Date: 2016-04-17
From: Maupin Field Shelter

To: Waynesboro - Quality Inn
Miles today: 20.8
Weather: clear sky

Leaving the shelter this morning was an experience. Goodwill was coming at me from everyone that gathered early around a morning campfire. This hiking group was rooting for me. I could feel it. Four members offered me ibuprofen. Food was offered and I accepted an apple but then explained I was not attempting to yogi the other food they were offering. Steve came and repeated his kindness on my knee. I turned and yelled back to make sure he saw how much better I was able to hike. Before leaving the large tenting area, another group member wished me well. So is my knee feeling better? I think it was. John, the medic, emphasized that I should attempt to keep my foot's placement in the direction consistent with my torso. I tried to follow his guidance. Many hikers bare pain. We often don't talk about it and instead discuss how tired we are or how strong we feel at the end of the day. I've read many journals during the last several years. I have sometimes been surprised that no mention is made of a physical problem and then, seemingly out of nowhere, the hiker is off the trail. I don't think my thru-hike is in danger but I am writing now to not gloss over this and recognize that my movement is strained and inhibited. The trail was primarily sloped dirt. Rocks and boulders appeared in spots - one so much that I badly wished I was hiking with Blues Brother because we would've had a great time chirping about it. My pace was consistently two miles per hour. I appreciated the lack of rocks and boulders. I fear that if this knee surfaced in Pennsylvania, that is known for extensive trail of sharp rocks, then I suspect the coming days would be so much more difficult and right now I hope to make my way forward instead of immediately pausing for medical evaluation. Time will tell whether moving forward is foolish. Hiking slower and by myself creates time to think. My song title choice was a thought that lingered for a good while. No question that my home is my ultimate better place. But attempting to work through this became my mindset and I was heartened as being able to hike 20 miles today became an obtainable goal. The trail was again filled with day hikers. Maybe I was lonely. After two young couples passed and I could see a third approaching, I smiled and preempted their saying "Hi" by blurting out that today's young couples were killing me. I said I'd been hiking since mid-February and my wife was in Connecticut. Could Beth have really been here a week ago? It seemed so much longer than that. The next couple was around my age. I was asked about the "Virginia Blues". She seemed to have personally taken an affront to being aware that some thru-hikers think Virginia is a bit of a let down. I told her that it seemed to me that Virginia was the state in which the AT honeymoon was over and that thru-hikers were confronting the reality of how difficult hiking the AT is.I was glad to reach Rockfish Gap in daylight. It meant being able to stay in a hotel tonight and being able to ice my knee while enjoying a good meal and making sure I was hydrated. Dinosaur, a successful thru-hiker who currently works for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy picked me up after about 15 minutes trying to hitch a ride. Dinosaur was full of info about the trail and told me about Konnarock, an organization that enables individuals to join others for a week to work on trail maintenance and learn new skills. She said similar organizations exist up north so I'll have to look into those after this is over. Long day. The day's heat gave way to a final couple of comfortable hours. I never thought it would be easy.