Date: 2013-09-01
From: Pinkham Notch

To: North Conway, NH
Miles today: 0.0

I took a tumble today over some rocks and dislocated my shoulder! It was horrible! I went to the visitor center at Pinkham Notch for the all you can eat breakfast with Hog Greer and Wetbag. On the way back from breakfast, I tripped on a rock and landed on my shoulder. I felt my shoulder pop out of place. Without even thinking, I shrugged it back and popped the bone back into the socket. It was most unpleasant. I couldn't move or even feel my arm for a few moments. I just sat there in shock. Another hiker named Catnap tied his rain jacket around me as a makeshift sling. Wetbag held my hand as we walked back to the visitor center. I started to cry as we walked back. The pain was getting worse. It was a hot, searing pain shooting down my arm. Once we arrived at the front desk, we were handed a list of hospitals nearby, which would've been helpful if we had a car. They called a taxi and said it would be about $60 for a cab ride to the nearest hospital. I couldn't afford that. It was all too much for me to process at the moment. So I went outside to sit down. Several people came over to see if I was okay. I must have looked rough with dirt and blood dripping down my leg, my arm tied up in a rain jacket, and tears pouring down my face. Out of nowhere, Giggles showed up. Apparently, she camped nearby last night. She said she was going to ask around for a ride. While she was hunting down a ride, Wetbag went back to our campsite to pack up my stuff and bring it to me. A very nice couple named Sid and Aaron gave us a ride to the hospital. Giggles went with me, thank God. The doctor took X-rays to make sure nothing was broken. She said the best thing I did was pop it back into place as soon as it happened. The longer the bone is out of socket, the more damage it causes. The nurse was asking a lot of questions. She asked when my last period was. I told her it was a few months ago. Due to all of the exercise, I've skipped a couple of cycles. Her next question was "are you pregnant?" I assured her I was not and mentioned I am a Christian and believe in waiting until I am married. After the nurse left, the patient in the room next to me asked me if I had a place to stay for the night. I told her I hadn't figured that out yet. She said her parents run a bed & breakfast nearby, and they let Christian hikers stay there for free! I couldn't believe what I was hearing! I called her parents and they said it would be no problem to let us stay with them for the night. They even offered to take us to church. Our next challenge was finding a ride to their place. We sat on a bench in front of the hospital for a while. A lady came by with two dogs. I had seen her earlier with the dogs. We struck up a conversation with her and she said she could drive us. Then she said we could even stay at her house if we wanted to. We decided to stay at her house instead since it was closer and more convenient for her to drive us. Faith and Judy are the nicest women! They let us shower and do laundry. They were at the hospital the majority of the day, so we had the house to ourselves. Judy told us when Faith told her mother that they were letting 2 hikers stay at the house, her mother was really worried. She called to make sure she was okay in the car. Faith thought it would be really funny to joke around and told her mom that we had just cut her hand off haha! Everybody laughed. Giggles and I made tacos for dinner and watched some TV before heading to bed. Not sure what we're going to do in the morning. I need to figure out some way to slack-pack the next week or so while my shoulder heals up. Praying God will make a way.