14 April Sunday – Siler Bald Shelter to Wesser Bald Shelter

Tough day.  

Severe thunderstorms, which were cold.  

The Trail got slippery and difficult right away.  I had a couple of complications.   A couple miles in, my calf caused me to limp for a couple steps and then pulled me up short.  

Stopped.   I could not walk.  

I had to sit down in the middle of the muddy Trail to massage my right calf for a long time, while being lashed by ice rain,  60+ mph winds, and the full wrath of God.  It was a low moment.  After massaging for a long time I was able to go another half mile.   I started my massage again and continued- I slowly limped  into the nearest shelter which was fortunately only 2 1/2 miles from me at that point.  

I joined many other freezing hypothermic hikers there.   I cannot tell you how focused we were on getting into our dry clothes and into a sleeping bag until we could warm up enough to think.  

Just before the Shelter, in the last part of this delightful little journey, I slipped hard and slammed down onto my left shoulder.  I bounced up fearful that I had just flushed $250,000 worth of surgery down the drain but my left shoulder – which has been totally replaced surgically – seemed fine after all.  We all stayed in the shelter that night; the storms were unbelievable.

Here’s a couple of short movies I took when I finally warmed up enough to get out of the sleeping bag.