Trials on the Trail...and Thanksgiving

Stats: Wednesday night 6/29, MM 1342.8

(213.8 new miles, 1351.6 total miles)

Back on the trail Thursday 6/30...feeling a whole lot better!

The past two weeks have been up and down, not just on the trail but with my health. And with Moondog’s health; I’m very sad to say he’s left the trail. He's OK, more on that later. But even with the trials, I’m thankful for many things. This post is a bit longer so I can catch you up through today (6/29).

Wednesday, June 15^th, Mary dropped me off at the trail after our stay at Barb and Frank’s. She met me after about a mile (intersection on her way home) and I told her the orthotics felt GREAT, I may wear them longer.

But at about the 1-1/2 hour mark, my right foot suddenly started to hurt, really bad. I was told to wear them between 1-2 hours, didn’t quite make it that long. My foot hurt most of the day after taking them off, and all the rocks didn’t help.

Notice the white blaze on the telephone pole - trail marker

Stopped at the Doyle Hotel in Duncannon for lunch, sandwich and a beer. Saw Odie, he puts a hiker book together where he shows pictures of the hikers. He took my picture for the book.

Continued on to Clark’s Ferry Shelter where I met Moondog, 22 miles total that day (despite the foot pain). Saw Cousteau, Dreamcatcher, and Rambeau at the shelter. It rained Wednesday night, we were in tents but set up before the rain. The guy next to me was snoring, so with the rain and the snoring I didn’t get as much sleep. Thankful to still be able to hike, given how much my feet have been hurting.

Thursday there were a whole lot more rocks on the trail. We went up a “rock scramble”, which is really big rocks you need to climb over. Met PJ, a ridge runner, really nice guy. He cleans up trash, educates on whatever you need to know, and watches over the trail. It started raining after lunch, drizzled just enough to get us wet. Camped at Yellow Springs campground after another 20 mile day.

Friday my shoes were finally drying out, still had a lot of pain in my feet. Feet were chapped because of hiking in soaking wet boots. Ran out of drinking water, didn’t have any sources for 12 miles. After hiking 22 miles, got to 501 Shelter, about 12 of us were there. It was one of the shelters where you can order pizza – we each ordered a pizza and a 2-liter soda. Ate like kings tonight. Everyone was happy, pizza was SO good.

Saturday saw many day hikers, felt tired (maybe from the pizza), lots of rocks again. But we had really good weather, nice temps and no rain. Hiked 15 miles to Eagles Nest campground.

On Father’s Day we hiked 9 miles to route 61. Coming down from the trail to the road was one of the steepest downhills yet! We wanted to get a ride to Cabella’s – they will pick you up if they can but they were too busy. Called the place we planned to stay Monday, Common Ground Farm and Retreat. Thankfully he was able to pick us up a day early and he took us to Cabella’s. Very nice people. We ended up staying Sunday night instead of Monday. They had a big barn, no AC in the big room but had it in the bedrooms.

sometimes it's swampy

Moondog and I went out to dinner with Living Proof, who had a brain tumor 2 years ago. He tried hiking the AT last year but fell and fractured his shoulder. This year, so far so good. Owners of Common Ground are Christians, they invite veterans and other special needs groups to stay for free. We had a great breakfast and then back on the trail after an enjoyable stay.

Monday it was hot and sticky, but no rain. Hiked about 15 miles to Eckville Shelter. About 10 feet from the shelter, I twisted my ankle and fell, also twisting my bad knee. My ankle was swollen and my knee hurt. The caretaker had ice, I was able to ice my knee and my ankle. There were about 10 of us camping at the shelter.

Tuesday my ankle and knee were still hurt and swollen, but not bad enough to stop me from hiking. We hiked out in the morning in the rain, thankfully the rain stopped before lunch. Still hiking over a lot of rocks, which is hard on the feet. Met New Hampshire Bob, 66, who has been hiking his whole life. The weather was much cooler, thankfully not like Monday.

Hiked 17 miles to Bake Oven Knob Shelter. NH Bob offered to get some water for me because the water was not close by and my foot and knee were still swollen. Thankfully he did because it was so far and steep it took him 45 minutes to get the water.

Wednesday when we got to Lehigh Gap, Moondog went to the ER in Palmerton. Sunday night he thought he had a groin pull, turns out it was the start of a hernia. He had to leave the AT and go home to have that taken care of. I will really miss him, I'm very thankful to have met him and shared a lot of my journey with him. And thankful I will get to see him when the AT goes past his house in Massachusetts (sometime mid-July).

Moondog - miss you, see you soon!

After Lehigh Gap, I hiked up a steep rock scramble to a view – almost like rock climbing. It was really windy and a bit hairy, but I felt used to it because of roofing. I really liked that climb! On the way up I found a hat dropped by Colin, the same guy I ran into in Buena Vista, Virginia many miles ago. 

Colin, the last few rocks to the top 

What a view, worth the climb!

When we came down from the hill, 2 guys who did the trail in 2010 were serving trail magic: hotdogs, hamburgers, and cokes. We camped at the Leroy Smith Shelter after hiking a little over 23 miles. Weather was still good, and thankfully my knee and ankle were getting better.

Thursday left the camp with NH Bob. When we got to Wind Gap, hiked 2 miles into town to resupply at Giant. Stopped at a diner for a great breakfast. Started talking to a guy outside the store, and he offered us a ride back to the trail. Thankful we didn’t have to walk back, didn’t really want to walk back and then keep hiking. We ended the day at Kirkridge Shelter after 14 miles.

Friday we stopped for breakfast right off the trail at Delaware Water Gap. My feet were still hurting from all the rocks. We went to a church hostel nearby to check it out, it is run by a pastor who has been running it for 4 years. Nice place. Ran into Angel, Honeybuns, Mouse, and a few others I knew. We also hiked over a very long bridge over the Delaware River.

breakfast place

On the way to the campsite where we planned to stop, we passed 20-30 teens who were taking a training session on hiking and camping. I hiked a mile past the campsite, because I missed it, had to go back. Overall hiked about 20 miles on Friday.

Notice the white arrow blaze on the pole where the bridge starts



Don't look down!

Saturday stopped at Gren Anderson Shelter after hiking 17 miles, had to stop b/c I got Montezuma’s revenge. Probably something I ate, or could be the water, not sure. Lasted until Sunday morning, thankfully seems to be easing up…or so I thought. Went to pick up the box Mary sent me, place was no longer there. Went to a pub two doors down, had burgers and beer, nice spot on a lake. There are a lot of people on the weekends at the shelters or camping near them.

Sunday we stopped at a beach at High Point State Park, had a few hot dogs for lunch. We hiked 18 miles total to Murray property. Owner donates his land to campers, has a water, well pump, outside shower, outhouse, and a place to charge our phones.

The owner also has donkeys; one donkey was eating another donkey’s poop, yeah, pretty disgusting. When a couple showed up with 2 dogs, the donkeys went wild and started chasing them, it was hilarious – never saw donkeys move that fast. The owner said the donkeys think that all dogs are coyotes, which can kill donkeys when they come in packs so the donkeys were only trying to protect themselves. Still pretty funny to see.

Monday morning the Revenge returned; actually, it never really completely left. I stayed hydrated but started feeling weak, so stopped in Vernon, NJ after hiking only 13 miles. Stayed at Appalachian Motel, wanted to go to an urgent care but it was no longer open. Felt a little nauseous, went out for some food and then settled in for the night.

Got a really good night’s sleep, didn’t need to get up during the night so thought I was doing better. Stayed in Tuesday; after some good food, bananas, Pepto Bismol, electrolytes, and a long nap I felt much better Tuesday night so I planned to go back to the trail today (Wednesday).

But when I got up today, I still felt nauseous so realized I may have gotten some unfiltered water. My Sawyer filter bag had a slight tear and the filter didn’t seem to be working quite right, so it may have let unfiltered water into my bottle. If that happened I knew I needed an antibiotic to kill the critters, so I needed to see a doctor.

The owners of the motel, and another hiker who stayed there, recommended a local doctor so I made an appointment. The doctor was very nice, he prescribed a strong antibiotic that will kill whatever is there. Very thankful I found him, and hope to get back on the trail tomorrow.

The doc - thanks for your help!

Update on the feet: the most painful spot turned out to be a planter’s wart that I’m slowly killing with duct tape and compound W. From what I hear, it should be gone in about 2 weeks. I’m about ½ way there, I’ll keep you posted.

Overall I’m very thankful – thankful for good people I’ve met, for good weather we’ve had, and for being able to keep going despite my feet, knee and getting sidelined for a few days with the Revenge. And I’m very thankful for your support and prayers. God willing, I’ll finish the trail before the end of August.

Next stop: my friends Derick and Nola’s place on Sunday. Looking forward to seeing them!

Stayed tuned….