Date: 2016-04-16
From: The Priest Shelter

To: Maupin Field Shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: broken clouds

The Priest Shelter has a unique tradition involving the shelter's log book. Hikers routinely sign their trail name, date, and a brief comment about their day's hike or their night in the shelter. Given that this is the "Priest Shelter", some hikers write a confession. I think I first learned of this tradition when Gangsta confesses to blaming her hiking partner, Wags, for a fart. Giggles, who I met in a shelter last week, confessed that having hiked over 800 miles, she had probably slept with 100 men and a number of women too (in a shelter). I confessed to abusing a body part - my knees! After my confession, today's hike began. My right knee was a big problem. It was painful to plant that foot on anything other than a dirt path in a straight-forward direction. The descent from the Priest Shelter was almost 3,000' and the first hour required working around boulders and rocks. All I could muster was 3/4 of a mile in that first hour. It was a challenging morning mentally and I quickly abandoned my original hiking goal for that day. The good news was that I felt good about abandoning that goal. I embraced hiking slowly and did everything I could to not aggravate the knee further. I struggled with the awareness that whatever has surfaced with my knee could become a serious thru-hike challenge. So many of my hiking friends have been permanently stopped or have had to get off the trail to recover. I think all of us know that injuries happen sometimes but I don't think any of us dwell on it. It's like we think it isn't goIng to happen until it does. All of a sudden, my mind was going to this undesirable place as each step continually reminded me of my inability to hike free of pain or concern.Fortunately it was the weekend, a beautiful weekend, so the trail was full of day hikers that could distract me. I met Blueberry and Wizard, who hiked the entire trail in 2008-9. They were out to do trail maintenance. Wizard was carrying a substantial saw that was strapped to him in what appeared to be a backpack or attachment that was specifically designed to enable carrying such a saw. Between the other hikers and listening to music, I successfully drowned out negative thoughts.My revised destination for today was Maupin Field Shelter. I decided to stay there for the night as soon as I heard that the unreliable water source there was flowing. I stopped hiking shortly after 4:00 which is really early for me. Tents and hikers were everywhere. A crowd was hanging around the shelter's picnic table but I went there anyhow because of its close proximity to the water source. Despite the crowd there, it seemed like there were spaces available in the shelter. As I was filtering water, I asked about shelter space and was told the assembled crowd was saving that for thru-hikers. Heads turned when I said I was thru-hiking. Lots of questions about my hike and thru-hiking in general. John introduced himself and said the last beer was mine. I learned that most around the shelter table were members of a hiking group from Raleigh. They made me feel very welcome and made space for me to sit with them. My knee stiffens up pretty quickly and got their attention with concern. John turned out to be a medic. After he identified his profession, he asked if I wanted to discuss my knee, so I did. Based on my explanation, he stated that it sounded like a meniscus problem that wouldn't prevent me from continuing to hike but would make hiking more difficult depending on the severity of the meniscus problem. Okay, at least that was some good news. I was pleased with hiking almost 14 miles today over some challenging trail - Priest's descent was tough and the climb up and then down Three Ridges Mountain was tough too. I settled in the shelter and continued to speak with various hiking group members. The group was clearly enjoying themselves. As the evening progressed, Steve came to me and identified himself as a chiropractor who would be happy to work on my knee. Steve also thought it was a meniscus problem. He applied pressure and my knee felt better after he was done. My good fortune continues. What were the chances that I'd hobble in and get such assistance. I tried to write this entry while enjoying the big camp fire everyone gathered around but the conversation was too engaging and then I gave in to the weariness of this day.