Date: 2015-06-03
From: Laurel Creek Shelter

To: PIckle Branch Shelter
Miles today: 22.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Sleeping soundly I awoke and felt refreshed and ready to hit the trail. Breakfast was Peach Oatmeal with tropical fruit trail mix and olive oil. I drank my coffee while packing up and was soon rearing to hit the trail. Today was a day of both great beauty and pain, and was one of the worst days so far. I had passed an abandoned and collapsing shelter that you can just see from the trail. Of course I had to go and investigate the decrepit building and take pictures. There were an abundance of mushrooms and toadstools, including on nicknamed the Chicken of the woods. It is a large, bright orange toadstool with white edges, that I heard were edible. I'm not sure enough to stake my life on it though or I'd try. I passed the Keiffer Oak, the largest oak tree on the AT in the south. It was pretty impressive and very stately, but there are live oaks in Uvalde, TX that have branches alone that are larger than that tree. Then it was up to Bruiser Knob (How true (and prophetic) a name that would prove to be!) upon which were many intricate and large stone cairns. The Guthook's app says that farmers may have put them there. ( I think are actually Native American grave mounds) At one point I was going down a rock slope that was at at least a 40o angle and very wet as it was raining on and off. It's when a funny (not really) and ironic thing happened. I was thinking about how good the Astral Aquanaut trail shoes were doing and how well they gripped with their soles, when out of nowhere it ,ironically, happened! I suddenly slipped and fell forward and down about 4', landing on my forearm with a searing jolt to my shoulder where I already have a torn rotator cuff. The pain was almost unbearable as I sat and cried for awhile as I waited for the OTC pain pills and safety meeting to kick in. There was a constant throbbing and stabbing sensation, I didn't think anything was broken, but I had rubbed the skin off of my forearm where I had landed. I washed it off, putting triple-antibiotic ointment on to fend off infections and let it air out at the Niday Shelter. On one of the signs for the Audie Murphy monument and Trout creek there was a stuffed dog sitting on top of the post just sitting there with its big google eyes and tongue sticking out at me! Then it was into the Brush Mountain East Wilderness of the Jefferson National Forrest. I was hurting like hell but made sure to see the Audie Murphy memorial which was impressive. He is still the most decorated man in American Military history. I had seen the movie about him and thinking about it helped to take my mind off of the pain. I was glad to see the footbridge across Trout Creek where I jumped in and cleaned up, knowing the shelter wasn't far away. The icy water did wonders for my shoulder as it helped to numb the pain. I staggered in to the shelter and got set up and then cooked fully loaded Idaho Mashed potatoes adding bacon and olive oil. After going to replenish the water supply, I had to take another safety meeting along with the Tylenol which helped somewhat, but even so, the pain was very intense. I only visited for awhile before going to lay down for the night. I couldn't seem to get into a comfortable position laying down. The best position I found was to lay against the wall on my left side and prop my arm up on the wall, as this provided temporary relief. I listened to my iPod for awhile before catching patches of sleep between the pain.