Well, maybe I haven't fallen too far in life, but pride can be the bane of common sense.
For the past 5 days, the muscle next to the left knee has been aching, especially during the ascents and descents. The tremendous pain was almost unbearable to a point where I considered leaving the trail a few days ago. Just today, I was walking mostly pain free for the first time in days. Luckily too, since the Appalachian Trail passed through one of the most amazing areas on the trail, Sages Ravine near the border of Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Last night, E-Dogg and I had tented at Plateau Campsite just outside overpriced Salisbury, Connecticut. (Actually, I had slept under stars.) In the morning, she had to revisit the town to buy some groceries since her maildrop didn't arrive in Kent. I started hiking the trail late in the morning, but still should have been well ahead of her.
Throughout the day, I had to rest the left leg often to prevent the onset of pain. Whenever the pain arrived, it lingered for the rest of the day like a rash from a mosquito bite. At the apex of Race Mountain, I stopped for a break. Last night, I had a sudden itch in my crotch area which I dismissed as filthy hiker jock itch. For some unexplainable reason, I decided to check my private parts and, increduously, a deer tick had embedded itself in my testicles. There it was, half it's body exposed, and the other half nicely tucked under the skin. It was pulled out immediately with a little force after having been there for over 12 hours. Man, of all the places on the human body to have a tick!
Somewhere on Race Mountain while I needed privacy behind the bushes to examine myself, E-Dogg must have passed me. I met up with her as she was resupplying water at the base of Mount Everett (elevation 2602 feet). At this point, I was just ahead of her and decided to attack the climb while I thought she would take a break. Apparently, she didn't rest because she was soon on my heels like white on rice as we both climbed the rocky mountain. This was where ego took an important part. I thought, "Okay, I could just try to get out of her way and let her lead or keep on pushing. The climb is only about 1000 feet from the water source and I could do it nonstop." By this time, the pain near the knee was augmenting, but tolerable.
Pride decided for me to push on. E-Dogg either fell behind or allowed me more space. When I reached the top, the pain became excruciating. That was a horrible decision to stay in front of her! What was I thinking? Apparently, I wasn't- my brain must have taken a break without giving proper notice. Maybe if a male hiker was behind me, I would have relented. E-Dogg arrived at the summit a couple of minutes later. We sat around where a fire tower once stood and chatted while the clouds gathered for a brewing storm. Earlier she had passed a woman who had worked with her at one of the AMC huts.
We couldn't stay for very long because of the drizzle and she had an appointment to meet her hiking buddy at the Guilder Pond Picnic Area, just half a mile down. I was a tenacious knucklehead coming up the mountain, but I wasn't about to be a fool climbing down. Hell would have to freeze over before I attempted to keep pace with her to the picnic area. E-Dogg was well out of site within minutes as I slowly made my way down having to stop a couple of times because the leg pain was here to stay (at least for today).
Sitting at a table, E-Dogg was waiting for her friend. I grabbed some toilet paper from the solar toilet for a couple of bathroom breaks. While she waited, I decided to push another 5 miles and bypass the crowded Hemlocks and Glen Brook shelters. Late that night, finding a spot which had both water and a flat area for tenting was troublesome. When I finally stopped around 10:00 pm, I tented in some mosquito-ridden pine tree area near South Egremont Road.
