Three Forks, TN
Three months post-AT-thruhike.
Ankle and toe have mostly healed and are at 95%. Now I have knee issues. I wrenched my knee dashing for a connecting flight one month ago, and I have been dealing with pain ever since. Can walk five miles sometimes. Other days I can only walk one mile. I am now back in the States and will start 7ish-mile day hikes using my trekking poles and the same kind of brace I used for my right knee on the AT after I fell in New Jersey. I remember that my right knee eventually healed 100% after I continued to hike on it with the brace. So maybe with good support and low-impact exercise, my left knee will improve.
I lost my flexibility during my thruhike. I did stretch every day, but it wasn’t enough. Used to be able to lower myself to the ground and sit cross-legged without using my hands, and then I would get back up again without using my hands. I can’t do that anymore. I am working on being able to do that again. It’s frustrating.
I think thruhiking the AT damaged my body. After 1400 miles, my body just could not replenish or heal itself fast enough for what I was putting it through. Future long-distance hikes will be capped at 1200-1400 miles, and I will limit daily mileage to 15 or so, no matter what. Also, one full day a week off, always. This means LASHing the PCT, CDT, and the NCT. I still want to thruhike the ADT, though. Maybe I will just take a seriously long time to do it. Two weeks off every two months or something like that.
But anyway, I am back in the USA for a couple months. Kicked off my return with a visit to Paint Rock River National Wildlife Refuge in Three Forks, TN. It’s newly designated and is a work-in-progress. Not yet open to the public, but here’s a photo.
From the NWR website: “The refuge lies in the Paint Rock River watershed of the Cumberland Plateau, a largely rural area that has a long history of agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing. The Paint Rock River watershed drains into the Tennessee River. Important habitat types in the conservation partnership area include upland hardwoods, in-stream habitats and cave and karst systems.”