May 8, 2012

Well, if you haven't heard by now, I'm back off the trail again.   The week of hiking from Erwin to Roan Mtn, TN has taken it's toll on my left knee, and I've decided not to continue to punish it.

Cheryl was kind and came out on Saturday morning and picked me up at the Mountain Harbour Hostel.

I'm back out riding my bike and continuing on with life.

I really want to extend my deepest thanks to all those folks who have encouraged and helped to make even this part of my AT hike possible.  I have a much deeper appreciation of what the AT is, and that incredible community that surrounds it.

I do have a few last photos to share with you.




Pink Lady Slipper near Brushy Mtn



White Lady Slipper near Brushy Mtn

Sunrise from the Overmountain Shelter  May 4

May 1, 2012

Hello from the trail.  Cheryl and Rachel dropped me off at Erwin TN on Saturday morning.  This morning finds me at Greasy Creek Hostel.  I've hiked about 26 miles in 3 days and up and over Unaka Mountian, but needed to resupply before tackling the 2000 ft climb over Roan Mtn.  So I've stopped over here.  I was fortunate enough to be able to catch a ride into Johnson City with the proprietor for her supply run and picked up a knee brace at Walmart, along with supplies.  Yes, the knee's acting up again, but not to the point of any real pain, and I'm hoping the brace my help.  I was very forunate to be here, as there was severe weather on the trail last night.  There were reports of 2" hail at one of the towns close to Roan Mtn and a couple of hikers who came of the trail late yesterday were caught in heavy downpours, hail and lots of lightning.  Currently the humidity is at 96% this morning with predictions of more thunderstorms this afternoon, so I'm having breakfast and mulling a zero day here.  Otherwise, all is well.

Jerome = AYATORI

April 19, 2012

Well I've been home for a week now, and am making plans to get back on the trail.  My left knee, which I injured some 40 years ago, has some arthritis in it.   But my family practitioner has cleared me to head back to the trail and give it another shot.

Cheryl has graciously volunteered to drive me out to Erwin, TN on Friday April 27.  There I'll meet up with Halfspeed, the 71 y/o gentleman I'd been hiking with for about 10 days, and we'll resume our northbound trek.

In the meantime, I've been doing some bicycling on the local rails-to-trails to try to keep my aerobic conditioning up, and puttering around in the yard and garden.

The swelling in my knee is mostly gone, and it's not causing me any particular discomfort.

I am taking advantage of my home stay, to try to reduce my pack weight further.  I'm about to switch-out a long sleeve shirt that I only wore a few times in town, for a second synthetic short sleeved shirt (5 oz reduction), plan on purchasing a lighter and cheaper sleeping mat (15 oz less), and will be leaving my plastic bear-proof container at home and converting to a stuff sack to hang (2 lb 5 oz less).    I spent the day going through my entire pack and weighing each item individually - something  I probably should have done earlier -- and then checking my options at REI.com for lighter weight alternatives.  About the only  other thing that would really make a huge difference would be leaving my tent at home and sleeping in a bivy sac anytime a shelter wasn't available, but just looking at them made me slightly claustrophobic -- still with about a 4 lb reduction in pack weight it's tempting.

I'm looking forward to getting back on the trail and seeing if I can complete more of the trail without aggravating my knee.

Jerome = AYATORI

April 13, 2012

I went for my doctor's appt this morning and was told that the swelling of my knee could be either arthritis or damage to the meniscus.  The primary care physician sent me over for Xrays to judge the extent of arthritis in the knee, but doubted they would see much.  He suggested resting the knee for a few weeks, and then getting back out on the trail and start hiking again.  He indicated that if the knee swelled up again, I should get back off the trail and come back to have an orthopedic specialist look at it.

So I pulled out my mountain bike this afternoon and took it out for a quick 18 mile spin on the local rails-to-trails to try to maintain some semblance of aerobic conditioning.  Felt good and it didn't bother the knee, as far as I can tell.

Jerome = AYATORI

April 12, 2012

Well, folks, I've run into a bit of a knee problem on the trail and have returned home to sort it out.  For the past week, I've had some issues with my left knee swelling from some of the steep downhills I've encountered on the AT.  It's made my knee pop and crackle a bit and it's starting to feel a little unstable, so I want to be sure that I'm not doing any permanent damage.

I got off the AT at Rock Gap and caught a shuttle into Franklin, NC.  My friend Halfspeed and I spent the night there and then caught a ride to Asheville with another ailing hiker.  From there I rode the Greyhound bus to Raleigh and arrived home at 5 AM this morning.

Tomorrow, I have an appointment with my physician to take a look at the knee and get a professional opinion on what I should consider.  If it's just a bit of discomfort, I can deal with it and will rejoin the trail a bit farther north, then come back and finish the portion I'll have skipped.

If I'm doing real harm to my knees, I'll have to abandon my AT plans.   I don't intend to just sit the summer out, so we'll have to see what develops then.

Jerome = AYATORI

April 6, 2012

I'm here in Hiawassee GA today, taking a zero day.  We arrived yesterday afternoon and got a ride down from Dick's Creek Gap with a hiker we met on the trail whose wife was picking him up.  No room at the cheaper hostel, so Sam - another hiker I've been walking with the past few days - and I are here at the Holiday Inn Express.  Fancy digs for a pair of grungy hikers.  We did try to do our part and did laundry and showered on our arrival yesterday, so at the moment we've lost that rough thruhiker edge.  I weighed in last night on our arrival and after having several sodas and some snacks, and still weighed in at 224 lb.  That's an 18 lb drop in 10 days.  We ate last night at Daniel's Steakhouse, a local  all-you-can-eat buffet for less than $8 and a favorite among the thruhiker community.  After breakfast, we did some resupply shopping at the local IGA, and have since been repacking it and relaxing in our room.  Brother Don will be happy to know that there's another package of SPAM in my stores, this time by personal choice --  go figure.

We looked at some terrain profiles for the next 4 days into Franklin, NC, and things seem to be generally much less steep, both in ascent and descent.  Good thing because the steep descents are taking a bit of a toll on my left knee.  I'm getting a little swelling, but ibuprofen last night followed by ice packs today have taken most of the swelling and soreness out of the knee.

All-in-all, I'm doing well and starting to feel like I might actually grow some trail legs in the next few weeks.

It's great to hear from all of you.

Jerome

April 3, 2012



Hello from Helen, GA.  This is the first chance I've had to write as there seemed not to be Internet access at Neels Gap.  If you've heard reports of heavy weather in northern GA today, rest assured that I'm safe and staying at a Best Western tonight.  My first real night off the trail in a week.  I've worked my way through 62 miles of tough up and down hills and am not making nearly the mileage that was on the 'proposed' schedule.  I'm hoping things will improve as my weight drops and my cardio fitness improves.  I did get some help at Neels Gap by sending home 6-8 lbs of gear that I wasn't using and so the past couple of days my pack has felt noticeably lighter.

There have been lots and lots of wildflowers on the trail, and I'll try to get back on the computer later tonight to upload them.  Haven't seen a bear, and about the only critter I've seen on the trail has been a skink that skittered across the rocks in front of me.

I hope to add more to this post tonight.

Love,
Jerome = Ayatori

Hiker Hostel 3-26-2012



Amicalola Falls Approach Trail 3-27-2012



Springer Mtn  3-27-2012

Trillium

 

Camping at Hawk Mtn 3-28-2012



White flowering shrub  (unidentified)

Mountain Crossing at Neels Gap 4-1-2012

View from Mountain Crossing deck 8am 4-1-2012

I'm not sure, fern crowns coming up near Blue Mtn  4-3-2012