My Hike "Gone Wrong"

After wasting away most of the day doing much of nothing, I opted to head out at 430 for a "quick" 11 mile hike on one of my favorite trails in the Pigeon River. It is an easy trail, so I figured I shouldn't have any problems getting back before dark. All was going well for the first several miles, I was making great time. Than I noticed a little bit of pain in my right knee. Thats odd, I didn't remember hurting it somehow. I did stub my toe on a root, but didn't notice any pain right away. Unfortunately, the pain in that knee got continuously worse. As long as I kept moving, it was tolerable. But to stop, for even a couple of seconds and try to go again, the pain would be more severe. Of course I was alone, way out in the middle of the woods, and had no other choice but to continue hiking. Slowly. Fortunately I made it out before it got too dark. It is always much darker deep in the woods since the little daylight that there was, was not coming down on the trail. I felt tired, sore, vulnerable and helpless. Now that I'm home, I've popped 800mg of Motrin, iced the knee, took a hot bath, but still it hurts like a b***h to stand on that leg. Imagine my dilemma. Two more perfect days before I go back to work and I'll be unable to hike, bike or swim. All my favorite past times. Whats a person to do?

City Life

Having some extra time off, and no good plans, I opted to go visit my kid sister in her new apartment in Grand Rapids. It is such a drastic change from my daily life up here. Of course I love taking advantage of things I can't do up here. Ordering pizza at 1030 at night and actually have it delivered to the house, quickly, and eat it while it was still warm. Being able to talk on the cell phone, and know it is the other person to blame losing reception on. People watching, oh what a good time that is. Plus all the different events going on in places close by. We spent the afternoon at a celtic festival watching people try to dance to bagpipes. Funny. But on the other hand, I was quickly reminded what it is I hate about city life. Traffic. Pollution and trash everywhere. And the noise. My dear sister lives on one of the busier streets in the city, only two blocks away from the railroad tracks where a train goes by almost every hour.....at all hours of the day and night. Lets just say I slept much better deep in the woods along the Appalachian Trail knowing that I could get attacked and killed by a bear than I did on the second floor of her apartment. Weird. So after wandering around all day, I opted out of spending another sleepless night in the city and headed home early to fall asleep to the sound of a moth trapped between my screen and the window. It will find its way out once I shut the lights off....... Home sweet home.

Back from the AT!

Well, I made it back last week from my Appalachian Trail trip! Oh what an adventure. We ended up only spending a week there, but we covered 50 miles in 4 days. It was everything I imagined and than some. One thing I wasn't quite prepared for was the altitude. The first several days I was nauseated, dizzy and would become short of breath with minimal activity. I did eventually adjust to it, thank god! But the mountains were unlike anything I had anticipated. The makers of the Appalachian Trail were kind enough to take you to the top of every mountain in the Shenandoah Park.

There were many highlights in the trip. Everything from hitch hiking to watching the wildlife. We saw three bear, including a cub, a rattlesnake, and numerous deer who have no fear of people. Basically they just walk right up to you. They are not hunted, and I'm sure some people do feed them, so they really don't know better. The weather was crazy there. It rained almost every day and it was hot and humid. There was one day where we decided to get off the trail for a couple of days thanks to flash flood warnings and severe thunderstorms.

I can understand the physical wear and tear that this trail can have on your body. My feet were full of blisters after a couple of days. Periodically my right foot would become numb for some unknown reason. And still, even after being off the trail for a week, I get terrible cramps in my legs, especially if I walk too much or too fast. All of it is getting better, but they are reminders of the pain that I endured while there.

We met some really cool people out on the trail also. For the most part, a majority of the thru hikers had made it through this section of the trail, but there were some people who had gotten a late start. Very interesting people to talk to. Even though only talking to them briefly, you can tell how the trail has changed them just by the way they talked about their lives before the trail. Most of them were tired of their lives and quit their jobs, one guy had just gotten out of college and wasn't ready to settle down and find a real job yet, another guy had just took an early retirement. We also met a lot of volunteers out maintaining the trail, they do a fabulous job.

So I did take lots of pictures, and made a 19 minute video that for some reason I can't figure out how to attach onto this post, so I'll just throw in some of my favorites. I am anxious to get back there someday, and am still planning on a possible 2010 thru-hike, depending on what happens in the next few years. It will always be a dream of mine..........

In the meantime, I am planning a trip to the Upper Peninsula for August where I want to hike the 42 mile section of the North Country Trail that runs along the Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore. I've done some day hikes out there in the past, and it is where I picked up a couple of pathetic backpackers to give them a ride to their car a couple of years ago. I've heard it is spectacular. Now it is time to search for a good hiking partner or a gullible friend to drag along with me!

Off to the AT!

In less than 6 hours I'll be headed to Virginia to start my first hike on the Appalachian Trail. Of course I have to be up in about 5 hours, but cannot sleep. Go figure. My pack weighs 35 pounds, which is about average. I can handle that. I think I'm ready. I'll be back in 10 days or so.......

A Productive Day!

Today has been one of my more productive days lately. I am officially packed and ready to hike the Appalachian Trail. I'm done dehydrating my meals and they are all nicely packed in ziplock baggies so that all I have to do is add boiling water. God only knows what they are going to taste like, but I figure I'll be so tired and hungry I really won't care! My hiking companion for this trip stopped by today and we compared gear and what we are taking. We are both getting really excited!!

And my greatest accomplishment of the day......finding a home for the kitten! I posted an ad on Craig's list last night and got two bites for him today. Of course when I go out to the garage to get him, he is gone. Apparently he decided to go on a trip today and didn't make it back until 830. I think he knew something was up. But when he came home I trapped him in the garage and finally caught him for his first ride in the car. This cat is so screwed with its new owners. Of course he starts peeing when I take him out of his carrier, but the lady said it was okay and that she would just give him a bath when they got home. Umm.....most cats don't like water. She proceeded to ask me ridiculous questions such as what to feed him. Than she took the kitten to the car, where there was two screaming kids anxious to see him. He is in for quite the lifestyle change. Poor thing. Oh well, no longer my problem!

So only 3 more days of work and in 5 days I'll be off on a long walk!

It Has Been Awhile....

So it has been quite some time since I've posted anything on my blog. Mostly I've been working, making some extra money for my vacation.

Yesterday I got back from my first big backpacking adventure of the year. I was able to talk a couple of friends into accompanying me to the Jordan River Valley. It is a nice eight mile downhill walk to the campground where we stayed the night this time. Than there was the dreadful 10 mile hike back up hill to the car. We had to leave one guy behind and come back with the car, since he said there would be no way his legs would take him up those hills. Which was much easier than having to find someway of rescuing him from the middle of the trail. (I think I know where you can find some cheap backpacking equipment for sale if anyone is interested!) The weather was a toasty 80 degrees and humid. So after that trip, I would say I am ready for the Appalachian Trail. Physically and mentally, I'm ready to go. All I have to do now is figure out the minimum I can bring that will fit in the pack. Because I have learned, weight is everything.

Go Wings!

The Detroit Red Wings are THE Stanley Cup Champions of 2008! Tonight they got some lucky bounces and finally shut down Pittsburgh and won the game 3-2...but barely. Now the cup is back in Hockeytown! What a spectacular run it has been!

After a last minute decision to cancel our overnight hike the other day due to poor weather conditions, today a friend and I decided we would hike the entire 18 mile loop of Deadman's Hill in the Jordan River Valley. I found out the hard way that 18 miles there, all at once, is way too long. That is definitely a 2 day trip and lesson has been learned. After hiking up and down those hills for 9 hours, and barely making it back before it got dark, my legs and feet are killing me. I will never do that again. I have a huge blister on my heel and any type of movement required by my legs almost brings tears to my eyes. Time to load up on both tylenol and motrin.

So after this hike, and another 14 mile hike two days ago, it is time for me to go back to work so that my body has a chance to recover. Which isn't saying a lot, considering I am on my feet almost all day, I do a ton of walking, and my shifts are 12 hours long. I guess the only good thing, is there are no hills in the ER.

Cheers!