Date: 2006-06-25
From: Waynesboro, VA

To: Glasgow, VA
Miles today: 77.4
Weather: moderate rain

06/20/06-06/25/06It¢s been a rough week altogether. First I said goodbye to Natasha when she went back to Oregon. I¢ve missed hiking the trail with her. Getting back to the gap to hike I encountered some trail magic by I believe Blue Ridge Mountain Sports. There were lots of sodas, and excellent fruit, all from Whole Foods. It was excellent. One of the very kind ladies said she was reading my trail journal! The next day I encountered them again out on the trail not far from the Blue Ridge Parkway. I was pleasantly surprised to hear a voice say, ¢Hi Beeman!¢ as I walked down the trail. She was in a hammock with her boyfriend, waiting to give more fruit and sodas from the day before out to the hikers that morning before work. Very kind folks! That evening I camped out on tent site on Humpback Mountain after hauling the water from the last spring on the way up. There was a perfect tree to hang my food bag up in and I was going to do it for sure, since a couple of hikers from Canada chased off a bear right before the last spring. I¢m losing count, but I think that makes 6 bear sightings now. I can never seem to get my camera out quickly enough though. I slept lightly because of the strong wind blowing through all night. The next morning I had my first good fall of the hike. I was just walking down the same type of trail as usual really. But as I passed to the left of a three foot high rock halfway in and halfway beside the pathway, my foot snagged on a rock in the trail. I tried to get my hiking poles out in front of me for a recovery, but the right pole got snagged between the rock and my foot/leg and I went down hard. I lay there for a minute, muttering, and taking increasingly deeper breathes while testing my right side ribs for any sharp pains or grating/grinding feelings. So far so good. I felt my right side, pressing in on the ribs, and they seemed intact. Saying a quick prayer of thanksgiving, I then inventoried my other scrapes. My left knee and right elbow were also victims with multiple contusions, but I could move them both and didn¢t seem to have any extra joints above or below them. My elbow hit that rock really hard and I did have a small bit of localized swelling where it hit. My hiking pole was sporting a pretty good bend also. I stopped to wash and scrub the scrapes out with some filtered water and my bandana. That got them bleeding freely and flushed any remaining dirt out. Then I checked the scrape out on my ribs. About a 12 inch scrape starting below the floating ribs and ending just below the nipple line. I¢m sure you¢ve heard the line: ¢Oh, that¢s gonna hurt!¢ Well it still does. It¢s stiff and makes sleeping a little less rest-full as I try to find a position at night.The next in the catalogue of woes are my feet. One of my toenails on my left foot is getting really tender and dark. I believe the down hill parts of the hike are causing my foot to slip forward in the toe box of my boot just enough to jamb that toe and I¢m thinking that I¢ll lose that toenail already, since nothing I¢ve done in the last week or so has stopped it from getting darker. It really started getting tender over a week ago and just keeps progressing. We¢ll see what happens there. Lastly, my right Achilles tendon is tender when I get up the last couple of mornings. I can stretch it out and then it¢s fine, but the steep climbs and descents might be irritating that too.Oh yeah, in case you¢re watching the weather, there¢s plenty of rain lately. Last night could have drowned a frog, with lots of lightning displays too.So on top of all these physical irritants, mentally I¢m really missing my family. I¢m thinking about Deborah back at home with little David. I know how tough it is being the only parent in the house and working too. Sylvia is at Duke University right now for a youth Summer writing camp and I gathered from talking to Deborah that she might be a bit homesick or missing the family. I¢m ready to get off the trail for a day or two, rent a car, and go down to see Sylvia. Perhaps I can mend a bit, and improve my mental outlook. More to come.