Date: 2008-10-31
From: Neels Gap

To: Gooch Mt. Shelter
Miles today: 40.6

Tomorrow is the last day on the trail. I am still unable to comprehend this idea. I am not in denial about getting off the trail and going back to regular life. I am super excited about seeing my family and friends and girlfriend and dog... everything. I am only having a hard time parting from the group. I know how it works when school ends or you leave a job etc. Everyone says they will keep in touch but it never happens. I understand the reality of everyone parting and going back to their lives as before the trail. I understand that people get wrapped up in life and it becomes difficult to keep in touch as promised... I am the worst offender. That is what bothers me. I fear that the crew will be another flash in my life, another chapter. I will do my best to keep in touch through the phone and Internet and reunions.On a more positive note... today is Halloween! I woke up at 7:00am to begin getting my costume on. Everyone else was asleep and I snuck out of the bunk room with my new skeleton thermals and face paint. The thermals came out OK. My mid section of bones and pelvis is a little bit crooked, but overall I think I did a nice sewing job (these thermals only have to last 2 days). I painted the part of my face that is not covered by beard as a skull. I also smeared a handful of white paint into my beard to turn it white, it worked out well. My costume took the longest to get ready because of the face paint. By the time I was finished everyone else was awake and getting in to their costumes. Spoon is a ninja (also a costume intended for 8 yr. old's... absolutely hilarious). Tree Slayer is death. Grettle and Mango are wearing authentic Lederhosen German attire and Philli is Barak Obama. We took some photos outside of the hostel and moved on to the trail.Walking around in the costumes was awesome. I had my plastic pumpkin attached to the back of my pack. It was filled with Snickers and Milky Way's. Whenever we passed a day hiker we would encourage them to take as much candy as they could handle. One motivator was getting rid of the weight. The main motivator was to give to people. We all agreed that it was a great pleasure to give to other hikers. We have received so many hand out's and trail magic through out the trip that it felt nice to give something to others... even if it was only measly fun sized candy bars.The day hikers seemed to love us. We were stopped several times for pictures and everyone stopped to talk with us about our thru hike. People seemed amazed that we were so high spirited at the end of a 2000+ mile hike. I regret to inform any readers or family members or anyone who might care that I received an injury today that minimized my fractured foot. While we were all on Blood Mt. (4,450 ft elevation) we tried to get a picture of me pretending to pull Mango off of the summit to his death. We thought it would be cool to have a skeleton creeping up from the rock covered summit top and wrapping my hands around his legs as to illustrate him falling to his death... yeah. What happened was, I went to step down to a lower rock behind Mango. As I went to place my foot on a leave covered rock area my leg proceeded to fall right through the leaves (they were suspended by spider webs or sheer volume). The only thing that stopped me from plummeting to my own death was my right leg which was pivoted between a crack. As my body shifted downward it ripped my right knee out of place. I heard and felt a crunchy tear. I also tried to grab the flat rock that was in front of me but only dragged my fingernails about 12" before my knee suspended me in place. Mango and Tree Slayer rushed over and picked me up out of the large space between the rocks. When I got back on my 2 feet my right leg was shaking and twitching. All I could do was laugh. I still have not acknowledged how close I was to falling off of Blood Mt. All I though about all day afterward was "what else could me thrown at me? I refuse to give in here. I am going to have to freakin' drag myself to the summit". I just kept thinking of how ridiculous it all is. Tree Slayer gave me one of his hiking poles and Spoon gave me one of his. With the 2 hiking poles I can literally hike the trail with my upper body. I jam the tips in to the ground and try to propel myself forward by swinging between the poles. The group slowed down to stay with me all day. I feel like such a cripple. We are at Gooch Mt. Shelter. There are some cool guys from Atlanta here on a 2 day hike. They packed in Jack Daniel's and moonshine. When I was offered a sip of the shine to taste it I snuck in a large gulp. I needed a shot or 2 to numb me. Overall when I'm not standing I feel OK. I am concerned that once I stop moving then the pain will settle in to my knee as well as the swelling. Regardless of the foot and the knee, I feel great.One more day of hiking, 15 miles left until Springer Mt.~Santana~ "by myself but not alone"