Thursday, I started what was supposed to be an ambitious hike and hitting 3 of the 4 high points of the state.  Life though had different plan for me.

I started the hike in to Panther Gorge from Elk Lake.  The trail in was pretty good.  One scary suspension bridge at the start, a couple streams to cross on the Elk Lake property where the bridges are out but they were easy to cross.  The first 3 miles of trail were quick and a nice hike.  Then I climbed up Pinnacle ridge.  It was the steepest part of the backpack in.  It also is where the trail started to turn rocky.  Not a huge deal, took my time and got up it.  Discovered there was a lean-to on top (Casey Brook Lean -to) that I didn't remember from the map, and the hike across the ridge was quite pleasant.  Going down the other side sucked.  The slabs of rock I came across were mossy and a little slippery.  Then there were mud pits at the bottom of the trail before I to the Pinnacle/Blake trail.  I considered going to camp at the site about 0.6 down that trail, but didn't want a 12 mile day the next day.

The hike through Marcy swamp was nice, with a lot of relatively new planks.  AMR sure does keep their trails up in decent condition.  Then, it was back to ADK trails.  About the time was leaving Marcy Swamp, it started to rain a bit.  Thunder over head, but it passed quickly and didn't drop that much rain.  The last couple miles in to Panther Gorge were your typical ADK trails with a lot of rocks, mud, and old logs to help bypass the mud.

Unfortunately, at just over 7 miles in, I slipped on a log that went across the trail.  I fell hard and landed on a rock or the log with my thigh.  Ouch!  First thought went through my mind was I hope it didn't break it.  As I wasn't in excruciating pain, I felt confident my femur and hip were fine.  The next question was could I stand and walk.  Well, yes, I could stand.  It hurt to do it, but it was bearable.  So, at this point I knew that no matter what I did, I was going to be hiking out.  With an injury where you can walk, the rangers if called will have you walk.  At best I was going to have my pack carried out by someone else.  So, I went through where I could reasonably spend the night and decided to go on to Panther gorge.  I got water boiling, set up camp, ate dinner, hid the bear can, and went to bed for a restless night's sleep.  Friday morning I woke up with the sun and realized that there was absolutely no way I was going to do any of the peaks, and it was best for me to pack up and head out, so I did.

Postmortem:

This was a pure accident.  I slipped on the last log of a dozen or more that were across the trail.  I didn't have any warning or idea that I would slip, and my poles were of no help.  Accidents happen, and it could have been any of the numerous logs, rocks, tree roots, or even just bare dirt that I had hiked over to get there.  Once it happened, I had to go through my options.  The first thing was can I walk.  If I couldn't I would have to call for help.  Thankfully I could.  The next thing is how far from help am I, if it gets to the point I can't carry on.  Well, I was about 7 miles from the closest trail head.  It had just rained, it was approaching night, and I was in a deeply forested area.  The helicopter wasn't likely to be able to fly or even help out.  So I was walking or being carried out.  Next thought was the "cheats" the rangers could use to get to me.  It's possible that they could have come in from Marcy Landing, which was about 2 miles away.  That meant a 4 hour wait for help.  At worst though, they'd have to come in the 7 miles I just did, and that would take up to 14 hours to get to me.  That's using the 2 hours per mile estimate that the rangers tell us.  

So, knowing that I was hiking one way or another, the question was where I was going to spend the night.  Where I was, there was no reasonable camping, specifically no water.  Do I keep going on or do I turn around and make it easier the next day.  Well, going on was shorter (1.6ish miles) than turning around (2.4ish miles to the camp site on Pinnacle, with 0.6 miles of unknown trail).    The trail back also didn't have any good places to camp at large either.  There was either no water, or too much water, i.e. Marcy Swamp.  So, I went the shorter distance and camped at Panther Gorge.  If I was in worse shape when I woke up in the morning, I probably was in a better place.  The day was supposed to be clear skies and I was going to be at worst 1.2 miles from a bald peak, so they could have flown the bird in to drop off rangers.  So, really, not much I could have done differently, and I don't think I would have made any different decision if I had to do it again.  This is something that could have happened anywhere along the trail.  It could have happened if I was hiking with others and not solo.  The only difference if I was hiking with others is I probably would have a lighter pack and got less impact when I fell.

So, in the end, almost 18 miles of hiking, and about 2200 feet of elevation in and 1000 out over about 10.8 hours.  Brings me to 208 miles over 142 hours and 10 miles of elevation gain and loss for the year.