Plans derailed

[The Miracle Man]

Looks like my 2023 thruhike plans just got sunk.
I was planning for and very much looking forward to a spring '23 launch heading south from Katahdin to Springer. Now it looks to be shaping up as a '24 postponement.:mad:
legal proceedings were apparently winding down concerning the civil suit I am involved in. There was light at the end of the tunnel, or so I thought. Depositions have now concluded.
The night of Valentine's Day 2019 I was as a pedestrian hit by an SUV. The driver fled the scene leaving me laying on the shoulder for half an hour before an ambulance came. Security video on a nearby building established a timeline. Our hero was caught. Drunk. 0.19% BAC. He went to prison. I spent a month in a coma with skull fractures and multiple other serious injuries. Over three years now since then.
this is getting old. I asked one of my attorneys how much longer will it be before this finally gets wrapped up. "Eleven months, maybe 18". Certainly I understand this whole Caronapocalypse/Covid drama has slowed everything down but c'mon now! THREE YEARS! Now we are going for four?! Four and a half?!
The only positive aspect, if there is any positive aspect in any of this, is that I now have another full year to more throroughly plan out my stroll in the woods.

MM

[perrymk]

I spent my career as a crime lab analyst and my experience was that most criminal cases (I recognize your case is civil) take 3-5 years to go to trial. I think twice in 23 years did I see a case go from incident to trial in under a year. The realistic remedy I can see is to raise taxes to pay for more courthouses, judges, bailiffs, staff, etc. and no one wants that.

But as you say, another year to plan, also to do shakedown hikes and get in hiking physical condition. Maybe even make some of those shakedown hikes AT section hikes in case you find section hiking works better anyway.

Good luck with your case and your hike!

[The Miracle Man]

Shakedown hikes certainly. I did day hikes fairly frequently when I lived very near to New York's Finger Lakes Trail. Closer to home here we have a rails-to-trails system of former railroad lines with the tracks removed and the ballast paved over with asphalt for bicycling and walking. Miles and miles, good for distance conditioning. The FLT by comparison is an actual hiking trail through some challenging mountainous territory very much mirroring the AT. Same three sided shelters too. Great weekend hike possibilities.
section hiking is not for me though. I will complete a thruhike all in one go. Go big or go home, right? LOL!

MM

[SAWNIE]

Painful, horrendous, but do not give up. Every small troll leads to a better day tomorrow.

[HankIV]

Dude—go. Come back when they need you. Life is short, and you don’t know how short.

There isn’t that much planning needed, unless you have some very special meal requirements, and have to do mail drops.

Get some quality, light weight gear.

Get to Millinocket with 10 days of food or so.

Divide it half at the AT lodge and pay for a food drop.

Take the shuttle into Baxter next morning

Go up the mountain.

Start heading south on the AT from there.

Enjoy the hell out of it.

Congrats on picking the correct direction.

[Dan Roper]

The vast majority of cases settle without going to trial. It's true that the approach of a trial date lends urgency to the negotiation process, so more cases settle close to trial date. If indeed you're 18 months away from trial, most of that time will be open with relatively few things for you to do in connection with your case, especially if discovery is done or mostly so. Check with your lawyer and go, knowing that they can summon you home with a few days' notice, if needed.

[Dan Roper]

But if a big part of your case - your damages claim - is that the accident left you hobbled, there are strategic reasons to avoid undertaking an intensely physical backpacking trip that would be solid evidence of a certain level of fitness.

[OhioHiker]

I agree with others, Consult your lawyer and go man! Your location says NY.. I don't think it should be terribly hard to get off trail and rent a car and be back home in a day?

[The Miracle Man]

I spent my career as a crime lab analyst and my experience was that most criminal cases (I recognize your case is civil) take 3-5 years to go to trial. I think twice in 23 years did I see a case go from incident to trial in under a year. The realistic remedy I can see is to raise taxes to pay for more courthouses, judges, bailiffs, staff, etc. and no one wants that.

But as you say, another year to plan, also to do shakedown hikes and get in hiking physical condition. Maybe even make some of those shakedown hikes AT section hikes in case you find section hiking works better anyway.

Good luck with your case and your hike!

Read on for my reply to everyone here.

[The Miracle Man]

Read on for my reply to all here.

[The Miracle Man]

Read on further for my reply to all here.

[The Miracle Man]

Read on, I am replying to all in one post.

[The Miracle Man]

Oh I hear ya; best to hold off though for now.<br>I can't embark on a physically challenging endeavor such as a 2,000+ mile hike while my injury case is still active and underway.<br>There was no criminal trial. My case went straight to the civil trial right from the pretrial hearing. I wasn't at the hearing to see it but the guy that hit me took the plea deal my attorneys offered. There were I am told about fifty people there with my family to support me. On his side there was him and two lawyers, that's it.<br>He was initially facing a possible seven years in prison. There were a slew of charges against him; DWI. Agravated DWI (two separate charges). DWI for being over the legal limit, 0.08% BAC. Agravated DWI for being over twice the legal limit with a 0.19% BAC. Vehicular Assault. Agravated Vehicular Assault for causing life threatening injuries. Leaving the scene of an accident. There were I think other charges as well but those were the big ones.<br>He took the plea deal my attorneys offered which removed the possible seven years if he accepted the plea but it meant he accepts 100% guilt. This also left the possibility of a year in jail.<br>My attorneys tell me this was huge because it avoided a criminal trial that could have dragged on for years. It also puts me in a much better position for the civil trial. If not for the 100% guilt part and it went to criminal court I could have been assigned a portion of the guilt. I don't know how all that legal stuff works but I am much better off as it turned out. I don't use any drugs. I had no alcohol in my system. My toxicology was 100% clean. He was ****faced. He got the year in jail and was taken straight from the courtroom in shackles and chains to the holding center downtown.<br>Anyway, I had multiple serious injuries. I layed on the side of the road with multiple skull fractures, a broken shoulder, broken cheekbone and a broken nose. I laid there having a massive brain bleed and brain swelling. I was in a coma for a month and spent five months in the hospital. After that eye surgery in another hospital a month after I was released from the main county hospital. Then a year and a half of physical therapy and cognizance therapy twice a week at a rehab nursing center.<br>All that and my case is still in litigation. My layers tell me it can still go through a jury trial if the defense requests it if agreements cannot be reached. As I said I don't know how all this legal mumbo jumbo goes and while not a criminal trial still a trial nonetheless and subject to the whims of a jury.<br>So... with all that it is better if I don't give them something to scream about. The reality is that I am disabled from this. I have permanent disabilities including vision and balance issues but foremost and most debilitating is my hearing. Hyperacusis and tinnitus. I hear a constant roaring noise in my head, others can't hear it but it never ceases. This is from auditory nerve damage due to the skull fractures. It is permanent and not treatable.<br>I need to put the hike off until court is over with.<br><br>MM

[JNI64]

Wow! Miracle Man for sure! My guess the air bag did damage but saved your life! Hey whatever you decide to do good luck and God speed brother!

[The Miracle Man]

Wow! Miracle Man for sure! My guess the air bag did damage but saved your life! Hey whatever you decide to do good luck and God speed brother!

No airbag. I was not driving. I was walking on the shoulder of the road. My attorney showed me pictures the other day of the vehicle that hit me. He said they did not show me these pics before the depositions because they did not want me to see them to have any influence on my testimony.
Front left fender all mangled. Passenger side windshield strut and pillar support between front and back seat windows all dented. Passenger side sideview mirror gone, sheared off. That sideview mirror is, I believe what fractured my pelvis, my right hip.

[The Miracle Man]

Front right fender, not front left. The passenger side of the vehicle hit me.

[JNI64]

No airbag. I was not driving. I was walking on the shoulder of the road. My attorney showed me pictures the other day of the vehicle that hit me. He said they did not show me these pics before the depositions because they did not want me to see them to have any influence on my testimony.
Front left fender all mangled. Passenger side windshield strut and pillar support between front and back seat windows all dented. Passenger side sideview mirror gone, sheared off. That sideview mirror is, I believe what fractured my pelvis, my right hip.

Sorry about that, I had to go back and reread your op that makes you a even bigger Miracle Man no air bag, just trying to walk somewhere.

[rhjanes]

Wow! You are lucky to have survived all that. My advice is to do EXACTLY what your attorney says. Keep the attorney informed about everything. Any trip longer than a day or two. Just a quick email to let them know.

[JPritch]

I wish you the best and hope you can get on the trail sooner rather than later and continue your healing.

Road walks scare me. My head stays on a swivel and I look for the slightest clues that someone may not be paying attention.

[RockDoc]

Sounds like the perfect scenario to become a section hiker! PS It's underrated!

[Tipi Walter]

Doing a section hike sounds reasonable---or if you're itching to backpack pull a weekend trip as close to home as possible. And study Colin Fletcher's brush with injury when walking and getting hit by a van.

[The Miracle Man]

Doing a section hike sounds reasonable---or if you're itching to backpack pull a weekend trip as close to home as possible. And study Colin Fletcher's brush with injury when walking and getting hit by a van.

I had not heard of Colin Fletcher before, now I must read his books.

Colin Fletcher, Stephen King and now me. That makes three of us all together in the same fraternity. All three of us hit by vehicles while walking and damn near killed. This is one fraternity that I can do without being a member of.

MM

[cmoulder]

Not to be too paranoid, but beware online activity.

Opposing attorneys *will* do a deep search of internet postings and will use any snippet and twist any statement they can against you.

[Toolshed]

I was laid up in Williamsville for almost year after knee surgery in the very early 90's. I had started my ADK46 then and had also been planning to finish the Northville Placid Trail and had nothing but time on my hands for many months. I was working at EMS on NF Blvd and also at Dick's new store.

My favorite adventure readings were Colin Fletcher (The Complete Walker, The man who walked through Time - Walking E2E Through the Grand Canyon). Ed Abbey - Monkey Wrench Gang, Down the River and Desert Solitaire are a few - Great Reading. And, Jon Kraukauer - I think many know his "Into Series..." but before that, he wrote "Eiger Dreams" Which was I think some of his best writing.

As I was healing, I spent a lot of time on the Conservation Trail, FLT and NCT as well as WNY's many parks. I am not familiar with any of the reclaimed rail trails now, other than what was in the Amherst area then, but I wish you bthe best of luck. PS - I found much of the hill side-slabbing that we see on the FLT to be very helpful for strentghening my muscles around knee.

[HankIV]

All good advice here after my clueless crap

[Coffee]

I’d seize the opportunity to thru hike whenever it arises. I did several long hikes but never a full thru of one of the big 3 (AT, PCT, CDT), although I have done several sections. Now I’m not in a position to hike more than a week at a time and not sure when I will be able to. Luckily I still have great health so maybe someday.

[cmoulder]

All good advice here after my clueless crap
I wouldn't say it's crap because it's always good to remain positive and to do what one can to rehab and to prepare. :D

[HankIV]

Preparing wise, would really try to dial in your shoes. What is great for one is terrible for another. REI would be a good place to start. When you find ones you like, with a pack on, uphill and down, buy 5-6 pair. My favorites got discontinued and I had to order for two different outlets to get enough in my size.

Shoes are pretty damn important, I’d say more so than pack, tent and sleep system.

[The Miracle Man]

Hank I couldn't agree more. One of the main things that got drilled into my head regularly during my years in the Marine Corps is "take care of your dogs!" (feet). Most of the guys SSgt and above that I served with and under in the '80s were Vietnam vets. Taking care of your feet in the field is no joke. Jungle rot/trench foot, blisters, scabies, slivers, etc, all can put you out of commission. I served in peacetime but where I was, Hawaii, Philippines, all those factors were in play. Less so for me as a Huey helicopter mechanic/doorgunner than the grunts but still vital. Take care of your dogs!

[MamaKatBrigid]

Looks like my 2023 thruhike plans just got sunk.
I was planning for and very much looking forward to a spring '23 launch heading south from Katahdin to Springer. Now it looks to be shaping up as a '24 postponement.:mad:
legal proceedings were apparently winding down concerning the civil suit I am involved in. There was light at the end of the tunnel, or so I thought. Depositions have now concluded.
The night of Valentine's Day 2019 I was as a pedestrian hit by an SUV. The driver fled the scene leaving me laying on the shoulder for half an hour before an ambulance came. Security video on a nearby building established a timeline. Our hero was caught. Drunk. 0.19% BAC. He went to prison. I spent a month in a coma with skull fractures and multiple other serious injuries. Over three years now since then.
this is getting old. I asked one of my attorneys how much longer will it be before this finally gets wrapped up. "Eleven months, maybe 18". Certainly I understand this whole Caronapocalypse/Covid drama has slowed everything down but c'mon now! THREE YEARS! Now we are going for four?! Four and a half?!
The only positive aspect, if there is any positive aspect in any of this, is that I now have another full year to more throroughly plan out my stroll in the woods.

MM

I'm sorry. i'm a litigation paralegal and work in insurance defense (car crashes). Litigation is a huge PITA, and can take forever. It's frustrating for sure. Especially with a high-value case like this with such severe injuries... they'll fight all they can. :( I got no words of wisdom, just empathy. Hang in there.

[MamaKatBrigid]

Not to be too paranoid, but beware online activity.

Opposing attorneys *will* do a deep search of internet postings and will use any snippet and twist any statement they can against you.

as an insurance defense paralegal, can confirm.