Mile 1,874.5
Elevation 3,990.0 feet
Miles Hiked 3.0
After my second zero day in a week, I was anxious to get back on the trail. The big unknown was how I would do after a hard fall on my left hip a few days ago. My left leg is stiff, and it’s difficult to make a fist (or hold my trekking pole) with my left hand, which I used to try to break my fall on the rocks.
I took the hostel’s 7:00 AM shuttle to Pinkham Notch to start up the Wildcat range northbound. Right away, I noticed I couldn’t bend my leg sufficiently to climb up some of the larger boulders. And yes, the trail was mostly boulders and rocks going up to the summit. My progress was very slow, and I began to worry I would not be able to hike the target 13 miles to the Imp Shelter. An alternate plan was to reach a hut at about 6 miles, but that would put me on the mountain an extra day.
About half way up, I lost the trail for a few minutes and in the dense vegetation into which I walked, my trekking pole got caught and then my feet. I went down hard, again, on my left side – the same side I went down on a few days earlier. Not good.
I got up and tried to stop my leg from bleeding, but I gave up after a few minutes and just continued up the trail. About 11:30 I reached Wildcat Mountain Peak D where the gondolas are located. The Wildcat range is a popular ski mountain in winter and the gondolas carry skiers up the mountain for their ski down. In the summer, the gondolas are used for sight seeing while going up and down the mountain.
I’m not trying to gross anyone out. This is for my benefit. I want to remember what the White Mountain range did to my legs. The freshest blood (and I actually cleaned up the worst of it) came from Wildcat. I also have a nice scar on the back of my left calf where a branch I stepped on swung into my legs, sent me flying with a hard landing flat on my front, and cut the back of the left calf pretty bad. That happened earlier in the hike.
At this point there was a decision to be made. It was obvious my first fall on Monday was causing a problem today, and now with the second fall today, things were only getting worse. If I continued, I would only make the Carter Notch Hut (three miles ahead) where I could try to get work for stay so I would have a place to sleep. Unfortunately, in my contingency planning, I knew if I had to end my hike I would have to finish the Wildcat range the next day and stopping at the hut would not permit that. Reluctantly, I caught a gondola down the mountain and called the hostel to come and get me.
My hike for this year was unceremoniously over. I probably could have kept going but the damage to my hand, leg and hip worried me, and I still had no way to address my significant weight loss, which was causing a loss of hiking energy. Even though I had been eating more since I got into the White Mountains, it wasn’t enough and too little too late.
My goal of finishing the trail this year is over with only 315 miles left to go. Since May 22 I hiked 595 miles through seven states. My main nemesis to success is weight loss and my problem hiking over rocks. Considering neither obstacle will go away in the future, the best for which I can hope is to start fresh next year and finish before I lose too much weight.
P.S. July 23 – When I returned to the hostel, another hiker looked at my leg and pointed out it was swollen. I hadn’t noticed. Today, is the first day the swelling in my leg and foot has gone down a bit. My hand seems to be worse than it was last week, and it looks like a trip to the doctor is in order. I hope I didn’t break something.
