Date: 2016-04-13
From: SNP MP#84: Jones Run

To: SNP MP#77.5: Ivy Creek Overlook
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: few clouds

10 miles in 5 hoursJones Run Trail Head Parking (MP #84) to Ivy Creek Overlook (MP #77.5)Weather: 31 at 8 a.m., day didn¢t feel very warm in spite of the clear sunny skiesWildlife: Usual assortment of woodland creatures Number of hikers: Two solo males hiking south and Debby, a local shuttle angel out for a few hours hiking between drop offs.Dinner: Pho and spring rolls at a restaurant in Harrisonburg, VABronchitis gave me a reason to get my knee checked out.Last night was a cold one, and another noisy cough-filled one too. During one of the times Sam and I were both (coincidentally) awake, he said: ¢That¢s it, tomorrow, we are going to the doctor!¢ But I really thought my coughing was less deep. Instead I assumed the cold was triggering the spells. If this thing is still around, I have one more day to see a doctor while Sam is still here with the car.I stayed in the trailer for a while this morning to catch up on some reading and writing, then we headed back to the trail to pick up where I had left off. The first four miles to Loft Mountain had the least dramatic changes in elevation to date, but my knee was still talking to me on the descents. WTF? The twinge is on an outside ligament. I passed two young men wearing shiny blue basketball shorts and sweatshirt hoodies carrying full packs that I¢d describe as ¢ambling.¢ They were pretty chill. I next passed a bunch of bear evidence. Scat was everywhere including a fresher looking splat. I had still been coughing. A lot. My job to announce my presence apparently was working. Except for a few squirrels, nary a wildlife sighting. By now, however, my cough was starting to bother me. During the first two days of hiking, the coughing was mostly kept at bay or I just didn¢t notice it as much. Today I was concentrating much more on trying not to cough so freaking hard. For those of you familiar with the ping pong scene from the movie ¢Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,¢ let¢s just say the strength of these stupid coughing spells would likely exact the same velocity. (Apologies to those of you who do know this movie and now have that visual burned into the back of your eyelids.)So I texted Sam about revising our pick-up place. Since the nighttime temperatures are again being predicted to in the 30s, maybe heading into a nearby town to see a doctor today and getting the chance to eat dinner without gloves on might be a good idea. Plus, let¢s see what is going on with this knee.Soon after we confirmed our new pick-up point, Debby met up with me on the trail. Debby is a local Trail Angel and has spent a few days shuttling a blind woman hiking the trail with her service dog and using apps for navigation. Like I, she is heading north as a FlipFlopper, but at this point is a few days behind me. Debby and I walked together for the last few miles, crossing over sandy Ivy Creek, with it¢s huge tumbled erratic boulders and little pools, past a rock cairn where the trail bends away from the Rockytop Overlook to Ivy Creek Overlook. I kept pace fine with Debby, uphill. But downhill¢my knee was now yelling at me. This is not good. It is also a good reminder that I need to hike at my pace so I don¢t hurt myself prematurely. We were soon at the overlook where Sam was waiting, and I am thinking about how I¢ll have to best work out hiking with other hikers. It is easy to be sharing a conversation and not wanting it to stop even if your body is telling you otherwise. Debby agreed I sounded pretty bad and also had a pretty good idea of which town we¢d need to hit for medical services. The rangers told Sam the same thing¢Harrisonburg¢about 30 miles distant. Off we went to the ER. No less than eight different people, including the custodian who was making rounds emptying the trash bins, saw me. Even though the receptionist told me I could only be seen in the ER for one thing at a time (?!), the ER doc was kind enough to examine my knee. After manipulating the joint, he didn¢t find anything amiss (and nothing hurt while he was bending it into all sorts of yoga moves.) He thinks it is just balking at being made to hike so much.One chest x-ray, an inhaler and a new prescription for Doxycycline later (my full Lyme disease back-up prescription is sitting in my bounce box in Harper¢s Ferry), plus a ¢free¢ ace bandage for my knee, and one big bowl of Pho at a nearby Vietnamese restaurant and I¢m good to go. Musings: Hiking with another person makes the miles fly by, but I didn¢t notice my surroundings nearly as much while we were talking. Also, antibiotics are little miracle workers.