Date: 2003-10-25
From: rattle river shelter

To: back in gorham
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: clear sky

hello. my name is grizzly adam. and, i just can't win.i'm pretty sure that i have torn something in my ankle- the same ankle that i sprained. miss byerly was right when she said that maybe i shouldn't be hiking on this thing. it's not my fault though. it's the snowshoes fault. it's the two feet of snow's fault. it's the bog bridge's fault. it's the rock's fault. it's not my fault.the day started out great. i was up with the sun (which was trying its hardest to break through the clouds) and hiking early. the climb to mount moriah was long and steep. it wasn't too bad, though, because i was following two sets of tracks (the other car at the trailhead yesterday) and they'd broken the snow for me. at the lower elevations the snow was no more than six or seven inches deep. it wasn't until i got higher up the mountin that it got deeper. it finally got to the point where i figured that it would be easier to strap on my snowshoes and make my own tracks than it would be to follow these other tracks.i bought these snowshoes before my first attempt at a winter thru-hike in 2000. unfortunately, i never got the chance to use them. i've had these things for three years and never even strapped them on until today. needless to say- i had a little trouble getting used to them. have you ever seen anyone take a fall while wearing snowshoes? it is not a pretty sight. it is really just a jumbled mess of snowshoes and flailing arms and trekking poles and snow. it is really just kind of awkward looking. i took two pretty good falls when i was first starting out on these things. neither one of them hurt that bad. the first one i slipped on the edge of a bog bridge and got hung up and just ate it. the second one i tripped up on some rocks and went down once again. i recovered from each tumble and kept hiking.near the top of mount moriah the two sets of tracks i'd been following all morning cut off onto the carter-moriah trail, which crossed the actual summit of mount moriah and then led another four miles and some change back to the town of gorham. i bid farewell to these tracks -thanking them for clearing the path up to this point- and set off to make my own tracks through a blanket of undisturbed snow. i had the trail all to myself. no one else had come this way- not anytime recently, at least.not long after the carter-moriah cutoff, the trail left the trees and wandered out onto the rocky out croppings of mount moriah. from here i got my first real views of the white mountains. the mountains that i would spend the next week crossing. the sun finally broke through the clouds above me, although the sky was still a dark gray above the snow-covered northern presidential range in the near distance. aggressive. that is a good way to describe the view of mount washington and the rest of the presidentials standing proud before me. magnificent. powerful. seeing these mountains, shrowd in white, made me really excited about what adventures the upcoming week might bring. after taking quit a few photographs of the view in front of me i returned to the trees and continued making first tracks.i was getting used to the snowshoes. i was thoroughly enjoying gliding along on top of two feet of snow. i have trudged through this kind of snow without the help of snowshoes and these things make all the difference. they are great. absolutely great. snowshoeing could be my new favorite thing to do. i decended to the stony brook trail intersection and from there i picked up some more sets of tracks. as far as i could tell i was now following four people and a dog. i no longer had the trail to myself. speaking of tracks- you never realize how many creatures are actually out there and crisscrossing the trail until you hike in the snow. there were animal tracks everywhere.it wasn't long before i looked up to see four people and a dog coming down the trail towards me. they said that they were originally headed to the carter notch hut for the night, but things had been a little slower going than they'd expected, so they decided to turn around. they asked where i was headed and i told them that i was also going to the carter notch hut. they said i probably wouldn't have any trouble since i was wearing snowshoes. i agreed with them and continued on my way.there was a nice, little 1400 foot climb to the summit of north carter mountain. it was all snow and ice, but proved no match for the snowshoes. i took a break at a small dip in the climb and for the first time noticed that my right ankle kind of hurt. it didn't hurt too bad so i pushed on and finished out the climb to the top of north carter. by the time i reached the summit, the pain in my ankle was making itself heard. with every step my ankle was talking to me. i know that pain all too well.i reached the intersection with the north carter trail and knew that it was decision time. i could ignore the pain in my ankle and continue hiking for five miles to the carter notch hut, or i could cut down this side trail and head for the road. maybe i'm just making things up. maybe i'm over exagerating the pain in my ankle. (don't be an idiot. you've torn tendons before. you know what it feels like). i know, but this can't be happening to me. i just want to be out here hiking. is that too much to ask? (yeah, well, take off you're boot so we can have a look at things). i took off my boot and my sock and it didn't look good. swelling, discoloring, small bulges in the heel. i recognize these symptoms. there is definitely tearing in my tendons. this sucks. this absolutely sucks.i knew what i had to do. i put my sock and boot back on and strapped on my snowshoe, and started down the north carter trail- heading for the road, heading for gorham. and, to add insult to injury, i tripped and did a face plant- smashing both knees, my shoulder, my elbow, and my ribs on some rocks. did i mention that this sucks? i got to the road and the third car that drove by gave me a ride into gorham.i don't know what is going to happen. i don't know if my hike is over. i don't know how severe the tearing in my ankle is. i don't have a clue as to what i'm going to do.just trust in the Lord. that is all i can do.that, and go track down mahoosuc first thing in the mornig to see if he might happen to know a doctor.