Day 34 Zero in Gorham

Yesterday it became clear that my knee was not ready to continue. The next 100 miles in Maine would be among the most difficult of the whole trail. The legendary Mahoosuc Notch was  a day away. It is the most fun (or the most difficult mile of the AT...basically a one mile scramble over boulders as big as cars).  The first day would start with a nearly 2000 ft climb.  So I decided to take a whole day to rest it and think.

I called Kathy, my sister for her thoughts. She a PH.D. Physical therapist and so I value her input. After describing to her the problem, she said that the continued use (abuse) would probably result more of the same pain and stiffness. 

As I though about the previous two days, I decided that the risk of personal injury because of my left knee was not worth that risk. 

I thought about my last 400 miles. I looked at my trek across the White Mountains ( map above). I summed up my nearly 1900 miles on the trail. I decided to draw a line for the moment, pleased with this section. I've purposely gone rockclimbing or backpacking when I knew I was injured. So risk/benefit analysis done, I'll stop for now. 

It has been a great trip! The geography, the sites, trees, flowers, animals and the people all made it very memorable.  The folks at the White Mountain Hostel were really great!

And the AT will be there when I choose to  finish.  It's right across the road from this great hostel

2016 miles: 392

Total AT Miles : 1892

Day 33 to Gorham NH

During the night my knee woke me quite a few times. It became painful to bend and to the touch. Thankfully the rain stopped. So I packed up, stuffed some

Blueberry breakfast bars in my cargo pocket and set off. It was obvious to me that this going to be a day of self-rescue. 

First I had to climb over Mt Moriah. Thankfully, the only sacrifice would the time because of my slow pace. 

(That's Mt Moriah in the middle)

The views were great. 

Then came the 3000+ foot descent. The rocky trail crosses rocky stream beds. 

After most of the descent I met Wallaby an Canadian walking the trail because his work ended. We chatted and I told him of my knee. He gave me an elastic bandage which actually brought some relief. 

I finished the descent on absolutely idylic foot path: gently sloping down, smooth and covered with pine needles. 

It was the ....

Someone thoughtfully put a reminder of the remaining miles Katahdin (actually a bit less)

As finished the day early at the White Mountain Lodge, place made from hikers. 

It was be another nero as I arrived 2:30 pm

Miles: 8

2016 miles: 391

Total AT miles: 1891.4

Day 32 to Imp Campsite

I woke up to a cloudy day. To boot,  myknee  was still a bit swollen and stiff. But I thought walking would work that out. So we (NH Bob and I) had the big hiker breakfast and set out for the Wildcats.  This was a much talked about ridge. It was supposed to be very tough. It starts out with a steep rocky 2000 ft climb.

We quickly saw from a height where we spent the night.

At the top was the Wildcat ski lift.

And then the rain started. It rained all day. That made the rocks slippery. 

And there was no view. 

All during the day, my knee was a problem. It was still swollen and stiff. I had to do a lot of rock scrambling including handholds.  With my limited range of movement in my knee plus pain, my walk turned into the first day of a "self-rescue."  I had to use my poles to hold my weight as I eased down onto the left leg. Down climbing backwards was

also a challenge since I couldn't bent my left knee much. 

Walking in the rain is something one gets used to as long as it not too cold. I don't wear my rain clothes because I get just as wet inside my rain clothes because of the exertion. So I keep them as a dry layer. But the clammy feeling gets old. 

I had lunch at Carter notch hut.  Eating my own food reduced the weight in the pack so I didn't buy soup. 

It was getting dark as I hobbled the last 300 yards into Imp campsite. I pitched my tent on a platform. Before a few days previous I'd never done that because my tent is not self standing. But I learned to jam my tent stakes into the spaces between the slats with twigs. They held fine. I again boiled water under the vestibule of my tent, ate my freeze-dried beef stroganoff and went to sleep. But not before I was joined by Timber and Legs who also tented on my platform. 

Miles: 12.1

2016 miles: 383

Total AT miles: 1882.8