Date: 2008-09-25
From: Pearisburg VA

To: VA 606
Miles today: 184.4

Today could have been better. I'll explain why. We slack packed 20+ miles and that was good. As before, we get more excited about coming back to the farm than spending the time on the trail. So we got the hiking out of the way early. The hiking was actually great but I'll write about the bigger things that happened today.John had ordered a cider press and was excited for all of us to be excited... which we were. We collected a full barrel of apples from a tree down by the pond. The cider was so delicious. We were drinking it straight from the bowl that was placed under the press. I had used a press just like this one when I was a kid at a local farm that my school went on field trips to. It is very simple, you fill the bucket with apples and crank a large steel press (with a circular board covering the tops of the apples) down until the apples crush and get compressed. Each turn after that squeezes out fresh apple cider, which drips in to a cup or bucket below the press unit. Mango, Spoon, John and I worked on a couple of batches and managed to make enough cider to drink as well as jar some up for the Franklins storage.John asked Mango and I to help him with some lumber at the top of the hill. The lumber is 14' x 20" pieces of ancient wood from Indonesia. John was explaining to us that the wood is up to 200-300 years old. This is the kind of stuff that he integrates in to his construction. John asked if Mango and I could move a couple of pieces with him so that he could make a pile to be planed in his shop. The first piece that Mango and I lifted was some how anchoring the rest of the pile. When we lifted it... 20 other pieces of huge lumber fell on John. I saw the whole thing in slow motion. The boards clipped the backs of his legs and he twisted awkwardly. He was in agonizing pain and rolled out while holding his knee. Mango and I rushed to help him. I was asking where it hurt and told him not to move. Once he gathered himself he explained that his knee was killing him. Mango pulled up his pant leg to make sure there were no obvious breaks. Once we established that everything was still in place I reassured John that he was going to be okay. Linda came out from the house and the rest of the crew from the cider press. We propped Johns knee up with a rolled up towel and applied ice to it right away. Mango is good at cracking jokes and got John laughing a bit. We helped him in to a chair outside and proceeded to move the pile of lumber as he wanted. Once we finished up helping John with whatever he needed outside we helped him back in to the house. He remained off of his feet for the rest of the night. I have a good amount of nursing / care-taking experience and am offering to help in any way that I can. I helped John up the stairs this evening and wished him to wake up in better condition.I do feel bad about the whole accident. Everything happened to fast for me to have possible stopped it once it started. We should have analyzed the situation better before we began to move the wood. I don't feel guilty, just sorry for John. He is in the middle of building his house and now he is injured. I am on the porch again. It is down-pouring outside and cold. John and Linda encouraged me to sleep indoors but I am really enjoying the cold and strong winds. I am bundled up in all of my clothes as well as my 60 degree bag. Tomorrow there is a 90% change of rain all day. We have decided to use tomorrow as our zero day. We need to drive in to Roanoke and resupply as well as find a good outfitter.~Santana~ "by myself but not alone"