This one will be very brief. I said goodbye to Puzzles and hit the trail at six. Within an hour I had fallen flat on my face. For a moment I worried I might have broken my nose, but all was well soon enough.
I entered the hundred mike wilderness before 8. A couple of hours later, I slipped on a wet rock while crossing a stream. I fell sideways and my left ribs banged against a soccer ball sized rock. I was in immense pain and cried out. Eventually I was able to get up and find a place to rest and regain my calm. I didn’t think I’d broken any ribs because I could breathe without too much pain, but it was painful to walk. I moved on slowly.
The day was planned for 22 miles and I stuck to the plan. At first the pain was a 4, then eventually settled between a 2 and 3. The trek to the shelter dragged on because the pain slowed me down and also there were 3000 feet of ascent in the later part of the day. I was very happy to find the shelter at last. Old School was there along with three twenty-somethings, but they went to sleep while I was still eating.
Update next morning: after half an hour of hiking I realized I have to suspend the hike. Occasionally I feel excruciating pain for a few seconds on my left ribcage. I’m trying to get a shuttle out to a town and will return home ASAP to get looked at
Mile 2079.9 to mile 2102.2 = 22.3 miles
