New Hampshire 2012 Episode III. A pain in the knee

Got up to New Hampshire for the third time this year this weekend. It was a three day trip. I had to cover for someone last week at work, so this week I got an extra day off, yeah buddy! So DJ and I went up to do some hiking. We went up Wednesday night after I got out of work.  We got stuck in a little traffic at the New Hampshire border.

Once in NH, we set up our tent and ate a sandwich.  After supper we drove around. We went to a favorite spot to pick raspberries. After we ate the berries we looked for animals at dusk. We ended up seeing 2 bears, a raccoon, and a coyote. I kid you not. This was the most amazing amount of animals I have ever seen in an hour in New England.

Thursday we went hiking. Our plan was to hike up to Galehead, if we were up to it we would hike the Twins ( North and South Twin). South Twin is over a thousand vertical feet higher than Galehead. North Twin is 1.1 miles further than South with another 1200 feet to and back. We made it Galehead in two hours ( 5.1 miles). There isn't much of a view from the top because it is covered in trees. So we decided to hike South Twin. I knew this would be the most grueling part of the day.

DJ on South Twin, with Mt
Washington in the background

The view from the top was amazing. Three hundred sixty degree view in all directions. It was absolutely awesome. I was tired from the hike, but really wanted to get another peak so we journeyed over to North Twin. There are a couple open ledges for views so it was not a waste of time. On the way back from North Twin to South, I could feel my body getting tired. However, I was over 6 miles from the car, so I had to suck it up. We went  back down to Galehead Hut and ate Spaghetti-Os for lunch. From there we hiked back down to the car. On the way, I could feel some tightening in my left knee. I put it out of mind, but the tightening turned to pain. We ended up doing 14 miles and about 4500 vertical feet.

In the middle of the night sleeping in the tent, I woke up a couple times when I twisted my knee the wrong way.

Friday, I woke up with some " discomfort" in my knee but could still walk on it normal. Our plan was to hike out to Shoal Pond and Thoreau Falls. This is a long hike but extremely flat. I figured I could handle it. The first three miles went by smoothly. Then I found it difficult to step down. Every time I had to take a step down on a lower rock I had to stop and take that step slowly. Then we came to the only "difficult" section of the hike. For about .1 mile I had to walk on boulders and up and over rocks.
Once I crossed this area, I was done for. I could barely take a step.

What I should have done is turn around, right? Not me, knowing the trail was flat and I was only a mile from the lake and waterfall I kept going. I got to the lake, and didn't catch any fish. Then went to the fall. It was awesome. The waterfall is in a deep gorge with views of huge mountains ( I think the Hancocks).

Thoreau Falls below and awesome view above

Problem was I was now five miles from the car and I could no longer bend my knee to lift it off the ground. On the way back on the extremely flat rockless part of the trail, I could make good time. I'd walk quickly and just lift my foot slightly off the ground. When we got  to any rocky section ( if you have ever hiked in New England, you know most of the trails are rocky) I would lift my straight leg up and swing it around the rock instead of walk over it. If I had to step down, I stopped completely and used my good leg to step down then swing my bad leg to the same height.  I made it back and learned the definition of " self rescue"

My knee does not hurt to stand on it. It does not hurt to the touch. I did not hear any pop, so I didn't tear anything. If I walk on flat pavement, you would barely notice any hitch in my giddy up. But I tell you what, the outside part of my knee kills (killed) when I tried to lift it more than 3 inches off the ground. We hiked 12 miles in all. Eight of them after my knee really started to hurt badly. I was never so happy to see the parking lot. After the hike I soaked my knee in a river and then we ate pizza.

We came home this morning after lunch in Waterville Valley. Hiking was out of the question today. I made a dumb decision to keep going when I should have turned around. No question about it. However, I am glad that I could get out of the woods on my own. Hopefully not, but maybe I might have a more serious issue than a shooting pain in my knee someday. I will be able to look back and know I can handle it. The views were awesome, so I do not regret the hike, just not a smart decision.. It was a nice three days and we nailed three 4000 foot mountains. We ended up doing exactly 26.2 miles hiking. Hopefully in a day or two with the help of my good friends Advil and Ice I will be fine.

We saw tons of animals. I did not catch any fish in the short time I got to fish after hikes.



Animals:    2 bear, ruffed grouse, coyote, raccoon, frogs, tadpoles, newt, brook trout, cedar waxwings


This is how high I could lift my leg and only if I tilted it to the
side. I couldn't get it half that height if I turned it forward.
The smile was of amazement as I struggled to lift my leg as
high as it is.