The Ministry of Happiness

Appalachian Trail (AT) Happiness: One Week, My Knees, VT & MA – Part 2

This is part 2 of my posts about my test week in VT & MA to see if I can get back on the trail, click on this sentence to read part 1.

It is not the mountain that we conquer but ourselves ~ Sir Edmund Hillary

The trail up from Bennington back on to the Appalachian Trail and the Long Trail, (they run simultaneously for 200 miles), is a 600 foot climb consisting mainly of rock steps, a perfect way to start the testing of my knees. Our first day was a short one as we got started around lunch time so we decided to only go five miles to the first shelter on the trail.  It felt GREAT to be back on the trail.  We set camp that first night and I climbed back into my hammock for the first time in two weeks with a huge smile on my face.  Even in spite of the horseflies that had mauled us since coming into camp.  A friend of mine who had abandoned the trail some time ago due to injury told me that he dreams of the trail every night, I had fallen into the same pattern off the trail.  So it was nice to be back out on the trail and return to the seriously non-trail related weird dreams I have each night on the trail.

In the morning, I heard my friend Bryan speaking to a couple of hikers near the shelter and he finished by saying, “I’ll send him over.”  He then asked me if I rode to Amicalola Falls State Park with Survivor Dave, which I had, and then he said, “someone wants to say hello.” Heading over to the shelter I would find the three guys I rode in with that first day and who since I started 2 days later, I hadn’t seen since.  It was a wonderful reunion and unfortunately I thought to get a picture a minute after one had already started for the day, but here are our pictures from that first day and our reunion.

Rev Kane on his arrival at Amicalola Falls State Park

The boys arriving at Amicalola

Our reunion in VT

One of the great things about the week we were doing is that we were heading south (SOBO), so there was a chance I’d run into other hikers who I’d met early on the trail heading north (NOBO).  I never imagined I’d see these guys, it was wonderful surprise.

For the next three days we were doing seven mile days heading down the trail towards Massachusetts. The trail was a mess, lots of fallen trees and debris, there were a lot of rocks on the trail and a lot of mud.  Especially after the skies opened up on our second day on the trail and rained all day. We even bailed into Williamstown, MA for the night to try and get our gear and ourselves a bit dried out.

The forest around the trail  was beautiful, really different from the forest I’d been hiking in the south. This finally was the forest I’d grown up with and knew.  We were passing by beaver ponds and even found some moose sign, several prints and scat.  I’ve never seen a moose up close in the forest and hoped that would change on this trip.

We encountered a lot of NOBO’s, day and section hikers throughout the week.  I think it was a bit weird for my friend Bryan to watch me be so social with hikers.  I’m a bit anti-social in the default world but on the trail I’m not, hikers are kindred spirits and as such I’m much more open and social with them.  We even ran into two more NOBO’s that I had met before, Robot and Drifter and Bostrich, who had not met but knew of as he hiked with Superman and Heavyweight, two hikers I spent some time with in the Shenandoah National Park.

The trail we were on was a good test for my knee.  We were on wet and slippery trails, both Bryan and I would take our fair share of slips and falls during the week.  We did some decent ascents and had some short but difficult descents over rocks and tricky walks through some rockfall areas and what seemed like a hundred stream crossings.  The only thing missing was a fairly long day and so we decided to cut the hike short by one day and combine two of our last days together to do a sixteen mile day.

The sixteen mile day was the final test of knees that for the week had held up really well for five days under a range of conditions.  It was also on a fairly flat portion of the trail so even though I was a little anxious about pushing the distance I felt confident my knees would handle it.  I’m happy to say that in fact the day went well.  It was a long day with a lot of hiking through fields and meadows and some really beautiful sections of the trail.  Warner Hill was especially beautiful and full of loaded blueberry bushes that will make that spot absolutely heavenly in a few weeks when the berries start to ripen.

Yes that’s a cornfield that the AT goes right through the middle of, wow.

I knew waking up on the last morning would be the final verdict for my knees and my hike.  After six days on the trail, and the morning after a sixteen mile day, my knees would loudly and clearly tell me what my future on the trail looked like.  I’m happy to say that in fact my knees felt good.  My right knee was a little stressed from favoring my left knee a bit but overall I felt good.

During the last few weeks I’ve figured out how I can proceed.  It took some time but I have dialed in what braces to wear and how best to utilize them.  I’ve realized my knees are not going to handle big days, so twenty mile days are not likely in my future and with the big hills to come that’s probably fine.  I’ll need to work in scheduled rest days, zeroes on or off the trail and even some small mile days.  This may mean the whole trail is out of reach, but that’s ok.

Pausing in front of a pretty stream on our last day!

Returning home is the most difficult part of long-distance hiking; You have grown outside the puzzle and your piece no longer fits ~ Cindy Ross

I really like this quote because it hits home now, being off the trail for a couple of weeks had been stressful in many ways. Life is simple on the trail, simple and good, and I long to get back out there which is why this week’s positive results for my knees was so rewarding.  I may not get the whole trail done, I think it’s likely I won’t.  But I will push north and then hopefully head back south to fill in the pieces I’ve missed.  So, after a short, fun detour, and a bit of slack packing, it’s back to the trail for more happy days my friends and I’ll continue to bring you along. ~ Rev Kane

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AT Happiness: One Week, My Knees, VT & MA – Part 1

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AT Happiness: Quitting the Appalachian Trail