August 14 Mile 1456

Met with Infectious Disease Doc- good news, no blood infection, and MRI shows no bone or tendon infection. Only in the soft tissues. So the surgeon comes by and says they will lance the area with local anesthesia, draining away the infection.
But, then comes the bad news, the news that no thru hiker wants to hear: my hike this year is over- after treatment here I need to go home and receive continued monitoring and surgical care until healed. This could take a few weeks to get me back to normal. With a open wound that will continue to remain open while healing, plus the pain of putting pressure on my right foot, I can understand why this will take awhile. By the time I am better- maybe mid- September- I will have lost the season and won't have the nearly 2 months I would need to finish from here. So, back home I will go once released from the hospital in a few days.
I am thankful I was able to get medical help so quickly. This could have been a disaster. All the docs said without the quick treatment that I got I could have lost my leg or even my life. I shudder to think what I would have done if I had been high up in some remote area with many miles to a town when the worst of this hit.
So, here at the end, I have hiked 1456 miles in about 130 hiking days, leaving Mt Springer Ga nearly 5 months ago. I have made it to New England, and gone exactly 2/3rds of the way. Only about 720 miles left.
I think back about cold days, hot days, mountains straight up, long ridge walks, slabs of rocks and boulders to climb, trail towns, as well as all the colorful characters we have met and the many kind people along the way. Stopping now, right on the verge of entering the prettiest part of the hike, with cool weather ahead, disappointment is too puny a word. Cisco said the reward you get on the thru hike, though many difficult climbs are ahead, is the beauty of New England.
But for us it will have to wait for another day. Cisco is not going to go on without me (He's a good son!) We will plan to finish next year. We only have about two months to go - a section hike- and we have done so much and gone so far, already. We want to complete this together.
Nothing so far has been in vain or a waste, even though I stop here- being with my son has been the best and all that I have experienced has effected me in nothing but good ways. You put yourself to the test out here- mentally and physically-certainly the hardest thing I have ever done. But incredibly rewarding. So, even though I can't complete a thru hike-( well, technically I guess I could, as I have till March 22, 2011, but I don't plan to be trudging thru snow and sub freezing temps up here!) this hike has been a success.
I was just laid low by some bug- funny how a tiny microbe can do so much damage. Again, they don't know what caused the infection- I think I'll go with the Brown Recluse Spider, when I tell my trail stories. Certainly sounds more exciting than a splinter.

Post Script:
I hope you enjoyed my blog over the past 5 months. If you would like to keep up with me when I return to the trail, for the conclusion of my misadventures, let me know at paulrburks@gmail.com and I will
be sure to notify you next year or whenever I am able to complete my journey. Until then, as we say out here, "See you up the trail. Hike safe."

Pops


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