Day 12: Paul (24 miles)
mile 187 – 210 /

Dee: (300 ft + 206 miles)

Paul awoke to 33 degrees once again, but the day quickly heated up to a nearly unbearable 96 degrees. Paul, Ally and Thayer hiked the entire day…across snow and ice encrusted Fuller Ridge.

Alison negotiating slippery slope without trekking poles

They reached another milestone…mile 200.

For some reason or another both Paul and Ally misread or rather miscalculated their miles to the next water source, thinking it was 10 not 18 miles. This led to a near dicey situation, as there was no shade to speak of, but they made it to mile 205 and the much appreciated “drinking fountain”.

There they “cameled” up. Paul estimated he drank at least a “gallon” of water once he got there. Thayer and Ally continued on, as they wanted to get to Ziggy and the Bear’s house for dinner. Paul was a little worn out and was not scheduled to be picked up till Friday afternoon. After a brief nap, Paul texted me via the Delorme to see if I would be able to pick him up. As I was feeling somewhat better, I replied that I could/would. This would be a good test to see what 4 hours in a car would do to my back…and besides I needed him to help me. I was getting lonely and too many things had fallen to the floor that I could not retrieve.

Meanwhile on the home front, I had another “torture” session with George, this time it was for an hour. He did his best to tame the unruly muscles. I have a love/hate relationship with his elbows. Another adjustment with Dr. Ryan and 4 trigger point injections, I am now walking without severe spasms. The pain has reduced from a constant “10” to a “5-7” depending on what I do. Progress! Yeah! If my progress continues exponentially I should be good to go Sunday/Monday or Tuesday at the latest.