile high mountain, the temperature dropped and the wind picked up.  We reached the summit at 11 AM.

We took a few pictures and then started heading back down after 15 minutes.  The wind chill felt like it was in the 30 degree range.  It was a tough climb going up and coming back down.  We got back to the ranger station at 4 PM.  The AT Lodge owner shuttled us to Millinocket, ME for the evening.  Tomorrow Deadman and I head to Bangor, ME in the morning and hopefully Acadia National Park in the afternoon if the weather is OK.  We both fly home on Friday.  I'm looking forward to getting home but it has been a GREAT adventure.

Thank you all so much for you kind wishes, prayers, and support.  It's been a blessing to be able to share my journey with you. 

Check back next week for a few exciting events that are set to take place!.

Winding Down

After breakfast in Monson on Saturday (9-3), we were shuttled back to Jo-Mary Rd where we started hiking at 9:45 AM.  I was eager to begin the last section of the hike.  Here is a picture of a sheer rock face with trees growing out the side and a lot of moss.

We forded two streams.  The first one required taking off our boots and socks and putting on our Crocs.  The second stream had more rocks to use for crossing so we all decided not to change our shoes.  The rocks were slippery and some were uneven.  About 2/3 of the way across, I slipped and fell in.  My right foot was caught between two rocks and the strong current made it difficult to stand upright.  It took me about 30 seconds to get myself back in control of the situation in the waist-high water.  Somehow, only the bottom of my backpack got wet.  I keep my tent in the bottom of my bag so no real harm was done.  Then I realized that one of my hiking sticks was missing.  One stick floated away and I couldn't see it.  Fortunately Deadman was still on the shore and he spotted out the pole below the surface about 50 feet downstream.  I made it to land, took off my backpack, and went back in after it.  Other than being very wet, the ordeal ended OK.  We continued hiking until 6:30 PM when we tented just off the trail.  Considering the late morning start, we were pleased to have hiked 15.0 miles.  Sunday (9-4) started at 6:30 AM.  Here is a picture of the misty morning in Maine.

We climbed 900 rocky feet to the top of Nesuntabunt Mountain, descended 900 feet to Pollywog Stream, and then had lunch at Rainbow Stream Lean-to.  The morning was difficult with lots of mud and unending standing water.  We forded one stream by rock hopping.  The afternoon had easier terrain with no major climbs but still, lots of mud and water everywhere.  At 3:30 PM we heard thunder in the distance and it kept creeping closer.  As we reached Rainbow Spring Campground at 4:30 PM, the rain began so we quickly put up our tents.  I ate dinner in my tent after I towel dried the floor due to all the water.  The rain stopped at 6 PM for a few minutes so we all quickly walked to a nearby spring to get water.  We hiked 14.7 miles.  The goal of Monday (9-5) was to reach Abol Bridge.  The overnight rain left all of us with wet tents and wet gear.  The trail was very sloppy and drenched.  We reached Abol Bridge at 2:30 PM.  By 3 PM we were being shuttled to the Appalachian Trail Lodge, a hostel about 30 miles away in Millinocket, ME.  It continued to pour all night and it is expected to continue into Tuesday.  We hiked 11.2 miles so we are 15.2 miles from the peak of Mt. Katahdin.  After 24 weeks (168 days), I have hiked 2,165.8 miles for an average of 12.9 miles per day.  Hopefully the next post will be a picture of me on top of Mt. Katahdin!

High Water

Because of Hurricane Irene, the brooks and rivers we needed to cross on Tuesday (8-30) were flooded.  We changed our plans around a bit so we were shuttled 52 miles into the 100-mile wilderness and dropped off on the trail at a logging road called Jo-Mary Rd.  We started hiking south back to Shaw's Lodging in Monson.  By doing this we could avoid some of the high water until it had a chance to recede a little bit.  It took 1 hr and 45 minutes to reach Jo-Mary Rd.  We started hiking at 10 AM.  There was only one mountain to climb--Little Boardman Mountain.  We forded the East Branch Pleasant River which was waist-deep with a fairly strong current.  The water came up to the bottom of my backpack so my gear got a little wet.  We hiked until 7:15 PM in order to maximize our miles since we got a late start due to the almost two hour shuttle ride.  We were able to go 15.4 miles.  Wednesday (8-31) was a cool and dry day.  We were back out on the trail at 6:45 AM and we immediately climbed 1,100 feet to the top of White Cap Mountain (elev. 3,650).  Then we tackled Hay Mountain and Gulf Hagas Mountain.  We forded the West Branch Pleasant River and it was about waist-high too.  We finished at 6 PM and went 14.4 miles.  Thursday (9-1) could have been called "Mountain Climbing Day" as we started by climbing Chairback Mountain.  This was the correct path going up if you want to call it a path!

Next was Columbus Mountain, then Monument Cliff at the top of Third Mountain, then Fourth Mountain (it is actually called that), and finally Barren Mountain.  Each time there was a steep descent before climbing again.  We finished at 6:15 PM.  It was a very tough day.  We were able to go 13.6 miles because there weren't any streams to cross.  Friday (9-2) was another beauty of a day.  There weren't any major mountains to climb but there were plenty of ups and downs of hundreds of feet at a time.  We forded three streams--Long Pond Stream (thigh-high), Big Wilson Stream (knee-high), and Little Wilson Stream (calf-high).  It is refreshing to ford a stream with cold water but it is time consuming.  You have to take off your boots and socks, secure them on your backpack, get your Crocs out, ford the stream, dry your feet off, put the boots and socks back on and then put your Crocs away.  It is a production and it takes at least 15 minutes just to go a very short distance.  A hostel representative met us at 2 PM at a road access and took us back to Monson.  After a quick resupply, we are now ready to hike north on Saturday from Jo-Mary Rd which is 56.1 miles from Mt. Katahdin.  We hiked 8.5 miles.  It is hard to believe we are almost there!  

Almost Done....

I'm excited to tell you that I have a date to climb Mt. Katahdin, the northern terminus of the AT!  We (there are now five of us) expect to summit on
Wed., Sept. 7 with a rain date of Thurs., Sept. 8.  I have a one-way plane ticket from Bangor, ME to Cleveland, OH for Fri., Sept. 9.