Date: 2019-09-17
From: Punch Bowl Shelter

To: US60 to meet Tyson
Miles today: 11.3

Monday, Sept 16: Punch Bowl Shelter (797.2) to US 60 (808.5) for a total of 11.3 miles for the day and 216.8 miles for the 2019 trek.First, Happy Birthday Dani! My daughter turns 46 today. I love you, Dani! Rock out Vegas!I was awake at 5:30 AM and excited about the day ahead of me. The last day on the trail for 2019. I slept in the shelter since No Dice and Tazer tented and I could pack quickly today.In my overview I talked about all the experiences I have had, both good and bad while I am on the trail. This adds to the excitement since most days you do not know what these experiences will be. Well today was one of those where I had both good and bad experiences.It started with a ¢bad¢ experience. Like I said, I was awake at 5:30. It is still dark; first light is around 6:40 and sunrise is at 7:00. I started packing. Shortly after that I went to get my bear bag (food) that I had hung the night before and noticed it was on the ground. The bag was still tied to the tree and the cord on the bag was not broken. I had the bag over a limb that was 2-3 inches in diameter on a tree that was a foot in diameter, and it was hanging about 15 feet in the air. Plus it was about 2 feet below the branch it was hung on. No way a bear could get to it. So what happened. A raccoon got to it. My theory is the raccoon climbed the tree and out the branch, jumped down and grabbed the bag, which in turn bent the branch enough for it to slide over the end of the branch. The bag and the raccoon then fell the 15 feet to the ground. I have a very heavy duty food pack that would be almost impossible to penetrate. The raccoon tried several places to get into the bag but was unsuccessful. It was able to create a hole in the bottom of the bag (picture) and reach in and got my planned breakfast of pop tarts, and some ramen noodles. I had very little food left since it was my last day, but the other food was in heavy duty zip lock packages and were not opened. That was one very smart raccoon!It took me a little time to sort all that out. I packed in my trash bag anything I thought he touched, and I had 2 big scoops of peanut butter for breakfast since my pop tarts were gone.I left the shelter at 6:55 and reached the trail at 7:05 ready to do my final hike for 2019.The hike was great in the early morning with the sun coming up over the mountains plus it was cool. I made great time since the trail was smooth most of the day with no big climbs (nothing over 900 feet).I did meet Warrior (male) and Sun (female), both SOBOers. They started on June 15, the first day Katahdin Maine opened. When hikers came thru Harpers Ferry WV they register as hiking the AT and Warrior and Sun were #21 and #22 SOBOers for the season. I started naming all the SOBOers I had met. The #1 is Legs and I met him my 1st day on the trail 18 days ago. I think I have met around 15 SOBOers. They asked if I had seen Keys (male) and Happy (female) and I told them I had missed them somewhere along the trail. I think I missed them in Daleville. But I had heard Keys was on the trail since his sister knows my nephew, Jack who lives in Charlotte.The hike was the normal up 300 ¢ 500 feet and down 300 ¢ 500 feet on a very smooth trail. I stopped for a break with 4 miles to go and noticed I had phone service, so I called Marilee to give her an update. Phone service has not been good for several days. I told her I thought I would finish at 1:00 PM. That would be 11.3 miles in 6 hours. After talking to Marilee it got my mojo going since I had been very tired this morning having done so many miles the last several days. So I was moving down the trail which was downhill and very smooth. I had stopped using my poles (I was holding them in my hands) since I can walk faster without using them. I almost let the weight of my pack push me down the hill. Remember I said I was moving at a very fast pace and not really paying attention to the trail. Well, in the past I could never understand how a person could do a face plant since I thought you should always be able to catch yourself. I have 660 miles on the AT and have only fallen twice, both times on wet rocks while it was raining. I had always been able to catch myself with my trekking poles when I stumbled.Moving at a fast pace while just holding my trekking poles I hit a root that I did not see. In a flash I went down with the momentum of my pack driving me forward and the first thing to hit the ground was my head. I was definitely dazed. I also notice I was bleeding. After I came to my senses (at least I think I came to my senses) I grabbed my bandana to see if I could stop the bleeding. I got to my knees and took my phone out to take a selfie so I could see the damage to my head. It was not pretty. I had major road rash (or trail rash) on my forehead. The skin was peeled back. The bleeding stopped. I cleaned the wound, wet my bandana and tied it around my head. I hike the final 3.5 miles in a daze.I arrived at US 60 at 1:30 PM. I found a shaded spot and waited for Tyson. He was right on time at 3:00. It was a 2.5 hour drive for him.After Tyson arrived and we had a big hug, we went to Hardees in Buena Vista VA (9.3miles) so I could properly clean the wound using my first aid kit. I am fine, just a little sore today and a pretty messed up forehead and a black eye. (Pictures included but not for the faint of heart.)Tyson and I got to his house at 6:30 PM. Mel and Stella were just getting home. After I took a quick shower, we went to the drugstore to get something to help protect the wound on my head and then to dinner. It was a great drive with Tyson and evening with Stella and Mel.We all went to bed around 9:00. I was exhausted and elated all at the same time.I am very appreciative that Tyson was there for me. As I said, I have experienced good and bad things everyday which is part of life, but I hope the good experiences will make dealing with the bad still worth it. Since this is the last post, I want to say again how thankful I am for the support I got from everyone but especially Marilee. I am the luckiest guy in the world.And that is it for Day 18. Thanks for following. I¢ll post my 2019 trek summary in a few days.