Date: 2016-05-01
From: US 220, Daleville, VA (mile 727.5)

To: US 220, Daleville, VA (mile 727.5)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Well folks, I have not done a very good job of updating my journal since Damascus, VA (the last two weeks). But not without good reason. We have been hitting the trail hard each day, usually on the trail by daylight (6:30 am) and hiking until around 7 pm each day, and sometimes longer in my case since I don't walk as fast as Steve the Hiker, my hiking partner. Since leaving Damascus around noon on April 18, we covered the 259 miles to Daleville in 12.5 days, averaging 20.7 miles per day including 2 resupply days when we had to hitch into towns and get back out to the trail. About a week ago, I developed a problem with my lower right leg. I caught my right foot several times on rocks coming downhill through a very rock section of trail. I thought I had hyper-extended my right foot and strained the tendons between my foot and lower leg. I have been walking on my bum leg for about a week, hoping I could walk through the injury. When I got to Daleville on Saturday night after the 27 mile slackpack from Four Pines Hostel, I was in quite a bit of pain and couldn't put any weight on my right leg. My lower right leg was red and swollen and tender to touch. I went to a clinic this morning to have it checked. It turns out I have a skin infection (cellulitis)that probably occurred through one of the cuts on my legs that settled in my lower leg. The doctor gave me a tetanus shot and prescribed a broad spectrum antibiotic to get the infection under control. Also, she told me I needed to rest for 48 hours and if the swelling went down down I could gradually resume activity...and if not I needed to promptly go to the ER.After Damascus, I realized I had violated one of the 10 cardinal rules of thru-hiking posted at the Top of Georgia Hostel in Dicks Gap, GA. The only two I remember are 1) Have you domestic affairs in order and 2) Don't quit on a bad day. I totally blew in on #1 and have no one to blame but myself. Without much notice, I left on a 16 day / 165 miles section hike on March 9. I got sucked in by the trail and called my wife 10 days later telling her I wanted to do the whole trail. It didn't seem like such a big ask at the time but it sure does now. Steve needed to get off the trail mid-May so we set a more realistic goal of going to Harpers Ferry, WVA (1023 miles and almost 1/2 of the AT) and coming back next year to do the other half. With my leg issue, that is not going to happen now. But I did get in 53 days / 728 miles which is respectable for a 59 year old geezer. We reached Daleville toward the low end of the range for the 5 month pacing guide (45-63 days) we were following. So with that, this hike is officially coming to an end. I will go back and update my journal using the notes I took along the way on my AWOLs NOBO trail guide. I look forward to coming back next year and finishing the AT. There are some benefits to this, i.e. we can apply our learnings from this trip and tweak our gear to make next year's hike even more enjoyable. And we will probably go a little slower so we can enjoy the trail more.One final comment...aside from the amazing natural beauty of the AT, I have met many truly remarkable people over the course of my hike. There have been many fine young people along the way - some between college and first careers, some transitioning from one career to another, and some taking the time to think about what they want to do next. Also, there have been many retired people like me enjoying some time in the great outdoors after a long career. Also there have quite a few military veterans on the trail whom I have the greatest admiration and respect for after hearing their stories. One thing everyone had in commmon was that they were out here because they wanted to be, although their reason might have been different. Hiking this third of the AT has given me a great feeling about humanity, both young and old. Volunteer out.