
| Since November, I have been walking over to the Woody Rigde/Horse Rock trail (about 1 hr away) and the ascending to the Ridge Crest trail, to begin my hike. I have come to be able to make this walk without stopping (just this winter). Saturday, I walked a steady 12 hrs (in the rain, mist, and sleet), over to Horse Rock, up, over past Celo Knob to the (high elevation) beginning of the Ridge Crest Trail, turned and went to Mt Mitchel, returned to Deep Gap, came down Colbert's Ridge until a 'bushwack' to Locust Creek, over to White Oak Creek.
Though I walked large sections of this loop in the ice and snow all winter, this was my first successful inclusion of the whole loop.
Nine years ago I was told that I would have to have heart valve replacement (moderately severe backflow due to aortic insufficiency) in 6 weeks--medication may allow me to delay for 6 months. Enjoying the periodic walk up to the Ridge Crest Trail, I decided the 'the mountain will tell me when I have surgery.
I'll my annual echo/checkup with my current cardiologist (a cycling enthusiast with some understanding of the capabilities of the body) in a week, to leave him wondering just how my heart has avoided surgery all this long time. |