Date: 2014-10-18
From: Jo-Mary Road

To: East Branch of Pleasant River
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Yesterday morning, I was up at 5:20 and Houdini, Toretto, and I were on the road at 6:45. We stopped at McDonalds for breakfast to go, and were 20 min from Rich and Doreen's when I realized I'd left my hiking boots at the house. For weeks I've just left them in the car, but last night I brought them into the house to dry out. They just weren't on my radar when I was loading up the car. It was still raining this morning, so a later start would mean less time walking in the rain, but also fewer daylight hours to hike. I was already flinching over my heavy pack with 6 days of food. The question, "Why am I out here again?" popped into my head. It was 10:15 by the time we started hiking. The trail was wet after last night's heavy rain. In some sections there was standing water, in other sections streams WERE the trail, and everywhere the leaves were slippery. I fell once on a slippery root hidden under the leaves, hyper flexing my already sore knee. It was raining when we headed out, but by mid day the sun made a brief appearance through a patchy blue sky. The temperature was in the low 60's thankfully, and our clothes had a chance to almost dry out before a cruel dark sky reemerged, and another round of rain had us wet again. By day's end Toretto and I were fairly dry except for my boots and his trail runners. Our plan for the day had been to hike south 11.8 miles to the East Branch Lean-to which would put us in a good position for tomorrow's climb over White Cap Mountain. With the abundance of rain, we had to ford one stream which Awol didn't even list as one requiring fording. We knew we had a river to ford at the end of the day just before the lean to, and the unexpected earlier ford, in hindsight, foreshadowed things to come. All day we were feeling pressured to get to the lean-to before dark. We made decent time and were at the east branch of the Pleasant River at 5:00. What we found was a raging river of deep, fast moving white water. The water was dark and it was impossible to see the river's bottom. It was clearly a dangerous, and could have potentially been a life threatening ford, if we'd attempted it. We bushwhacked our way up the bank of the river to see if there was any chance of fording further up stream to no avail. This was not about flinching forward. This was about being smart and not risking our lives. Toretto was dumbfounded by what he saw. He hiked the entire 100 Mile Wilderness in July, 10 years ago and had not seen anything even close to this. Toretto and I backtracked and found a stealth site right off the trail about 50 yds from the river, and set up camp. We were able to set up our tents and get water before darkness set in. Filtering our river water at the river's edge, we were both struck by the irony of it. This same river that could have taken our lives was at the same time providing us with life sustaining drinking water. We cooked and ate dinner using our headlamps, then got in our tents for the night. We decided we would see what the river looked like in the morning before making a decision whether or not to turn back. I was already feeling that this was the end of my hike. Toretto and I talked through our tents for a while about the "what ifs." If we'd been foolish enough to step into the river one or both of us could have drowned, we could have survived but lost our backs down the river and died of hypothermia without our gear, or one of us could have made it across and we'd have been separated. We wondered if there were any hikers stranded on the other side of the river. We had not seen another hiker all day. We were relieved and thankful we were safe and dry in our tents and could safely hike back tomorrow to Jo-Mary Rd. Toretto and I were up at 6:00, still dark, and began to break up camp. When it was light enough we walked down to the river. It had calmed down some, and the water level seemed lower, but we both agreed it was still too risky to ford. We'd have had to zero a day and reattempt tomorrow. If it were weeks earlier, I'd have done that, but this late in the year, with time and weather against us, it didn't make sense. With more rain and freezing temperatures in the forecast, it is time to be done. Toretto and I started hiking north back to Jo-Mary Rd. I texted Houdini and Rich to let them know our decision, and made plans with Rich and Doreen to pick us up this afternoon since they were closer to us than Houdini. Toretto and I made it to Jo-Mary Rd at 3:00 and Rich and Doreen were there by 4:15. The sky was getting more threatening as we waited, and during the car ride back to their house, it poured. Had Toretto and I zeroed, we'd only have watched the Pleasant River rise again. I have 71.8 miles left, but I am done hiking the AT this year. To my family and friends, to my trainer David, and to all my supportive readers, I am okay with it. I do not regret my decision. It was the right one for me. Finishing is not worth the risk. What I would have regretted for the rest of my life is if for a lousy 72 miles, I had risked Toretto's and my life and one of the above scenarios had played out. Had I not gotten off the trail for nine days due to illness, I would have finished the entire trek with Geo on October 2nd. I experienced the jubilation of summiting Katahdin, and have been a thru-hiker now for over 7 months. There is nothing I haven't experienced, but a few more rocks, roots, mud, and a handful of mountain peaks. I will finish those last 72 miles next year during the summer months, when I can feel relaxed, take my time, and appreciate nature, not battle it. Toretto, my son, I will cherish the memories of these past three days. I love you. At some point, I will write one or two more blogs addressing gear for the class of 2015, and my final thoughts about this incredible journey.