Trekkingirl's AT thru hike

“Pat Gammons or trekkingirl (as most of us know her) is just starting her thru hike of the AT. She took off from Springer Mountain in GA. on St. Patrick's Day, 3-17-09. Here is a link to her trail journal.
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=7613”

“Go girl, GO!”

“Cool!”

“Good luck!”

“I saw her journal the other day. Go get it!”

“Thanks for the link Karo.”

“never thought of doing it on st pattys day. good luck!

i envy her right now. georgia is one of the better parts of the trail. sufficient remoteness (maybe not from other hikers, but from the rest of the world), great shelters (possibly the best overall state for shelters), the thrill of starting something new, and an occasional epic view”

“Go trekster!
Can't says Id blame you for turning back toward Springer at the NC line, tho. No doubt - GA bears repeating - heh!”

“Karo is the King.

Pat's Journal is great reading!”

“go pat! yo bear!”

“Sweet, can't wait to see her at TrailDays”

“HOI on TJ?”

“Good luck trekkingirl! Hope to see you at Trail Daze.”

“Have a blast!!!!!!!! Schedules permitting I'll hook you up with some yuengling when you hit SNP...

'32oz”

“Extreme THANX karo!!!! I've book-marked her! You have my envy trekngirl, I'll see you at Trail Days.”

“Three years ago today, I was leaving Springer Mountain starting my thru-hike. It's hard to believe it was that long ago, seems like it was yesterday.”

“wooo Hooo!!!....thanks for the link!!!...I'll be keeping an eye on her!!!”

“5 years ago tomorrow for me, bill. sheesh”

“awesome! and HOI is going out in April, cool!”

““HOI on TJ?”
opie
7:15:26 PM
3/19/09

nope - I read TJ and rarely leave a message but I won't be journaling online

two more weeks and I'll be on Springer”

“Good Luck to you also, HOI. Maybe us tt'ers can catch ya on the trail for some trail magic.”

“post your definite date HOI, A few of us are right down the road.”

“Fridge and I will be arriving at FS-42 parking on Friday April 3 probably sometime in the early afternoon and camp somewhere near the Springer Shelter. In the morning of Saturday April 4 we will be meeting up with Clyde - a fellow I know from another forum (the same Clyde that hiked with Liteshoe in her book An Ordinary Adventurer). Clyde will be arriving on the shuttle from Hiker Hostel sometime around 8:30 am as a guess. We will probably plan on where to camp that night then head off while Clyde goes and tags Springer probably meeting up with us that evening. Since I have not had time to get into hiking shape I will be taking it slow and easy for the first few weeks - ex I am planning on at least 4 days to get to Neel Gap instead of the usual 3 etc.”

“Is Clyde going all the way with you?

Good luck with your hike. I hope it's a good one.”

“damn, go away for a couple of years and everyone leaves on thru hikes.

good for you folks. hope i can hook up with you both at some point for a few days.”

“hoi, are you going to update your location at entervals so i can figure out a time to find you?

pat should be easier to find since she's keeping a journal.”

“Ginny - well Clyde is planning on hiking about the same relatively slow rate that I am planning at the start and I wouldn't mind hiking all the way with him but there are no specific plans to partner - I'll have to see how it works out - hopefully he won't break a leg this year or have any other medical issues like what bumped him off the trail last time”

“ok, so i spelled intervals wrong, does that mean you're going to ignore me hoi?”

“sorry baume I got distracted - one way or another there most like will be a "where is HOI" thread that will get updated whenever I'm in a town and have access to the internet”

“sweet”

“Good luck Trekkingirl!

HOI iffin ya run into a snag anywhere brother I'm within 4 hours of you from Springer all the way to Damascus!

Baume66...where the hell have you been???”

“This'll be cool to keep up with. One of my favorite aspects of TT is that pretty much every summer I 'sorta' know somebody that does the AT.”

“I had wondered where TG was... hadn't seen hide nor hair of her lately. Very cool!

Good luck to all our friends on the AT!”

“fantastic news....y'all be careful...when is trail days?


i am so envious of the retired.....
soon...soon!”

“Traildays is the weekend after Mother's Day - see trips page: http://thebackpacker.com/trips/trip/1609.php”

“Trekngirl AND HOI !!! 2 uvyans?! Fantastic!

Mildbill I didn't even know you did a thru-hike. Congrats.”

“HOI and Trekkingirl...good luck!

I'll be on the AT up in NJ sometime in late summer. I'll try to look ya'll up.”

“thanks Stew - I'm here in Franklin at the moment - things are going well”

“FYI: T-girl posted some nice pics today. She is approaching 300 miles...amazing.”

“Wow I checked out the pics, they are great. I know that she is going to make it. Judging from her smiles in the pics she is having a good time. Go T-Girl!”

“She's having a problem with one of her feet. Check out her site and send her positive thoughts!”

“Like windigrrl said, Trekkngirl is having a foot problem. She is going off trail to have it checked out thoroughly. Here is a large excerpt from her trip report yesterday. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers:

It was a great meal with scrambled eggs with broccoli,onions and peppers in it. Granola cereal, bread pudding, watermelon, juice and coffee. I ate plenty, settled my debt and took my pack outside to put on my boots.When I stood up in my boots the pain in my left foot shot up to my knee and burnt like fire on the side of my foot. This was much worse than the pain I had after I tripped and fell going up Bluff Mt. I almost lost my balance it hurt so bad. I walked around a minute or two,then hoisted my pack on and started to the north end of Hot Springs. It hurt all the way. I got to the place where I had to hop the guardrail across the French Broad River and went on a bit to where I started up the mountain and by this time I was breaking down. I was in tears. Not tears so much from pain (although there was much pain) but tears of fear that something might happen to my hike. I had to turn around and go back to Hot Springs. I thought I'll just take a zero and see if it's better tomorrow. I called Michael (who is always there to help anyway he can)and he had to listen to me BooHoo for a few minutes and we decided that I go to the clinic here and have the doctor look at it. I couldn't see the doc until 3:30 so I got a cabin by the river as I knew Elmer's had a waiting list of eight and only two beds opening this morning. I stayed at the cabin for hours then headed limping to the clinic. The girl at the check-in gate said, as I walked by,“I meant to tell you earlier that you have a free hot tub soak for being a guest here but you have to go before six.” “Great,maybe that's just what I need.”I replied. But of course the office was backed up being Monday and all the weekend ailments manifested today. I'm not trying to be sarcastic but that is how it is. The doctor was no doctor but Clinical Assistant. I don't mean that bad either, he still knows more than me. He examined my foot and said it looks like it might be a stress fracture. My heart sunk and I almost started crying again but I held it in. He said I can take an x-ray but the machine here is not the best and may or may not reveal it. I wanted to know what was wrong so I agreed to the x-ray. He read the x-ray(no radiologist there)and said he didn't see a fracture but that didn't mean it wasn't one. He also said it may be tendonitis and gave me some anti inflammatory meds and told me to stay off of it for for a few days. I did tell him I had been taking Aleve and he gave me some Mobic. After I got through in the office it was too late to go to the spa so I went to the Smoky Mt Diner as I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. It was great food and service. I talked to Michael again and we decided that he would come and get me in the morning(he's about four hours away at this point)and I would go to see my orthopedic doctor at home. I have been through enough pain with my previous knee problems that frankly it just scares me when things aren't right.

So that's my saga for today. I don't know what will happen to my hike from here. I don't want it to be over so soon. I am sad and scared. I'll let you know when I know. Thanks ahead for all your prayers and concerns.

trekkngirl ”

“Wow, that sucks. I hope it's just a fluke and clears up quickly.”

“Oh, I am so sorry to read this. Maybe some rest will resolve things and she will be back on the trail this season.”

“I am hoping TG has a speedy recovery.”

“Ugh :(

I hope she heals fast and is able to continue.”

“Hang in there sweetie!!!!...I hope you are fit as a fiddle & ready to hit the trail again soon!!!!”

“I just talked to Pat and she is holding up ok, but bummed about having to get off trail. She goes to her Dr. on Friday and will maybe hit REI to go shopping this weekend. She wants to get checked out before returning to the AT. She doesn't have internet at home so she wants to thank everyone for the thoughts and encouragement while she catches up on family time.”

“Well I know that if there is any way Pat can continue, she will. I hate to see her in pain...like before she had her knees replaced.
last edited: 4/28/09 7:27:50 PM”

“Good luck all around. One key seems to be to take time off for a couple of days every so many miles just to keep it fun.”