As some of you may have read or not, I started hiking north from Springer on March 29, and made it 52 miles to Unicoi Gap before injuring my knee.
I got off in Hiawassee and spent almost a week there hoping to recuperate enough to get back on trail from there. But after five days, I wasn’t feeling much better so I rented a car and drove home to Pennsylvania.
I had an xray taken which showed no breaks, and I have been waiting for an MRI, but because I am doing it through the VA, I have not been able to get it done yet. In the meantime, I have been staying here for the last 3 weeks or so, applying ice, taking anti-inflammatories, elevating, and resting. I have been getting better slowly but surely. I am now able to walk fairly well with a brace. I think my knee should be pretty well healed in a few more weeks and I would like to get back on the trail.
The question at this point is where to go back to or start again?
I could start back at Unicoi and head north again, which will probably require a flip at some point.
I could start at harpers to maine and then flip back to harpers and work my way south.
I could do the same, but start at Damascus instead of harpers.
Or I could start in maine and go south, which doesn’t so much thrill me.
I could wait until next year and start fresh, but the trail keeps calling and I really don’t want to give up on this year, even if I don’t make it the full distance, or finish as a thru.
Though I am certainly no expert with only a few miles under my belt, I am also no longer the naïve romantic that many of us start the trail as. Things that seemed important about the trail before I started no longer seem as important.
But I miss the hiking. And the beauty. And the people.
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