This past Sunday I was hiking with Freefall into the Kincora hostel in Dennis Cove, Tennessee. We were doing a fifteen mile day averaging almost 3 miles an hour. Coming into the hostel, I started to feel a pain in my shin. I wrote it off as an end-of-the-day soreness and thought nothing more of it after we arrived.
On Monday, we set out to hike another fifteen miler or so. I felt ok going up the first mountain, but coming down, the pain in my shin was back and more intense than ever. It became so acute, I was using my poles as crutches. After getting to the bottom, I had to call the hostel, and ended up getting a ride back and spending the night.
On Tuesday, I knew I'd be shored up for a while. I could barely walk, let alone hike. Long story short, I spent the next few days there, just sitting around. It was pretty frustrating watching a bunch of other hikers coming and going, and all the while, I'll I could do was lay in bed.
Finally, today (Thursday), I managed to score a ride into Damascus from FreeFall's mom (if you're reading this, thank you!). So now I'm hanging out with them at a B&B. And tomorrow, the plan is to get to the local medical center have someone check it out. Hopefully, it ends up just being a shin-splint, but there is the off-chance that it could be a stress-fracture, which would mean I'm basically done.
In any case I just yellow-blazed¹ it for 40 or so miles. But I think special considerations are made for injured hikers, so please don't tar and feather me.
So that's where I stand now. I'll try to update again after I get word from the doctor. Wish me luck!
¹ Skipped ahead. i.e. did not hike
p.s. Here is a picture of our first day. All of us find it quite funny
(click image to enlarge)
5 comments:
Oh no! I hope it's not a serious injury. Good luck with the doctor!
i've no doubt your mad hot body is resilient enough to take the pains and pressures of survival in the great American wilderness, but if not, at least you've got a good story to use on chicks. "yeah, i hiked the trail, set a land speed record, tangled with the wild giant black snake of borneo, invasive species, but i took care of it, yep, but then, goin' down the sides of the mighty mount krakatoa, what? no it's not in indonesia, common misconception, don't worry baby you stick with me and i'll set you straight, so there we were, heading down the sheer face of the mountain, i had to use my poles to fend of the giant bats that were trying to steal the fruit from our organic rations when one got a bit rough with the ladies, in a blind rage i cast aside my provisions, creating a distraction for the lesser bats while i lunged headlong off the side of the mountain and tackled the alpha bat midair, he tried to claw my eyes out, but evolution had played a cruel trick on that big ol' flying rat by engineering it's teeth and gnarled digits to exclusively rend the flesh from helpless, innocent, juicy fruits, as we tumbled down the trail he realized the error of his ways, swore he'd seen visions of an almighty power greater than himself, and repented his sins, but that didn't save us from the perilous crash that was coming up dangerously fast, that bat used his mighty wings to roll our speeding mammal ball over again and again in the air, little did i know he was positioning himself to break my fall. he was a good bat. none finer. i stood up, covered in half digested orange peels, and limped back to my tribe, the womenfolk huddled against a tree and the lesser batfiends bowed their heads in shame and servitude, it was only then that my traveling companions noticed the shards of manbone protruding from my legs, the fall had done more damage than i had previously thought, the girls insisted i remove all my clothing to check for further injuries, and the next day i found myself in a hospital, damn doctors said i couldn't hike no more, what do they know? nine years of schooling to shatter the common man's dreams. sure thing baby, you can buy me a drink..."
Oh no, I hope you're alright. Without your leg you can't stand, and without standing your mighty height becomes nothing! And without your towering presence all of our lives are empty and meaningless!
I was going to make a wise-ass comment about claiming you got hurt fighting a bear or something, but... ummm.... I can't top Dave's ramblings.
I don't think anyone can top Dave's ramblings. Good show, sir!
My fingers are crossed you are okay to continue on the trail. I'm so sorry this happened. I will say a prayer for you and good luck at the doctors. Thanks goodness for connections to help you out throughout your journey through the trail.
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