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Astro on the AT 2017

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    • Really sorry about the outcome.

      PF is very difficult to overcome in the short-term at our age. From personal experience with mine last year and T's this year, a recovery period of at least 9 months is not unusual. In fact, it might be the norm...

      It's hard to say what turned the corner for me, except time and resting the foot. Once I got in the pneumo boot, the daily quality of life improved and I think the ligament did as well. Learning the proper taping technique also helped greatly. I did most everything:
      Morning yoga band stretches and calf massage
      Morning roll frozen 1L water bottle under arch for 1/2 hour
      Tape foot before leaving house in morning
      Iso boot all day
      Evening yoga band stretches
      Evening frozen roll
      Evening calf massage
      Sleep with the damn stretcher brace.

      Don't be surprised to find you've developed back issues because of the limp. My chiro "straightened" that issue out with 3 visits...

      Now, PF can also be an impact-injury thing or a straight up way overuse thing. But, it sounds like you've got good old-fashioned middle-age PF. They used to call it "fallen arches" or "heel spurs" back in the day.

      My lovely marathon-running 30-something podiatric surgeon got it from overuse. She didn't have any problem with the imaging-guided cortisone shots to her heel, and even administered them herself!!!! Which, is hard to wrap my head around. Because those heel cortisone injections make a knee drain or tennis elbow cortisone injection look like a flu shot....speaking of the cortisone injection...my advice is to grab ahold of something or someone and get it done. Yeah, it hurts. So does PF. The injection only hurts for....5 seconds? Well, the puncture anyway. YMMV with the burning pain from the drug itself....it doesn't bother me much. It's not as bad as an ABG draw or roof of mouth injection...so there's that....just sayin...

      Good luck with it. Give it time. Lot's of time. And rest. Lot's of rest. It's "very very angry" as my doc says. It needs to "go to sleep for a couple of months so it doesn't wake up so crabby every morning".
    • ScareBear wrote:

      Really sorry about the outcome.

      PF is very difficult to overcome in the short-term at our age. From personal experience with mine last year and T's this year, a recovery period of at least 9 months is not unusual. In fact, it might be the norm...

      It's hard to say what turned the corner for me, except time and resting the foot. Once I got in the pneumo boot, the daily quality of life improved and I think the ligament did as well. Learning the proper taping technique also helped greatly. I did most everything:
      Morning yoga band stretches and calf massage
      Morning roll frozen 1L water bottle under arch for 1/2 hour
      Tape foot before leaving house in morning
      Iso boot all day
      Evening yoga band stretches
      Evening frozen roll
      Evening calf massage
      Sleep with the damn stretcher brace.

      Don't be surprised to find you've developed back issues because of the limp. My chiro "straightened" that issue out with 3 visits...

      Now, PF can also be an impact-injury thing or a straight up way overuse thing. But, it sounds like you've got good old-fashioned middle-age PF. They used to call it "fallen arches" or "heel spurs" back in the day.

      My lovely marathon-running 30-something podiatric surgeon got it from overuse. She didn't have any problem with the imaging-guided cortisone shots to her heel, and even administered them herself!!!! Which, is hard to wrap my head around. Because those heel cortisone injections make a knee drain or tennis elbow cortisone injection look like a flu shot....speaking of the cortisone injection...my advice is to grab ahold of something or someone and get it done. Yeah, it hurts. So does PF. The injection only hurts for....5 seconds? Well, the puncture anyway. YMMV with the burning pain from the drug itself....it doesn't bother me much. It's not as bad as an ABG draw or roof of mouth injection...so there's that....just sayin...

      Good luck with it. Give it time. Lot's of time. And rest. Lot's of rest. It's "very very angry" as my doc says. It needs to "go to sleep for a couple of months so it doesn't wake up so crabby every morning".
      Thanks for taking time to provide all of the detailed information!
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • That had to be a tough decision. I hope you heal up and can get back to New Hampshire. The Whites are worth the effort.
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard
    • Day 1

      Caught an early flight Little Rock to Chicago, and then Chicago on to Boston where at 2pm I was fortunate enough to have IMScotty pick me up. It was great to meet him and had a great conversation on the trip to Hanover. On the way he took me by REI to get some DEET bug spray and then to nice sub shop.

      Around 5pm I picked up at the Hanover Coop. I had originally planned to stay at Velvet Rocks Shelter, but decided to keep walking to stealth camp a little past Trescott Road. My thinking was it was still daylight and anything I walked today, I would not have to do tomorrow. Was pretty mild trail compared to what was ahead.
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      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Day 2
      Stopped for water in the morning and met Deacon and TrailSnail from the TOS. Deacon is a section hiker who picked up around Killington or Rutland to finish his last fourth of the AT. SnailTrail is doing a LASH from Harpers Ferry to Mt Katahdin. I would meet up with them again in a few days at the Hikers Welcome Hostel in Glencliff. I would be passed by 5 to 10 thru-hikers each day (other than the first night when I did not see anyone). The most interesting thru was a guy named Blue Suit who was wearing a blue coveralls to hike in. After doing a little less than 4 miles the night before I would do 9.5 miles today. I stopped at Moose Mountain Shelter to cook my Mountain House for an early supper, and then went on to stealth camp again a little past Goose Pond Road. It rained some, but not too bad.
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      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Day 3
      Did 9.4 miles to the Fire Warden's cabin. The rocks are starting to taking a toll on my right heel. Start thinking maybe I can find a doctor somewhere to give me a cortisone shot. Had some nice views at Holt's Ledge. A few other pictures later from Lambert Ridge. Tougher climb at the end of the day up Smarts mountain. The rain made the rocks slick, and I fail pretty good one time. Finally make it to the cabin just before dark and go to get some water and it starts to rain. Water trail longer than I thought it would be and it poured heavy on me before I could make it back to the cabin. Shirt was so soaked and with the temperature probably down in the 40s I had to hike in my night shirt and rain jacket in the morning for a couple hours until I got down some in elevation and felt comfortable putting the wet shirt on to dry.

      Ended up with the cabin to myself that night (other than a lot of thru's food bags hanging from the ceiling. Was glad to be out of the rain that night. Unfortunately in the morning it was so cloudy I couldn't see anything from the fire tower. :(

      I thought it was interesting that the even the privy had a steep climb to it.
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      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Astro ().

    • CoachLou wrote:

      This is Rt.112, the road that the Beaver Brook trailhead is on, a few days after Astro had to get water in a deluge. My first 2 days were on the Appalachian river :rolleyes:
      When I drove to ME to get a couple of maildrops, I had the pleasure of driving back through flash floods. A few places with half the road closed, and some with emergency personnel directing traffic. When I got to the Hikers Welcome Hostel that night they were shocked and wanted to know how I got there. Packrat had been gone for hours trying to find a way to get some shutlers back, doing various detours. I guess I just got lucky with Google maps.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Day 4
      9.7 miles to stealth camp just past Woods Road. Had a few conversations with others hikers in the morning. A pair of women were section hiking to try and complete the AT. I had been passing and being passed by them for a few days. One from Baltimore had made it as far as Mt Garfield, but was redoing some of it to get her legs back before the Whites. Her partner was from Idaho and told how she had once kept hiking on plantar fasciitis for five days, and then could not go hiking a gain for over a year. :( That was a little concerning. Then I met a SOBO named Gas Tank that trying to finish up his Thru attempt from last year. He had gotten hurt in ME last year and then skipped ahead to Rutland. To keep my hike alive I was considering jumping past the Whites, and doing some of ME, and then picking up the Whites next summer. His advice was not to bother, with all the roots and wildness of ME it would not be any easier.

      As I was climbing Mt Cube it started to rain some to make the rocks nice and slippery. A little before the peak I misread a double blaze to mean go straight up instead of trails goes to the right (would have expected the higher blaze to offset to the right for that). After making what was for my short legs and arms seemed like a ridiculously hard climb pretty much straight up, I had some great views (better than what I saw later at the actual peak). But after taking some pictures, I started looking for some blazes, and none were to be found. Of course every set of loose rocks you start wondering was that supposed to be a cairn. So I started walking around in circles of increasing size (after going a little bit down some pseudo trails that were not the AT, until eventually I saw a blaze, and it led back to where I had climbed vertically up. So now I could turn around and look for the blazes and cairns in the other direction. A least being "lost" for a while served as a distraction for a while from my foot. But by the time I made it down Cube Mountain, I felt like it had made cube steak of my foot.

      I loved the signs put by the Dartmouth Outdoor Club (DOC). I also like the white streak through the rocks like a big white blaze. Some may think it was God's way of telling Myron Avery where to route the trail. :)
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      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Astro ().

    • Day 5

      10.4 miles to the Hikers Welcome Hostel in Glencliff, NH.The night before I hiked past dark and had to set up my tent in the dark and skipped supper. With my foot hurting it took longer than I expected to get up and down Cube Mountain. But I was hoping on a pleasant surprise this morning, Carl the Omelet Man. So I got up early and when I got to the spot on Cape Moonshine Road where his red truck was supposed to be parked, it was empty. But just as I was about to walk on, his red truck was coming down the road.Carl retired from construction where he used to restore historic buildings and now does trail magic. He made me an awesome omelet with peppers and onions.He had asked if I wanted 12 eggs, but I said 8 would do.He said the record was 24. I also had a corn muffin with honey.He also had bananas, gallons of water and fruit drink, and of course coffee.Since I was the only one there that early I had a great conversation with him.


      Earlier that day I had taken the picture of the fake moose, and just after that as I reentered the woods from the road I saw the deer just a few feet away. The last picture is of how the rain was causing a pipe someone had set up to really flow.

      The rain was harder and much longer today than any other day, but the elevation of the trail was milder.I did slip once off a rock into ankle deep mud. As usual I could hear Highway NH 25 long before I reached it, but the last .3 of mile on it was a pleasant stroll relative to the last few days and in anticipation of the hostel with a shower, laundry, and a roof for the rain which was pretty steady for the rest of the night. I got to stay in the new bunkhouse and it still smelled like cedar (at least I believe that is what it was). It is always nice to have a shower, clean clothes, and a real bed. And if you are in to movies the DVD collection there is unbelievable.
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      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

      The post was edited 3 times, last by Astro ().

    • IMScotty wrote:

      It might have been a little shorter than you wanted, but it sounds like a nice hike Astro. Great picture of the deer.
      Thanks, yeah I wish it would have been longer, but now I have a taste for what I need to get ready for next year. Would have loved to have pushed on, but I believe in the the long run, much wiser to try and get my foot right.

      Thanks again so much for picking me up at the Boston airport! I really enjoyed the conversation and all the help. :thumbup:
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Astro wrote:

      IMScotty wrote:

      It might have been a little shorter than you wanted, but it sounds like a nice hike Astro. Great picture of the deer.
      Thanks, yeah I wish it would have been longer, but now I have a taste for what I need to get ready for next year. Would have loved to have pushed on, but I believe in the the long run, much wiser to try and get my foot right.
      Thanks again so much for picking me up at the Boston airport! I really enjoyed the conversation and all the help. :thumbup:
      It does look like you had a good time. I'm not sure if I'm going to get up there this year or not. I had what seemed like an entire week of bad luck. Three days before I went on vacation I got bit by that little tick and got a nasty infection and got treated for Lymes. Two days before vacation I dropped a sheet of plywood on my right foot and it has turned rainbow colors with a knot on top. Same day I hit my left hand with a hammer and bruised it and put a knot on it (thankfully I was wearing gloves). While on vacation a jar of gravy fell out of the top pantry shelf in the camper and landed on my bare left foot- turning the top of it black & blue. And of course the Lyme's medicine made me ultra sun sensitive and I got sunburned. My right foot is still black and blue with a knot. :( I got hurt more in five days than in the past five years.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference
    • NoAngel wrote:

      Astro wrote:

      IMScotty wrote:

      It might have been a little shorter than you wanted, but it sounds like a nice hike Astro. Great picture of the deer.
      Thanks, yeah I wish it would have been longer, but now I have a taste for what I need to get ready for next year. Would have loved to have pushed on, but I believe in the the long run, much wiser to try and get my foot right.Thanks again so much for picking me up at the Boston airport! I really enjoyed the conversation and all the help. :thumbup:
      It does look like you had a good time. I'm not sure if I'm going to get up there this year or not. I had what seemed like an entire week of bad luck. Three days before I went on vacation I got bit by that little tick and got a nasty infection and got treated for Lymes. Two days before vacation I dropped a sheet of plywood on my right foot and it has turned rainbow colors with a knot on top. Same day I hit my left hand with a hammer and bruised it and put a knot on it (thankfully I was wearing gloves). While on vacation a jar of gravy fell out of the top pantry shelf in the camper and landed on my bare left foot- turning the top of it black & blue. And of course the Lyme's medicine made me ultra sun sensitive and I got sunburned. My right foot is still black and blue with a knot. :( I got hurt more in five days than in the past five years.
      I am sorry to hear of all your misfortune, but hopefully you got it all out of the way so the next few years will be smoother. Also here is to a quick recovery. A great thing about being a LASHer / section hiker, is that there is always next year. :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • While I would have rather been hiking in NH and ME, I have made use of my time back home and studied for and yesterday passed my PMI-ACP (Project Management Institute Agile Certified Practitioner) exam. :thumbup:
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Astro wrote:

      While I would have rather been hiking in NH and ME, I have made use of my time back home and studied for and yesterday passed my PMI-ACP (Project Management Institute Agile Certified Practitioner) exam. :thumbup:
      I'm not sure I could pass the test of telling you what tests subject was.
      Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.
      Dr. Seuss Cof123
    • Rasty wrote:

      Astro wrote:

      While I would have rather been hiking in NH and ME, I have made use of my time back home and studied for and yesterday passed my PMI-ACP (Project Management Institute Agile Certified Practitioner) exam. :thumbup:
      I'm not sure I could pass the test of telling you what tests subject was.
      You probably wouldn't want to eat any of the food I make either. :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • TrafficJam wrote:

      Rasty wrote:

      Astro wrote:

      While I would have rather been hiking in NH and ME, I have made use of my time back home and studied for and yesterday passed my PMI-ACP (Project Management Institute Agile Certified Practitioner) exam. :thumbup:
      I'm not sure I could pass the test of telling you what tests subject was.
      I'm trying to figure out why he has to be agile.
      it means he's able to leap tall buildings.

      Lest we forget.....



      SSgt Ray Rangel - USAF
      SrA Elizabeth Loncki - USAF
      PFC Adam Harris - USA
      MSgt Eden Pearl - USMC
    • TrafficJam wrote:

      Rasty wrote:

      Astro wrote:

      While I would have rather been hiking in NH and ME, I have made use of my time back home and studied for and yesterday passed my PMI-ACP (Project Management Institute Agile Certified Practitioner) exam. :thumbup:
      I'm not sure I could pass the test of telling you what tests subject was.
      I'm trying to figure out why he has to be agile.
      I figure it can not be a bad thing to be more agile when working my way through the Whites next summer. :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Astro wrote:

      While I would have rather been hiking in NH and ME, I have made use of my time back home and studied for and yesterday passed my PMI-ACP (Project Management Institute Agile Certified Practitioner) exam. :thumbup:
      So now you teach project management snake oil? (You'll never convince management that project velocity isn't a performance metric. They'd rather have a stick to beat people with than actually get the job done. And Agile often gets sold as a more effective stick.)
      I'm not lost. I know where I am. I'm right here.