Date: 2003-06-12
From: Hogback Ridge Shelter

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: light rain

What a day. The most interesting yet, that¢s for sure.It started early, like most have. My shin/ankle was very painful again until the Vitamin I kicked in! We¢d planned a 13.5 mile day, and as we pulled out at camp two by two by one by one the plan was to meet at Bald Mountain Shelter for lunch, 10.1 miles away.Hal and I started out together again this morning ¢ I think he is sensitive to the fact my spirits are kind of low due to my leg. Ben soon caught up and after awhile they sped ahead (up a mountain of course). Six miles and three hours to go all six of us rendezvoused at the top of our first morning climb and then took off again. This time I hiked alone for a while.I was low. Low enough to think about going home. I¢m not sure what to do about my leg; I just want to get to Erwin and assess things from there.Thankfully Toby caught up to me and occupied my mind talking about the semester he spent in Italy, his traveling, and working at REI. Then it started to rain. Then it started to pour.Toby¢s a faster hiker so I let him pass. By this time my ibuprofen was wearing off and I wasn¢t sure how much further the shelter was ¢ probably a good hour. Jo had cautioned to take it with food, so I hesitated to take any, plus it was raining and I sure didn¢t want to stop and cook my lunch in the rain! So I kept going.Big Bald sounded like it would be as incredible as Max Patch. With bright yellow wildflowers, tall green grass and wide openness it had the same sound of music feel. Unfortunately I only caught a fleeting glimpse of the view, before the gathering mist blocked it. I kept turning around to look for Anne who was behind me but the needle like raindrops drove straight into my face. I prayed she was okay and that her spirits were good. She has a tough time with the rain, like I do.A few times I glimpsed Jo and Toby trudging up the hill ahead of me. I had to remind myself of the princess effect that lifted me up yesterday. Another thing that has helped on numerous occasions is repeating the little round we used to sing, ¢Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice.¢ Today I also thought of Kirk Franklin¢s song when he says, ¢You can¢t take my joy, Devil!¢ By the time I finally reached the shelter at 2:15, I¢d fought off tears, fallen on my butt, and was limping pretty markedly but I was doing okay. (I think some of the tears and blues of this week could be attributed to some PMS? Gotta love that . . . )Hal, Toby, Jo and Ben had already settled in ¢ although the rain had stopped ¢ and had their clothes and gear strung out to dry, munching on lunch. We all looked rather glum. But by the time I changed into dry clothes and fetched my water I was ready to crack jokes again. That always amazes me how quickly being with people I enjoy helps to elevate my mood!Then Anne arrived, and she¢d fallen. Wet, cold, and shivering, her left arm held close to her body, we had to convince her to eat something and put on her fleece.¢I just had an evil thought,¢ she confessed. ¢What if we hiked the remaining 5.6 miles to Spivey Gap today, hitched into Erwin, slack packed tomorrow and then had our zero day Saturday.¢It didn¢t sound so evil to me; in fact my ears perked up and one eyebrow raised.After some debate and lots of moaning and groaning over putting wet clothes back on, all six of us decided that was a plan. Hal packed up and left first, intending to call a shuttle. I left second, knowing it would take me longer on my injured leg. Toby and Anne switched packs ¢ Toby¢s is much lighter to protect his knee ¢ and the four of them started out together. It wasn¢t long before they¢d caught up to me.My leg was very painful, especially on these long steep downhills, and my pace very slow. It took nearly four hours to \traverse the 5.6 miles ¢ should normally have taken only two and a half or three.Hal met us at the bottom; he¢d flagged down an elderly couple, Ned and Mrs. Schaeffer, to drive us girls into Erwin ¢ a 15 mile trip. The Schaeffers ¢just happened¢ to be out for a drive because Ned had left the head lights on earlier and wanted to make sure the battery was okay. We considered them Trail Angels. ¢All things work together for good for those who live God and are called according to His purposes¢ (Romans 8:28). I thought, maybe even Anne¢s fallThough it¢s the plush side of thru-hiking, I am so glad to be here at the Holiday Inn. Incredibly hiker friendly, Brian, the manager-on-duty, listed the services available to hikers ¢ free cookies and coffee in the lobby, free internet access, laundry facilities and soap, pool and hot tub AND a pint of Ben and Jerry¢s per room per night! He clued us in on the good delivery ¢ the Erwin Bomb opened by a hiker ¢ and we started the process of cleaning up.Once showered and changed, I returned to the lobby and Brian directed me to the Hiker Box. Praise God for the hiker boxes! I¢ve re supplied a lot from those. Hal gets a kick out of my reaction ¢ says it¢s kind of like Christmas pulling out all the stuff you find in there. ¢Look at this!¢ ¢Oh, there¢s cous cous!¢ ¢Check out this Trail Mix!¢ ¢Hey, a squeeze tube of peanut butter!¢That¢s where I was when the boys traipsed into the lobby. They¢d managed ¢ after some persuasion ¢ a hitch not long after us.So we all got clean, did laundry, gorged ourselves on food, sat around and watched some TV, and then a few of us headed for a soak in the hot tub.Once I get somewhere and stop hiking my leg seems okay. It hurts with dorsiflexion, and not with weight bearing, so I don¢t think it¢s a fracture; it¢s got to be muscular. I will rest tomorrow and Saturday and see what happens . . .