Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Gut Wrenching

It is with the heaviest of hearts and the longest deliberation, that I must inform everyone I am headed home to Vermont today. It was one of the most painful decisions I've ever made, but my knee really hasn't improved much, and sitting around in North Carolina didn't make much sense to me. I am experiencing so many emotions right now, and have cried more than once. It is so frustrating that I worked so hard to plan and train for this trail, and after only 237.9 miles, I am going to take a large chunk of time off to rehab my knee. Not only that, but I am leaving my incredible trail family behind. This decision was so hard, and even up until yesterday evening I was going to try and hike further. Late last night, after walking from town to my hostel in a good amount of pain, I realized I would be doing myself a disservice to keep hiking. Most likely, my pain would have increased and I would have done more damage. While I know I'm doing the right thing, it still feels terrible.

On the other side of the coin, I'm very excited to see everyone at home and catch up. It will be really great to reunite with my loved ones. I love Vermont so much, and any opportunity to visit sounds amazing. In a perfect world, I'll only need a few weeks to get better, and can then meet my friends back on the trail where they are and continue on pain free to Maine. From there I'll go back to the south and hike the miles I will have missed. I'm really trying to subscribe to the "everything happens for a reason" mentality, but at the same time it seems wrong to leave the trail and my friends behind.

Here's hoping that everything is in fact happening for a reason, and I'll be able to complete the trail in it's entirety this year. Fingers crossed. 

7 comments:

  1. Oh Daniel my heart breaks for you, but I know you're doing what is best for you. Heal quickly! ❤️��❤️Christine or Chrissie Cakes as Mom calls me!

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  2. Everything Does happen for a reason. Maybe it's so our paths can cross while you're in VT ;)
    More important, however! I hope you heal quickly and thoroughly to finish what you started. I BELIEVE IN YOU!!

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  3. Everything Does happen for a reason. Maybe it's so our paths can cross while you're in VT ;)
    More important, however! I hope you heal quickly and thoroughly to finish what you started. I BELIEVE IN YOU!!

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  4. I think you made the best decision you could; but, this is coming from a guy who thought working a shift with a ruptured appendix was doable...you're obviously smarter than me. Get home safe, recover swiftly and be the kind of patient you would want to treat;) Hugs!

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  5. "only 237.9 miles"! Freaking amazing. Come home, recharge, rehab, and that back to it with a vengeance!! (By the way, I'm talking out my ass because I could hike about 3 miles before I would need to be airlifted out)

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  6. So sorry, Daniel. But it will be good for you to be home and just because you didn't do it in consecutive days doesn't diminish the effort. So, you are going to back track and start where you got off, or meet your crew where they are when you are ready resume?

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  7. Hey, how does this website have my photo?? Very old one.

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