My old Oatmeal Cookie is melting

[Old Hillwalker]

Well friends after 120 miles of beautiful days, loads of wonderful Maine scenery, I’m off the trail for a partial refit of my equipment. Several days and nights of rain dampened my spirits a little bit, but overall I am satisfied with my climb up Mt Katahdin and the trek through Maine’s Hundred Mile Wilderness.

Why the refit? Well although my hiking went well and my body performed admirably, I was nagged with a dull ache in the middle of my back after about an hour of putting on my 30 to 35 pound backpack. This phenomenon has happened in the past with lighter packs but usually only after at least eight to ten hours of hiking. This time the nagging ache took the fun out of the day when it lasted for eight to ten hours a day and more. My best mileage day was 19 miles, and longest hiking day was 13 hours including an hour stop to cook a full hot lunch in the middle of the day by a wonderful lake and river.

I hiked for part of a day and was at campsites for two nights with a doctor from the VA hospital in Togus, Maine who was on a southbound section hike. He and I experimented a bit with OTC drugs that I had with me. One day I took 1600 milligrams of Ibuprofen in 12 hours to no effect. The next day I tried a double dose of Aleve to see if Naproxen would have any effect. It didn’t. His conclusion was that the pain was not muscular and therefore was probably spinal disk based (cookie) and that I shouldn’t continue long to prevent more serious damage.

We concluded that it would be prudent to get off the trail at Monson and regroup with lighter equipment before getting back on.

After spending a wonderful afternoon and evening at Shaw’s Appalachian Trail Boarding House in Monson I got a shuttle ride to Bangor and caught a bus home, arriving Friday evening.

Since a drastic change in equipment will be a bit costly, I have decided to call the 120 miles I did, a section hike and wait until next Spring before starting again. I will be replacing my tent, sleeping bag, hydration system, and stove as a starter. I need to get my pack weight down to less than twenty pounds all food and water inclusive. Not in my budget this year however.

My current plans now include a couple of weeks in Prince Edward Island. Camping at a Bluegrass Festival August 13th to 16th, and then going to a “Hike the Highlands” Festival of hiking in Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia September 12 through 21. I will be driving my Porsche up and tenting out of the car at Canadian Provincial campgrounds.

Overall, I am not disappointed in my AT Southbound attempt, and will continue trying now that I have learned a bit about what I need to do in preparation.

Tom

[Blissful]

Glad you were able to enjoy some of the hike despite the aching. But I must say, for starting a hike, you sure put in really long miles and days (!). For me I would not go more than ten miles in that kind of terrain until the system gets hiker acclimated (which can take up to six weeks). Perhaps it was also too much to soon, along with weight. (?)

But Prince Edward Island is beautiful. Have a great time and enjoy. The AT will always be there.