Day 46: Laurel Fork Falls and Ankle Sprains
The Morning
Today was essentially a zero. We planned on hiking to Laurel Fork Falls and then hike back to the hostel. We had all the time in the world. I had woken up at 5:00 and couldn’t get back to sleep. I read for a bit and then forced myself back to sleep. I stubbornly stayed that way until 8:00. The others had long since been up and had headed to breakfast. To save money, I ate some chicken fried rice that I bought at Dollar General.
As I ate, I did some editing. I never thought I’d post about this journey on a day by day basis. I figured it’d be every three to five days or possibly every week. There is just so much that happens everyday that I didn’t want to forget or miss out on – both the mental struggles and the hilarious conversations. They are part of the experience of hiking the Appalachian Trail.
I spent most of the morning doing that. I did pack up my stuff and strip the bed since we were moving cabins. I moved my stuff to the ‘bear den’ that had the wifi, kitchen stuff, and tv. I didn’t know what the checkout time was, so I made sure I was out. Fine Young Buck found me there sitting on a couch and he said that the new cabin was ready and that we could move our stuff over. I walked out with him, my gear in tow, before being stopped by the owner. “Are you leaving?” I turned around. “No,” I said. “Why do you have all your stuff with you?” “I didn’t know what time checkout was and didn’t want to be kicked out. So I made sure I had all my stuff with me.” She squinted at me. “You’re with them right?” Them being my tramily. “Yes.” “You had breakfast with them? I need to put it on your tab.” Fine Young Buck and I both said, “No, I/she didn’t have breakfast.” She paused and I knew she knew that she didn’t have my credit card. That was still safe with me. “Make sure to strip your beds and put them by the laundry.” She walked off and I followed Fine Young Buck to the new cabin. After a far enough distance, I said, “She makes me feel like I’m a criminal.” He laughed and that was that.
At the cabin, Kea and Sweeper were there and I asked the group when they wanted to start hiking to the falls. We agreed on 11:00 and I went back to editing blogs. When 11:00 neared, I grabbed a day pack and put my bag of snacks and a water bottle in there. With poles in hand, I went to the fire and waited for the others.
At the Trailhead
By the time we were all ready, one of the workers offered to take us to the trailhead via golf cart. We jumped on and marveled the sunny day. At the trailhead, an older woman was performing trail magic. We stopped and talked with her before hiking on. It was 1.2 miles one way. It started off flat and it kept going for a while. My shin was already really acting up. I said to the group, “You know, that 500 foot elevation drop is coming up somewhere and it’s not going to be gradual.”
The hike was gorgeous. The prettiest section of the AT that doesn’t involve mountain peak climbing. At the point I see the Laurel Fork Falls sign, I looked where the arrow pointed us towards and it was straight down. Ah, that’s where the 500 feet come in.
The descent was long and rocky. At least a crew built stairs out of the rocks. I’ve built rock walls, so I have some idea how long this stair section would have taken. A lot. I mentally thanked them for their hard work.
Laurel Fork Falls
At the bottom, we got a full look at the falls. I was in awe. Kea had immediately found a nice rock and claimed it as his own. I dropped my stuff, took some pictures, and found a rock for myself. I just stared. We all did for a time. After about thirty minutes, Kea was ready to go, so we headed back up.
The stairs weren’t that bad. I wasn’t using my poles either. Soon, we were on flatish ground and we quickly ate up the distance. I took several pictures of the guys. I tried getting a good picture of Kea who was sporting the kids green dinosaur backpack. I’m not sure if I did. We were quickly back at the trailhead and walked the 0.4 miles back to the hostel.
To the Hostel
Upon arrival, we made lunch (I had a microwave pizza) and sat and ate around the fire. It had been going since early in the morning. After eating, I hung out there and did even more editing. At some point, Fine Young Buck announced he was going to take a nap. I wondered when that was going to happen. He’s so predictable that way.
After some more time, I grew tired of editing and decided to clean out my pack. I needed to figure out what was staying and what was going once my summer stuff arrived. Not much. Mainly my quilt and hopefully my winter camp clothes.
Dinner Time
I went back to the fire. It was around 5:00 and I asked when everyone wanted dinner. I had bought some premade beef stuff, mashed potatoes, and mac n cheese at Dollar General and wanted to share. Food is my love language after all. Fine Young Buck said he was hungry now. Kea, who had eaten an entire bag of Cool Ranch Doritos said he’d take a little. I went up to the cabin and began making food (a.k.a using the microwave).
I placed the food on the plates and yelled “Food!” just like my mother. I placed the plates on the table outside and we had dinner together. We discussed plans for Damascus and the resupply point past that.
When conversation died down, I announced that I was going to take a shower. Sweeper offered to clean the plates. The shower didn’t run out of hot water this time. That was nice.
Back at the ‘bear den’, I edited one more post before calling it a night. I headed back to the cabin to brush my teeth and crawl into bed. Everyone else was there.
High Ankle Sprain
Fine Young Buck got into the top bunk (same as me) and he hit his head on the roof. There was much less headroom that last night. I also got in and realized that I couldn’t even kneel to stretch out my shin. I said as much and went to the floor. Fine Young Buck said to do heel lifts and I was doing that when Sweeper walked in. “I don’t think that’s helping or hurting,” I said. Sweeper turned and gave me a look. I explained the shin pain. I got onto the floor to do the stretch he had recommended previously, but I wasn’t feeling anything. After my discussion, I pointed to the exact spot that was hurting and it turns out that I don’t have shin splints or even shin pain. I have an upper ankle sprain. I had no idea that was a thing. Thank god that Sweeper is a physical therapist. Fine Young Buck threw me a compression brace and I put it on. I walked around and immediately knew it had helped. Guess I’m getting one of those once I’m in Damascus.
I climbed up the ladder to my bed. Since there was no head room, I threw myself forward and face planted. That got everyone laughing. Expect Kea who was on the bed under me with his eyes closed. It was a good day. Tomorrow was going to be as well.
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Comments 2
Morgan, again thanks for your story telling of your epic hiking adventure.
I’m glad you enjoyed it!