Date: 2017-06-28
From: Mashipacong Shelter

To: High Point State Park Headquarters (New Jersey)
Miles today: 5.5
Weather: clear sky

I was up early at the Mashipacong Shelter and ready to hike out by 6:30. I made good time for the first three miles, passing the turnoff for the Rutherford Shelter. Shortly after that I had a problem. The guidebook elevation chart shows a small notch where the trail does a quick dip, dropping less than 200 feet with a quick bottom and then climbing abruptly up the other side. On the descent the trail is a steep trough with long rock faces. I took it slowly, but about half way down my left foot lost its grip and went forward while my right foot folded underneath me. I remember that I turned sideways and slid down the chute to a flatter spot. This was bad. There was a sharp pain in my right hip and along the top of my right foot, at least at first. Then I threw up my breakfast. Once I had my bearings I was able to slip off my pack and straighten out. Other than a few scrapes there were no external injuries that I could see. When I was more or less in a sitting position my foot was painful but the most prominent pain was in my right hip. As I sat there I could feel myself stiffening up. There was no one else around. About two miles ahead is the High Point State Park Headquarters building (New Jersey). Signs at the shelter had promised a free soft drink to thru hikers who stopped in on their way. That building became my goal. I slid on my butt and dragged my pack and poles the rest of the way to the bottom. Once down, I decided I needed to put on my pack and try to carry it as normally as possible. My right foot was painful but handled it and I kept it as straight and level as I could. My hip felt a more deep and blunt pain and a weakness when I tried to step up the rocks. There was no power to lift myself up. The trail across the bottom was edge to edge rocks. The climb up the other side was one of those rock piles. I'm not sure how I did that to tell the truth. Then more of the ridge line slabs and rocky trail until the last half mile. There it was smooth easy trail as is normal where local family hikers are encouraged to explore. At a clearing I saw the building to my left. The trail went ahead about another 100 yards and temporarily back into the woods before it came out at the road. I went half way, hidden in the trees, and stopped to take it all in. Before the hike I decided I would stand the pain involved in a thru hike but not do damage to myself, given a certain amount of pain and discomfort were built in to this kind of activity. I would continue as long as it was fun. I was also realistic, knowing that I might not get to Katahdin since only a fraction of hikers who start in Georgia actually finish in Maine. I was encouraged after I took the time off and had the laser treatments, but complete healing was slow to come and the time available to finish before winter in Maine was a real factor if I could not move forward with some consistency. The last couple of days were encouraging. I was chipping away at it again. I felt like I could make it. But the last 500 miles up there are pretty tough, especially with the need to carry cold weather gear again and longer resupply times with a heavier food bag. All of that sounds logical, like I did a pro/con list to reveal the answer. But I knew two hours ago that I could not keep going. It's just that down there where the trail crossed the road the thru hikers would eventually go straight and I would turn left, leaving the trail.