Wiping Out Onto Rocks on the AT

This morning we were up around 4:30am and I made a mocha. Then got packed up and set out pretty early. We knew Iceman was set up at the next road in 2.6 miles with breakfast. That sure got us moving. The trail was pretty easy as we got going. There was a small hill or two but nothing major.

We got out to the road pretty quickly and I could smell breakfast cooking before we even arrived. Iceman was there cooking eggs for sandwiches with bacon. I sat down beside the road and ate two big sandwiches on English muffins, and then ha a glass of chocolate milk. What a way to start off a day. After hanging out there for a while we set out to begin the first real climb of the day. We had about 3 major climbs in total to do. And they were spread out nicely over the course of the day.

The first climb went on for a few miles. Then closer to the top we passed by a shelter. I stayed there in 2023 on the night of my 27th birthday. We tried to do 27 miles that day but called it a mile or two early at the shelter because it was pouring rain all day. My tramily bought tiny ping pong balls and they played miniature beer pong on the picnic table. What a sight that was. Now this morning we just walked on by, and I walked through the memory in my mind.

I thought this sign and map was hilarious, because it’s just a squiggly line!

Then we got up toward the top and the trail leveled out for a long while. It got nice and easy with only the occasional brief hill. This went on for the next 6-7 miles. Which was pretty delightful. Aside from the trail being really rocky at times, it was fairly easy going. Sometime pretty early on in the day my foot got caught on a root and I ate it. But the ground beneath me was so soft that I barely felt a thing. I just popped right back up.

After another hour or two we went by another shelter. This one was ridiculously nice and had a big wooden chair outside, about the size of a small love seat. Then we crossed a road and slowly began to climb up the other side. Sometime around then my foot once again got stuck in a root. And I got ejected out onto the trail ahead of me. I went down a lot harder than before, but the trail was still really soft. My hand got a little scraped but it didn’t draw blood. And somehow once again I hardly felt a thing. In the last 77 days I had previously only fallen once. And now today I’ve already gone down twice! The trail is covered in rocks and roots today. Usually I can hop around things. But when a root grabs ahold of your shoe sometimes it just won’t let go.

The next couple of miles we were climbing continuously. The grade was just right though and I was feeling great. My body is so fueled today! Starting the day off with a big breakfast is definitely the way to do things. But usually I just don’t have the appetite to eat some big meal right away.

After climbing for a while we got up to the next road. I believe it was called Rocky Gap. Iceman was there set up once again! This time he had lunch going, which was so incredible. We sat down in some comfortable chairs and stuffed our faces with pizza, potato salad, and macaroni salad. I had a Mountain Dew with the meal and then had a big glass of chocolate milk for dessert. Now that is a lunch! I was stuffed but ate one more piece of pizza just to round things off. We were about 16 miles in at this point with 15 and change to go. Now I was fueled up and ready to rock for the second half of the day.

Sausage pizza for lunch!

We wound up staying there for a while just sitting and talking with Iceman. I love just sitting around and laughing. There’s no better feeling in the world. Then after almost an hour we set back out. The final mile or so of the climb remained. And it was pretty steep! The trail was wide like a dirt road and went straight up. It was definitely one of the least gradual climbs of the day. Around this time I had just finished Living with a Seal by Jesse Itzler. That was a really great book and I loved that the author narrated it. That’s a personal favorite of mine when it comes to audiobooks.

After we got up to the top of that climb the trail leveled out once again. And it was pretty cruisy and flat for the next 5 or so miles. When we were a few miles out from the next road though I took another tumble. Once again my foot got caught onto some kind of root and I completely flew. Before I even hit the ground I knew I was much worse off. Looking out in front of me I saw rocks along the trail. Rather than the dirt, pine, and leaves they I’d fallen onto earlier in the day.

We walked through a couple wide open fields, which I really enjoyed.

I went down hard and my left knee hit right into a rock. I definitely didn’t bounce right back up from that one. When I hit the ground I cursed like a sailor. And after a second I jokingly yelled out that this fall was the worst fall of the day. It took me a second to get up to my feet because my knee was really sore. It was bleeding as if taken off a bit patch of skin. And the bruise on my knee cap began coming in right away. I knew I didn’t do any major damage, as I could comfortably move around and bear weight. But my knee was already really sore from the hard hit and the forming bruise.

After a few minutes I got moving again and was nursing my leg a lot. The knee cap was just so sore from the hit. It loosened up and I could walk pretty normally. But on sections of downhill it was the most sore. I found myself hobbling a little to take some of the pressure off my knee. But tried to keep a normal gait to the best of my ability. It’s usually worse for you to limp or nurse something. I knew my knee wasn’t “injured”, the discomfort was just from the impact to the area.

A nice reprieve from the rocky, rooty, trail.

The next few miles felt a bit slow. I just didn’t want to move too quickly and cause too much pain. This isn’t the first time I’ve fallen though or taken an impact to my quad or shin. A big welt can cause pain while walking just like a tendon issue would. Especially on your shin or quad. Or in this case right on my knee cap and surrounding portions of my knee.

My third fall of the day was not without injury!

Punisher beat me down to the road by a bit. The downhill section was the slowest for me. I was just trying to keep the pain to a minimum. When I got down to the road Iceman was set up with his chairs out. I was glad to sit down for a bit and assess the damage. My knee cap was bleeding from some skinning it on the rock. But it wasn’t a big gash or anything. There was a bruise forming at the bottom part of my knee. Which made a lot of sense considering how uncomfortable the downhill was. The muscle there must just be putting pressure on the bruise whenever I’m stepping down. While we set there I had another Mountain Dew and a bag of chips. This would be our last road crossing of the day. So I also grabbed some foot out of my food bag for tonight. I needed some more snacks, a dinner, and stuff for my morning mocha. Otherwise I left the rest of my food in Iceman’s truck. We’ll be seeing him in the morning and I don’t need to carry it if I don’t have to.

An iconic sign on the AT. No parents, no horses, no bed time!

When we left there my knee was pretty sore starting off. But then we began a climb for the next few miles. That actually felt great on my knee. The uphill is currently the most comfortable motion for me. After just shy of an hour we got up to the top of that climb. I got service briefly and was able to get some work done really quick. But I was ridiculously cautious as I walked. I barely ever took my eyes off the trail. If I had to read something I would slow to a halt. I knew I couldn’t afford another tumble. The funny thing was that all 3 times today when I fell I was paying attention. I wasn’t multitasking or on my phone. I was carefully walking and looking down at the trail ahead. Sometimes those roots just grab you perfectly. Even when you see them and maneuver to get over or around them.

The Keifer Oak.

Once the climb was complete we began cruising along a ridge. The hills rolled up and down occasionally. But they were pretty easy. I got some more service and called my dad for a bit. But after we got disconnected a couple of times I called it quits. Then the trail got really rocky and we began climbing up to a narrower ridge. There really wasn’t a “trail”. You were just scaling along the side of large rocks. To your right were wide open views of the valley below. It was really pretty. But the walking wasn’t ideal for my sore knee. I wasn’t in pain but I definitely wasn’t comfortable. As the day went on I did get a little looser at times. But the discomfort while going down hill remained.

Walking along the rocky ridge line before we began our final descent of the day.

Once we got off of that rocky stretch of trail we begin heading down. We’re going to end our day at the next shelter toward the bottom of the descent. The last couple of miles going downhill were amazing. I think I felt better than I had earlier. But my knee was just really dang sore. I’m scraped up and bruised, but I’ll survive! I just think I’m going to be sore for at least a couple days before this starts healing up. The knee is a rough place to bruise up for sure. It just creates a whole lot of discomfort. But I’d rather be uncomfortable from a bruise than from tendinitis or something like that. At least this will definitely resolve itself on its own.

Crossing over the eastern continental divide.

We got down toward the Niday Shelter around 7pm and it was empty. I was happy to be done for the day and we managed 32 miles. Even with the tumbles, the day was still relatively easy. And it was honestly amazing. Getting supported by Iceman so many times was such a blessing. Today would have been a whole lot harder without him. Getting hurt was a bummer, but being able to shake it off in a camp chair with a soda definitely helped.

Once we got to the shelter we got set u. Then a couple day hikers who we passed earlier came down to the shelter. They chatted us up about what we were doing. The two of them hiked the AT in 2020. And after that I cooked dinner and got comfortable. I decided to do a full support KT tape on my left knee just for the heck of it. It didn’t definitely couldn’t hurt! And a little bit of support might create a lot more comfort for me. Then I ate dinner and did some stretching.

The Niday Shelter.

Pretty late into the evening we saw a headlamp in the distance. We hadn’t passed a thru hiker all day long. But the two of us said to each other, that our best guess was on Spartacus. We met him at the shelter last night and he was so interested in what we’re doing. He was asking us how we managed to do 30 mile days most days. And sure enough, it was him! When he got there he was pretty tired and said he literally did the 32 miles because he wanted to experience the life. And he didn’t plan to do it again anytime soon! The terrain today was rocky and slow going at times. We did about 7,500 feet of gain too. So it was no easy day! What a beast. We gassed him up about the day and he got settled into the shelter. He also pointed out something we had noticed earlier but overlooked. I saw cans of soda lined up at the top shelf in the shelter but there were so many cans. I just assumed they were empty! But Spartacus checked and they were full! So I had a sprite for dessert. 

Then for the next couple of hours we all just stayed up talking. I got some writing and video work done too. And was up a little bit too late writing. When I did get up to pee a couple of times I did feel like my knee hurt less! Maybe the tape is giving just a little support. It’s still tender but I didn’t notice as much discomfort. I’ll just have to see how it does over the downhill stretches tomorrow. Of course this next stretch of trail is some of the rockiest yet. That has the potential to slow me down.

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