Date: 2005-08-16
From: Wilson Valley Lean-to

To: Barron Mountain slide
Miles today: 7.8

August 16, 2005Wilson Valley Lean-to (2064.0) to Barren Mountain slide (2071.8) 7.8 milesIt has been another day of adventure. We have forded more streams and rivers. A couple of them were a bit difficult. We are still changing to wading shoes for fording, so it is a bit time consuming. We left notes in shelter registers for Red Rover who should be here in about a week. Buckwheat is about 1 day ahead of us. It would be very nice to see him again. After a steep and rocky climb, I got to the top of Barren Mountain and my right knee was tightened up and causing pain. It was the outside tendon in back. I have never had right knee trouble before. It was bad enough that we discussed what to do. Options were: to stay at Cloud Pond Lean-to and see how the knee was tomorrow, continue the whole hike, hike back out the way we came, or try to find a short way out. My knee was getting stiffer and more painful as we talked. If we went to the lean-to, the knee could be worse tomorrow making the situation worse, if the knee was better in the AM, it could get worse again further into a more difficult section making the situation worse, if we hiked the trail back out, we expected that it could take about 3 days to get out because I would be slow and be more prone to further injury making the situation worse. We decided that a short way out was the best possible choice. Although we knew there was a dirt road out to Monson back a few miles, we did not know which one. The map and guide was not clear enough.There was a hiker (John) at the slide who had to be a day hiker judging by the small pack he carried. He had passed my on the hill climb. Dugan went to talk to him. John knew an unmarked trail back at the bottom of Barren Mountain and was willing to help. He carried my pack and I carried his. He and Dugan hiked ahead and marked turns for me to follow. There was no way that I could keep up. My knee got stiffer and hurt more but I kept going. I got to a woods dirt road after about 3 miles and a nice young couple gave me a ride to where we met Dugan coming back for me. We hiked about another mile to a lake. It was very muddy in one area and I had a great deal of pain pulling my right leg up to take steps. I could barely bend my leg. The day hiker had gone ahead to get a boat to take us across the large lake to avoid more hiking. After the boat ride, he got his car and gave us a half hour ride to a town. None of us knew which town it was. We stopped and asked. It was Guilford. I have a pharmacist friend who works in Guilford. Our trail angel gave us a ride to the pharmacy. My friend Shawn and his father were working.He agreed to put us up over night and we should meet him at the pharmacy when he got off at 8PM. Dugan & I went to dinner down the road and met my friend after. We stayed up late and visited. I used an ice pack and dosed up on Advil and slept up in a recliner to keep my leg stretched out. Shawn was going to Millinocket at 6AM so we got up early for a ride and he took us to Abol Bridge to pick up my truck. From there we drove home.While my injury was not left threatening of itself, it did put us in a bad situation. We had enough food to hike out making only about 2 miles per day if we had to. A couple of the fords would have been a lot more difficult with a stiff right leg. Getting out was the right decision and the trail angel (John) made our lives a lot easier. He went way out of his way to help us. We are truly grateful. We are truly grateful to Shawn also. His help made the situation much better too. My knee was enough better after ice and rest that I thought we might have been too careful until it got bad again the next day. One day of rest would not have helped with the climbs we had in that area. What we did was the best possible decision. I regret not finishing the hike but stopping was the best decision.