Date: 2006-06-15
From: Catawba, Va

To: Blairsville, Ga
Miles today: 0.0

Time for an update. :-)))Thanks again to Hokie Pokie for helping out so much when I decided to take some time off and figure out what to do about the constant pain in my right heel.He and I went out to eat the next morning after I got off the trail, then he went to work and I headed south.I took my time and drove through a few areas that I had some interest in maybe buying some property, but wasn't too impressed, so I headed back to my RV near Blairsville, Ga.This is truely a beautiful area and I'm fortunate to have a small place to come back to when needed.I even leave the satelite TV, DSL and phone turned on all the time, so I don't have to deal with getting everything turned on whenever I return.While I'm thinking about it, I want to thank Hammock Hanger for doing such a great job at transcribing for me. She has only inserted one or two personal comments and never inserted a link to her own site. Sooooooo, here's a link to her site that I'll freely post; www.trailjournals.com/hammockhangerFT05When Liteshoe transcribed for me, there were always snide comments and many, many, many links to her pitiful journal. I think that link has been changed to; www.trailjournals.com/pitifulsite.comWhen Mrs Moosie transcribed for me, she always sent hugs. :-)))OK, back to my plans....I have been taking it easy on the heel. I did an internet search and read through lots of stuff and found one site that seemed to make more sense, so I've been doing some of the suggested things from Dr Stephen M Pribut's Sport Pages website on Plantar Fasciitis.I've also had special offers from 2 trail friends (one of whom actually is a podiatrist) to stop by and have my heel looked at and get fried chicken....now those are great friends that know me well!! :-)))(Thanks Rainbow Slick and Goosebump The Snow Princess)I have also heard from other friends who've had similar problems (thanks Vera) and I am considering those options.In the mean time, I'm doing some of the stretches and I think more importantly, I'm not going barefoot...not even inside the house and I'm keeping my recliner warm.I have been wanting to update my journal for a couple years now with my '02 nobo thru hike and my '03 sobo thru hike, so I've been working on that.I've been posting notes from my '02 hike for the last few days and hope to have that done soon. They are not very long, but I only jotted down a few notes at the end of each day back then.That has actually been more pleasant than I thought it would be because it's bringing back lots of old memories and lots of friends that I haven't thought of in a while.Hopefully some of those friends will read it and it will bring back good memories for them too.I still hope to have time to post my '03 sobo hike before I head to Maine...yep, my plan is to head up to Maine in a couple weeks.I have a very dear friend that I met on the trail in March of '02 by the name of Frogcaller. She has been section hiking the AT for 5 years now and has just over 50 miles left to completely finish it.I have promised her for a couple years now that I would climb Katahdin with her and help celebrate the finish.Well, July 12th will be that day!!If my heel is OK by then, I'll flip and just walk back to where I got of the trail at. (The Homeplace) ;-)))It may be a little later in the year, but my intentions are to at least get the AT done this year. I'm not sure I'll be able to do the IAT like I had originally planned, but that can be done another year. :-)))My immediate plans are to meet up with Smokestack and Mother Nature tonight in Helen, Ga for an AYCE crablegs dinner. Ha!!! :-)))My long range plans are to flip later this summer and walk back to Catawba, Va and have fun doing it on a pain free heel.Sure hope that plan works out!! :-)))I also posted a few more pictures when I got back last week.