Date: 2006-05-22
From: VA, Route 623

To: Sinking Creek Valley
Miles today: 94.0

Oh, the height, depth, and breadth of arrogance!Lots of fun things to report in this journal entry so hang on.I left Joan and my Zero Day off on May 12, 2006 to start hiking in the rain again on May 13, The next week looked like this.Sat May 13 Helveys Mill Shelter tent area 18 MilesSun May 14 Trents Grocery Store 16 MilesMon May 15 Doc¢s Knob plus miles 18 milesTue May 16 Plaza Motel, Pearisburg, Va 3 MilesWed May 17 Pine Branch Shelter Area 19 milesThu May 18 Kelly Knob Ridge 17 milesFri May 19 Sinking Creek Valley 3 milesSat May 20 Blacksburg, Va 0 Miles 94 Hiked milesSunday May 21 Pearl River, NY 476 miles by rental car! And here is part of the Story.When I left from my zero day off visiting with Joan I did a great hike of 18 miles in a short day where I didn¢t even hit the trail until 10 am. I caught up to my regular hiking group and the rain that had been following me for the last 11 days.The weather has been moderately to severely cold and wet! Buckets and buckets of rain, hail and occasional sleet remind us that there is always a bit of hypothermia to consider, and nothing to worry about in the wilderness, except a cold wind that will kill you for standing around with your hands in your pockets.The bad weather continued on Sunday and after a long hiking day, Sunday evening I found myself with Kutsa and Rush Hour at a road crossing for VA Route 606. The guide book describes a re supply opportunity with camping, showers, laundry, beer and pizza only 0.8 miles west of the trail. The three of us decided that we could use the luxury and deserved an opportunity to dry out. Half an hour later we found ourselves at Trent¢s Grocery and everything else store. A giant hamburger with everything and a heaping order of Cajun fries later we skillfully bargained for a $6 /pp opportunity to camp on the lawn next to the laundry. The camping facility is in reality a cluster of small camping trailers used by a group of hunters who frequent the area in deer season but are absent now. (They are not crazy enough to be out in this weather!) The showers and bathroom near the laundry are the regular facilities of the hunters and looked like they had last been cleaned in the spring of 1946. We all skipped the showers. The weather is bad enough (cold rain and hail) that we pitch the tents (so it would look like we were camping) and then after dark with no hunters in the trailers and the store closed the three of us retreated to and slept on the floor of the laundry room. It looked like a Tetrus¢¢ puzzle of sleeping bags as the three of us shared a 4¢X9¢ floor turned into a sleeping area. We occasionally used the dryer to heat the room to keep us warm, with the unexpected buzzer of the dryer at the completed cycle startling us as we began to doze off to sleep. In the morning we smelled not like the familiar sweat and body odor of thru hikers but perfumed as though we had each been dried and fluffed in a huge dryer with more than a case of Bounce ®. We each agreed to never speak of the incident again and so I shall not. Monday and Tuesday the bad weather continued and the hiking was uneventful and fairly unremarkable. The weather was bad enough and I was cold and tired enough that on Tuesday that when I found myself in Pearisburg, VA I was easily convinced by Kutsa and Rush Hour to again share a room but this time in the Plaza Motel where the showers and the bathroom had been cleaned as recently as today. The Plaza Motel caters to thru hikers and is convenient to excellent Chicken Wings in a nearby sports bar and a large grocery for more realistic re supply. Since we three have procured the last room in town (and feel a little guilty) when two more thru hikers show up homeless for the night we agree to share our room with Pigeon and her husband Tattoo. I offer to let them have my bed tonight, they sleep on the floor.Wednesday and Thursday I return to the woods and improve on what is becoming a noticeable limp. I had injured my foot / ankle hopping on uneven rocks several days before while balancing on one of the many uneven rock piles masquerading as the trail. At the time of the injury I convinced myself that nothing was broken and that I should just walk thru the pain. It seemed to work. At least I was convinced and continuing high mile days seem to be working out ok.Well, my logic is no longer as convincing as several other hikers comment and ask if I need help and I am now hiking 2 hours more each day to accomplish the same miles in not a very difficult terrain. My hiking time is now from 7:30am to 8:30pm.The limping has gotten so bad that on Thursday, Kutsa, Boogyman, Bison and Miss Fortune (thru hikers a few years younger than my 29 years that I am keeping up with) send two volunteer Ridge Runners to look for me with their first aid kits and instant ice packs suggesting that I might need help.Ridge Runners are a dedicated group of AT volunteers (often retired from some former life) who now live to help other hikers. They walk the ridges in search of hikers in need of assistance or information. These two Ridge Runners (a couple) just a little older than me were given instructions to look for an older gentleman with an eagle on his hat with a bad limp. I saw them coming from a short distance at a high rate of speed and stepped to the side of the trail so they could pass. Unbeknown to my well wishers, I had removed my hat because it was hot out and the Ridge Runners raced past me with no more than a quick nod of the head. I guess I didn¢t look like an older gentleman. Thank You!Later when I catch up to the other well intended but misguided hikers they asked and revealed that they had sent for help for me. They even offer to help take some of my gear.It is time to get off the trail and have this injury checked out!Thursday night I camp out by myself (having temporarily said goodbye to my recent companions and well wishers) and make plans. The next road crossing is VA Route 42, from there I can get a ride to Blacksburg, VA and the nearby Montgomery Regional Hospital. I will have my foot X-rayed to confirm that there is no broken bone and see what is going on.Friday, I leave the woods.Saturday morning after talking to my insurance company begging for approval, I am in the Emergency where I get excellent care, 3 X-rays and some very welcome drugs for pain. I am right. No broken bones but I do have a soft tissue injury that will not heal while walking on my heels (a little play on words there! Just in case you would have missed it.) I am ordered to crutches, bed rest, and a brief vacation, and a consult with a podiatrist!I am depressed. Even though I am on pain meds that should be mood elevating.Here I am trapped in a Comfort Inn, alone in beautiful Blacksburg, VA with nothing to do but sleep in a clean soft bed, watch TV, order pizza with anchovies and pine for the cold, wet, rugged trail. I scheme.Air fare $500 round trip to NY.Bus ticket is a bit more reasonable but 20+ hours to NY.Eureka! I can rent a car and be in Pearl River with my family in 8 hours.Sunday morning I am in the rental agency and by Sunday afternoon I am in NJ at a family celebration for my nephew Matthew Maul who just graduated from College. Nearly 50% of my family members are there eating hamburgers, hotdogs and ribs and all are surprised at my unannounced and unexpected visit. Joan is not surprised. She knew I was bored and lonely.Everyone is impressed with my fractional appearance. After all I am now only 88% of the person who started the trail only 7 weeks ago.Tess, (my youngest grand daughter who is 3) doesn¢t recognize me, and doesn¢t like my beard! It is a wonderful visit and makes leaving the trail worth it.How arrogant I was. In all my planning for the trail, in all the contingency options I worked out, I had never even considered an injury putting me on the sidelines. I am of course reminded of Barron Von Molke the German Field Marshal who invented the modern military command structure. Von Molke is most famous for this quote.¢No battle plan survives contact with the enemy!¢Well here is Hank¢s lesson learned.No Appalachian Trail Hike survives it¢s original schedule.Now, as I post this entry it is Monday morning May 22, 2006. I have a 2:30 pm appointment with a podiatrist a few miles away in NJ. The next entry will be the beginning of the rest of the story!