Growing Pains

The first week of my hike flew by without issue: body was working fine, gear was holding together and the weather was pretty good.  The second week, however, gave me some trouble.

Last wednesday morning, I woke up to a light drizzle.  Nothing too bad: as long as I hike hard enough, my body heat is enough to keep my clothes dry.  Several hrs in to my hike, though, and the amt of rain started to go up and the temperature started to go down.  By the time I finally convinced myself to pull out my rain jacket, it was already too late: my shirt was soaked and my hands were too cold to undo any of my buckles or zippers.  Luckily, the next shelter was only another hr or two away, so when I got there I was able to dry off and jump in my sleeping bag.  Another, older hiker was a little worse off: thinking he was going hypothermic, he sent another hiker ahead to start a fire for him.  He turned out alright, but you can never be too safe.

From AT 2012

Then, a few days later, I ran into another issue: occasional, sharp pain in one of my knees.  I've tried stretching, massaging, advil, and lowering my mileage, but so far it hasn't completely gone away.  I had some knee issues two years ago which eventually went away, so I am hoping the same thing will happen this time as well.  I think it is just my body getting used to the stresses of walking for 8 to 10 hrs a day.

I sure hope things get easier!