Date: 2018-06-11
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Mon Day 120 6/11 zero in DaltonSept in, got up at 7. Went to Java and Juice around the corner and ordered 3 breakfast burritos, a lemon poppy seed muffin, and a whole vegetable quiche. Gumby was there as well as Charlie Horse. Everyone is referencing the cumulative effect. Gumby hikes with Red Bird from Yardly, PA. I had met Gumby and Red Bird in Front Royal. He remembered me. I'd given Gumby and Redbird some extra laundry detergent I had. Gumby said they hiked 27 miles two days ago and felt great. Yesterday they both hit a wall, even though it was relatively smooth easy hiking, they were done, just tucker out. Charlie Horse said he had slipped on a greasy rock and ended up doing a split and hurt his knee. He said the second day sitting in the hospital it occurred to him. You could be an old man looking at his leg in a hospital or he could be back out on the trail making miles. Turns out he's back on the trail making miles. Everyone will go through adversity and challenges on the trail. Your hope is that whatever the injury adversity is, you can at least walk and hike. He says he hikes a little funny. He buddy hikes his trekking poles to potect his knee. Sometimes I'll protect my right knee by using both trekking poles when I'm putting pressure on that right leg. He calls it the crutches technique. I used that quite a bit when my knee gave out on me back before Shenandoah. I don't use it much anymore cuz my knee seems to be doing okay. I used it the other day when I wrenched my knee on that root. That was pretty painful and I surely use the crutches technique for the rest of the day then. I had the same thoughts when I had to just sit down later in the day because it hurts so bad. Is this a hike ending injury or this another challenge? You just want to work through the challenges and avoid the hike ending injuries. Came back and took a long nap after breakfast. Managed to pull another one lb 4 oz out of my backpack and mail it home. Postcard is staying here at the Shamrock Hotel as well. He was impressed with a pound and 4 oz. He said 6 months ago he wouldn't have impressed. Now each ounce matters and 20 oz is a big deal. So my base weight is now probably 15 and 1/2 lb. I can really feel when I put 2 liters of water in there cuz that's 5 lbs and a 33% increase in weight. Everyone here at this point of the hike is weight conscious to the max. It's too much of an effect on hiking everyday. It is very serious. I think there's a level of fatigue that I've reached that is impressive. I am at some level of core tiredness. I think this Alaska trip with Sue will be perfect. I will not be pressing my body athletically for 3 weeks. Hopefully it'll give me a chance to recover. I won't be at the almost done any second level of fatigue. I will also not be making very many decisions. My sister, Susan,has traveled to Alaska. Sue has put a lot of preparation into this Alaska trip. It's more of a family trip. I'm just going to be going with the flow, hanging with the family, and doing whatever the next thing there that we are supposed to be doing. I am not planning, organizing, starting, coordinating, or anything else about this trip. I'm going to just go with the flow. Ibex's Uncle Lee and his wife showed up with Jess, her brother. They went out on a variety of errands and activities. I worked on my blog and took another nap. Around 6:30 Jess and Ibex got back. We went out to dinner at Java and Juice. I'd had a mint shake in the afternoon so along with my dinner, I had a raspberry Shake. it was already after hiker midnight when we got back so we all crashed.