Reality!
First steps taken, first critter sighting, first pain felt, first rain experienced! Day 1 started with a nice misty morning that was supposed to clear by afternoon. The afternoon arrived and the rain came with it. By 2:00 it was full on rain for the next 8 hours or so. Dad was enjoying the first day of his 3 day adventure but was struggling a bit by the end of the day. I was in great spirits but my left hip had started to give me a bit of pain. I actually don't mind hiking in the rain or even camping in the rain but setting up camp the first night in a down pour was not really the way I imagined my first day out. We were exhausted and wet so dinner was cheese and crackers and a block of chocolate (that should fix anything!)
Day 2 was a glorious morning. Beautiful sun rise and crisp temps to start the day. It was a bit discouraging that within 100yds of starting dad was having trouble and my hip had also started to hurt a bit. We hiked until around 1:00 but Dad simply couldn't make it on. We were really lucky to run into a Trail worker with a truck who graciously drove dad the 20 miles to pick up his car. At 65 without prior hiking experience and with little or not physical preparation dad did a really great job for the first 20 miles.
I was officially alone. I decided to hike out pretty hard for the next hour just to see how my hip would respond to a more grueling workout. After an hour or so it was pretty apparent that a more strenuous approach wasn't necessarily the right one to remedy the problem. I hiked on for the rest of the afternoon completing about 9 miles. The last hour or so of the trail was grueling and my legs and hip suffered. I decided to take the night in a hiker hostel to give my hip a good nights rest.
Day 3 begins in about an hour. My plan is to do 10 miles today....at a pace that will hopefully be more manageable. I will stay tonight in Neels Gap, GA at mile 30 and check on my hip tomorrow to determine next steps etc...
It is much harder than anticipated and I didn't plan on having my hip act up. I planned for every other possible problem, just not a bum hip. I've met some great people and overall I am enjoying the experience.
Here's to another beautiful day on the trail!
Eric
Day 2 was a glorious morning. Beautiful sun rise and crisp temps to start the day. It was a bit discouraging that within 100yds of starting dad was having trouble and my hip had also started to hurt a bit. We hiked until around 1:00 but Dad simply couldn't make it on. We were really lucky to run into a Trail worker with a truck who graciously drove dad the 20 miles to pick up his car. At 65 without prior hiking experience and with little or not physical preparation dad did a really great job for the first 20 miles.
I was officially alone. I decided to hike out pretty hard for the next hour just to see how my hip would respond to a more grueling workout. After an hour or so it was pretty apparent that a more strenuous approach wasn't necessarily the right one to remedy the problem. I hiked on for the rest of the afternoon completing about 9 miles. The last hour or so of the trail was grueling and my legs and hip suffered. I decided to take the night in a hiker hostel to give my hip a good nights rest.
Day 3 begins in about an hour. My plan is to do 10 miles today....at a pace that will hopefully be more manageable. I will stay tonight in Neels Gap, GA at mile 30 and check on my hip tomorrow to determine next steps etc...
It is much harder than anticipated and I didn't plan on having my hip act up. I planned for every other possible problem, just not a bum hip. I've met some great people and overall I am enjoying the experience.
Here's to another beautiful day on the trail!
Eric
Comments
Love n
Here's sending some good vibes to your sore hip via EFT. Just needs a little TLC.
Adventuring right along.
Love abd God Bless,
Malabika
-Ryan
Patrick
Take care and I'm praying for ya!
Love,
Cory