Otis, Maine

  I am home in Maine for what I hope is a brief period of recuperation from a bizarre lower leg injury.

Base of Bromley Mt., awaiting pick up and rescue by friends

 I am now almost 5 months into my hike. I have seen hikers with stress injuries, as well as talked with many hikers who knew others who have sustained injuries not unlike elite long distance runners. Injuries can include stress fractures, like heel, navicular bone, metatarsal heads, and even tibial fractures. Other more common injuries include tendon injuries like IT band, shin splints etc. For the most part, these injuries surface within the first 4-6 weeks of long distance hiking. Like training for a marathon, the body then adjusts, even laying down more bone in areas of the feet and legs under stress. Unless you sustain a fall and trauma, it is not common to have these kind of stress injuries this late into a hike. It would seem my right leg missed that memo.
  Kathy dropped me off on the Arlington Road, and Stratton Mt. trailhead a week ago. I had noted two days prior minor discomfort above the right ankle as I exited the trail to be with friends. There may have even been a little swelling over the lower shin, which seemed to dissipate quickly. Resuming the hike up Stratton was no problem. I felt great. The humidity had cleared, and the climb to the top was quite easy. There I once again met the two caretakers, Hugh and Jean, who have volunteered to man the top of the mountain as ridge-runners for the Green Mountain Club for the last several years. I had met them last spring on a day hike with my Williamsville friends. We had a very nice conversation, and saw many thru-hikers pass by on the summit. One of these hikers was Holy Diver, a young Floridian whom I had not seen since Port Clinton, Pa.

View from Stratton summit tower

After lunch and photos from the summit tower, I made my way down the mountain to Stratton Pond where I briefly considered stopping for the day, but decided to push through the last 5 miles to the Douglas shelter. Coming down the mountain, I noted a resurgence of the nagging lower leg 'shin-splints' I had felt two days before.
  By the time I reached the shelter, the pain had increased, and my ankle was quite obviously swollen. That evening, there was a mountain shower which amounted to a downpour. It was another good night to be in the shelter. I shared the shelter with a young couple who were doing a short section hike, and another woman who had started a thru-hike earlier this year, but dropped out due to knee issues. She was now skipping around doing sections of the trail that looked interesting.
  The following day, the pain and swelling were decreased and I was hoping, I had weathered the worst of this and it was resolving. I decided to see how the hike over the next 6 miles went to the crossing of highway, Routes 11 and 30, which drops off the mountain pass into Manchester, Vt. If things were getting worse, I could bail there and call my fiends in Williamsville to be picked up.

View of Manchester, Vt. from Prospect Rocks

 The hike seemed to go well and I felt no worse for wear. I made the decision to push on the next 3 miles of hiking brining me to the summit of Bromley Mountain, which again is a popular ski resort. By the time I reached the summit, the lower leg and ankle were once again swollen and more painful than ever. I felt that I would not be able to push any further down the trail and I would need a substantial break to investigate and nurse the injury back to health. This was not an easy decision for me. Fortunately for me, the mountain runs a theme park on the weekend which includes running the lift to the summit. It was easy to hitch a ride to the base lodge where I consoled my troubles with a large, extra thick, milk shake and called my friends.

  I spent two days with my friends, as Kathy had returned to Maine. I was seen in a local clinic, and an X-ray was done, showing no obvious fracture. As prolonged recuperation seemed needed, I rented a car and returned home to Maine. I have had an MRI which only shows swelling and edema of the Anterior Tibialis muscle, again a known injury with runners, but is relatively less frequent and unusual. I was able to see an orthopedist who specializes in sports medicine. He prescribed rest, ice, ibuprofen and a boot to immobilize ankle flexion for a few days to a week. I will then try a local hike, if this seems to resolve. If that goes well, I may return to Vermont in a week. Time is getting short as I have to return to work by October 3. In the mean time, it's nice to enjoy the lake, and being home with Kathy for more than a day or two.