I'm going back...

[Bird Dog]

Good luck TOG. Determination will get you a long way on the trail. Im envious. BD

[Bulldog]

Touch, when I left hawk Mtn. Shelter on the 20th I had 3 liters of h2o and boy did I suck it down. On top of Justis Mtn I was out. Thankfully my dada still had a quart and I wa able to get some from him. Sassafrass (sp) Killed me. We went from the 2 miles up and back to springer from the parking lot and then all the way to justis creek. My body definatly couldn't take 14mi at that point. Not to mention the blisters. Ill be back after Easter. Got off at Franklin, and soon to be back. Happy trails.

[Touch of Grey]

I have always been determined in my life. This is evidenced by the fact that I was able to retire at 49 years young last year. I again made it roughly 30 miles or Addis Gap before things started going wrong with my legs and knees. I walked down the trail/road at Addis 0.5 miles to get water and found a Forest Service road also there. It called me and probably for a very good reason.

I met Rob and his dad mountain biking the road and they offer to give me a ride if no one else picked me up when they came back the same direction. Rob drove me into Clayton wnd the next day I got a ride to Toccoa, GA for the train ride home.

Got home yesterday morning in tome to celebrate Easter with family and friends.

Today went to the doctors because my legs from gthe kness down were swollen to the point that the skin was taunt. NOT GOOD! Prognosis is unknown at the time but several ideas came to mind for the doc. Altitude induced, arthritic knees, and circulation issues were on the list.

I also underwent some ultrasound of both legs both veinal and arterial today and will get the results later this week.

I am done for this year as it has been a drain on my funds to do this twice and now an unknown in the medical department further complicates things.
Thanks again to all!!!

Oh BTW, I did try something new this time around. The first time I took the homemade KAQ and used it successfully. This time I decided to try my Super Shelter instead. It worked equally well even Wednesday night when the temps in Indian Grave Gap reached the freezing mark and winds were significant from the Alberfta Clipper moving thru the area.

The only failure if you really want to call it that was Tuesday evening and "I really do not fault the tarp" because the winds and rain were that hard Tuesday evening 9/10 of a mile from Blue Mtn. The rain literally was driven thru the fabric and woke me up because of the water hitting my face. Under normal conditions an OES Tarp is certainly adequate as is the standard equipment tarp from HH. When it comes to driven rain I think all bets are off as to the effectiveness of coverage.

I will post later this week what the findings are just in case anyone is interested. Yes I am still HAPPY! I have done more with my life and in the hiking field especially the AT than a good portion of the American population ever will think of doing.

Good Luck to all out ther on the trail! Please do pay attention to what your body tells you and do not ignore because of the mantras many of us learned long ago, 'NO PAIN, NO GAIN'. The AT and most other long-distance trails are not to be fooled with.

TOG

[slowhike]

hey TOG... i feel your pain.
in addition to a couple foot problems, i have recently begin to feel my knees talking to me. at times it feels like one may drop me if i'm not careful.
unless i can find ways to strengthen the knees, i guess my hikes will be slower than ever<g>.
glad to hear you're in good spirits despite the challenges. ...tim

[peanuts]

tog - sorry to hear you had to get off the trail again. i hope the physical problems are not serious. get well and you'll be back again. the trail will be there!!!

[slowhike]

if your knees don't get back to were they used to be, maybe you (like me) will be more about hiking to camp, rather than camping to hike.

[blackbishop351]

Don't tell this to BlackBishop - I think he still believes that the HH supershelter is nothing but hype by Tom and could never, ever work.

I never said it wouldn't work. I said there appeared to be a lot of potential problems that prevented me from taking it at face value. And no, to forestall your next question, I haven't gotten a chance to test it yet. Just don't have the time right now. I promise I'll get some nights in with it at some point, though!