Hope.

July 1864: David Shelton Jr., William Shelton, and Millard Haire were killed by Confederate soldiers during the Civil war.War. They were three Unionists trying to return to their families. They were hiding out on a cabin on Bald Mountain in North Carolina before they were ambushed. Millard was only 13 years old. Their graves are a stones throw from the Appalachian Trail and I took time to pay my respects.

The morning after spending a day off at the shelter, I tested my ankle out and was relieved; I could get around all right. The swelling had gone down, and I could still feel some discomfort, but I would say I was about 70% recovered. I could work with that.

I wanted to try to make it six miles to the next shelter by just taking it really slowly and assisting my left foot as much as possible. It was really slow going. My first mile took about 45 minutes, but my ankle started to warm up and the rest of my body was getting used to supporting my weakened heel.

Before I knew it, I had made it 3 miles without any pain, but I was a bit sore. I kept going; I was in a good, albeit snail’s, pace. I made sure to stop every 15 minutes to stretch my troublesome heel and assess my situation. Achilles injuries can be very temperamental, and I did not want to re-aggravate the injury.

I eventually made it ten miles to Laurel Hostel, a small and simple bunkhouse with stacks of frozen pizzas and cold sodas. It was perfect. I spent most of the day hanging out with Cutter, a southbound section hiker. I spent a lot of time rehabbing with elevation and ice.

Over the next couple of days, I continued to feel better and was learning to adapt to my recent injury. I discovered that by taking it slow, especially on uphills, and favoring my good side, I could make decent miles over a longer period of time.

I was able to climb Big Bald and cruise on into the town of Erwin. Where I could shower, do laundry, resupply, and grab me some McDonald’s.

I’m brought back to the Sheltons’. They weren’t given a second chance. I feel like I was lucky with my heel injury. There was a point where I thought I might have been done with my journey. I’ve been given a new lease on trail, and I will make sure I appreciate every day I have out here even more. Like in the Shelton’s case, things could be a lot worse.

I am currently at mile marker 344 on the Appalachian Trail, just outside the town of Erwin.