Date: 2012-06-27
From: Lost Pond Shelter

To: VT 140
Miles today: 11.3

The rain had stopped by the time we all woke up and got moving. I headed out first, followed closely by Richard. Shackles was planning an easy day and was in no rush.The way down to Big Branch Shelter was not difficult, but the recent rain had left it slippery. Richard took quite a spill but got right up and kept going. Just as I got to the new footbridge Shackles caught up. One doesn¢t have to start early if one is fast! I crossed Brooklyn Road and stopped to chat with a woman with two very lovely Golden Retrievers. I was able to get my dog fix for the day. Daisy was content to let me love on her for a few minutes while I chatted with her owner. The other dog, Cadence, was more shy.Little Rock Pond was pleasant and I would have been happy to linger, but I was hoping to get to Wallingford in time to pick up a maildrop before the post office closed for the day. I only paused for a quick snack and a few pictures before going on.I came to a section of bog bridges. The boards were slick, and my foot skidded out from under me on one of them. I did a spastic little dance, jerking and twisting, fighting to stay upright. I did, but when I¢d finished the dance number, my right knee, hip and back were complaining fiercely.I slowed down (not that I was going fast to begin with¢¦) in an effort to walk carefully.   Eventually I made it to the summit of White Rocks Mountain. If I thought I was going slowly on the uphill, it was only because I hadn¢t hiked on the twisted knee going downhill. At times the knee would buckle, pitching me to the side. Only the trekking poles kept me from going down.   Ibuprofen helped with the pain some, but it didn¢t help with the instability of the knee. I tightened the Cho-pat brace, but even that didn¢t help much. It took me an hour and a half to go less than a mile over fairly easy terrain.I wasn¢t enjoying the hiking at that point, but I did like all the little cairns that other hiker had left, making a couple of spots look like a fairy¢s sculpture garden. I¢ll get pictures posted at some point.After I¢d passed the Greenwall Shelter I met some other hikers, a couple of section hikers that I¢d seen yesterday slackpacking. I¢m sorry I didn¢t get their names. I also met a group of dayhikers. One of them, Tom, gallantly volunteered to carry my pack down to the road for me. Turned out his father thruhiked in 2008. When we got to the road Tom and Krysse drove me right to the post office in Wallingford so I could pick up my package. Thanks so much! My knee and I really appreciate the kindness.The package was waiting for me and was quickly retrieved. That gave me enough time to stop in next door to get a sandwich and something to drink before the bus was due to arrive. While I was eating at the outside table various people stopped to chat. One gentleman and I talked for a bit and then he said he thought that I had met his mother-in-law. She was one of the two women finishing a nine-year section hike of the Long Trail that I had met the week before. It certainly is a small world out here.I caught the bus a few blocks down the street, and the driver dropped me off near the Red Roof Inn in Rutland where Doc Rockett had made a reservation for me. My knee had stiffened up enough that I had to haul myself up the stairs using the handrail. I showered and then iced my knee, hoping to reduce the swelling. Another dose of ibuprofen helped reduce the pain. Tomorrow will definitely be a zero mile day.