Date: 2017-08-22
From: Old Orchard Shelter

To: Trimpi Shelter
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: clear sky

The next shelter was only 4.2 miles away. If, Lord willing, I could make it to the shelter beyond that¢13.4 miles total¢I would be just one day away from access to medical care. The guidebook showed several road crossings, so if I could not make it the distance, then I would have options to hitch a ride into town or at least call for a shuttle. I limped ahead.The first opportunity to opt out was about a mile and a half from my starting point. When I reached the road, I could see cars and trailers in a parking area about .1 miles east. Even though I was sure I could hike on, I wasn¢t sure just how much I should be pushing a bad knee, so I headed east off trail to see if I could get a ride into town. The parking area was also a camp area, a horse camp, and the trailers were horse trailers that easily could haul 3-4 horses. I stopped a couple of riders to ask about getting into town and was surprised to learn that the town I thought was only a few miles away was, in fact 16 miles away¢and not a straight shot. While chatting with the riders, I noticed only a couple of cars on the road that were traveling in the direction I needed to go. It would not have been a good use of my time to go to the road and thumb my way to town, so I returned to the trail. A couple of miles into the hike, a hiker behind me asked how my knee was. It was Tenderfoot. I first saw her yesterday, but thought she was only doing a day-hike. Turns out, she slack packs sections. Her husband drops her off where there is road access and picks her up at the next or other pre-determined road access location. He fishes and sets up camp while she hikes. Not a bad arrangement. She offered to take me into town, but couldn¢t guarantee when her husband would be at their meeting point. I said I would look for their truck, but I might end up getting off trail sooner. She sped by, and I trudged on. I reached the first shelter, but I didn¢t stop in; it was .1 mi off trail, up a set of rock ¢stairs.¢  Instead, I rested on a flat rock right off the trail and ate an early lunch. In five miles, I would have another opportunity to break trail and get into town, so I entered the contact info in my phone for the hostel I hoped would provide shuttle service and moved on. I came to a sign that pointed to a State Park campground and only briefly considered following that trail. The campground was .7 miles off trail and the cost to tent for the night was more than the hostel, so it was a no-brainer to just keep going. When I reached the road crossing, I realized this was the road where Tenderfoot was going to meet up with her husband. Would Tenderfoot be there? No. There was no Tenderfoot, no other parked cars or signs of hikers, no place to rest, and no phone signal. I walked around the entire parking area and got as close to the intersection as I could trying to pick up at least one bar¢nothing.  During the time I was searching for a signal, the only vehicles that passed were a service truck that turned into the park road on the opposite side of the intersection, and a motorcycle. Again, I returned to the trail. I had hiked 9 miles and was wearing out. The shelter was 4 miles away, but there was a campsite just 2 miles away, and I decided that would be my stopping point for the day. My already slow pace came to an abrupt stop when I encountered a massive obstacle on the trail¢a huge oak tree fell onto the path, taking a rhododendron bush with it. I thought perhaps I missed a bypass sign before this roadblock, so I backtracked a couple of hundred yards, but there was no such sign. I couldn¢t weave my way in and out and over and under the branches¢I would have to go around, which meant climbing up an almost vertical hill, trying to stay upright to pass the obstacle, then sliding down back onto the trail¢oh, and avoiding the wasps/bees that were searching for their home, likely buried in the tangled mess. It took about 15 minutes to get around the debris, but at least I made it, and my knee wasn¢t screaming at me for the effort. Now my focus was on finding that blue blaze trail to the campsite. According to the guidebook, the campsite was a half mile after the horse trail crossing, where I took a quick break before realizing I was almost out of water. At least the campsite would have a water source, and I knew I could make it that far, but I kept a few gulps in reserve just in case. I was glad I did. I missed the blue-blaze trail to the campsite, and before I knew it I saw the sign to the shelter, 1 34 miles away.  It was getting dark, and I was hurting, and I didn¢t really think I could go on. I kept eyeing the landscape for a suitable spot to set up camp, but everything was on a slope. By the time I found a place that could work, I talked myself out of camping there, believing the shelter¢and a water source¢could not be far off. About 30 minutes later, and with an ounce of daylight left, I finally reached the sign indicating I had reached the shelter, but it was only because of an added note in magic marker that I knew in which direction and how far I needed to go to get there.  It was only through God¢s help that I made it. To this day, I cannot understand how my knee held up for that distance.Scott and his son Jeremy and Jeremy¢s dog ¢Eggs¢ were already at the shelter.  I first met them at the Wise Shelter on the day of my injury, and I think they were as surprised as I was that I was still on trail. We chatted a bit, I refilled my water and ate dinner and gladly accepted Jeremy¢s offer to hang my bear bag with theirs. One less thing to stress about.  The shelter had a fireplace, and Jeremy had a fire going. I haven¢t seen a shelter with a fireplace inside since the Smokies. It was inviting and comfortable, and I was asleep in no time. When morning came, the debilitating knee pain returned, but I knew I only had 10 more miles to reach the Partnership Shelter, where shuttle service would be available to take me to town. God brought me this far, I knew he would give me the strength to keep going.