67-year-old man hikes entire Appalachian Trail, last 350 miles with a broken ankle - [Archive]

WhiteBlaze

09-29-2011, 23:50

<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="7" style="vertical-align:top;"><tr><td width="80" align="center" valign="top"><a href="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGdCQrrAfFlALO8ybJR2sCQHPPoLA&url=http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/67-year-old-man-hikes-entire-Appalachian-Trail-last-350-miles-with-a-broken-ankle"><img src="http://nt2.ggpht.com/news/tbn/Hn2YgC8xO-iSpM/6.jpg" alt="" border="1" width="80" height="80" /> NewsNet5.com</a></td><td valign="top" class="j"> <div style="padding-top:0.8em;"><img alt="" height="1" width="1" /></div><div class="lh"><a href="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGdCQrrAfFlALO8ybJR2sCQHPPoLA&url=http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/67-year-old-man-hikes-entire-Appalachian-Trail-last-350-miles-with-a-broken-ankle">67-year-old man hikes entire Appalachian Trail, last 350 miles with a broken ankle</a> NewsNet5.com His mind was made up after watching the documentary "Appalachian Impressions" on PBS. "It really appealed to me as something I would like to try," Bob said. Hiking the entire trail would mean leaving his wife for about six months. ... <a class="p" href="http://news.google.com/news/more?pz=1&ned=us&ncl=d__o0I-qtICwB2M"></a></div></td></tr></table>

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Don H

10-03-2011, 21:26

I hiked with Bob through Maine we summited on the same day, great guy.

Rain Man

10-04-2011, 11:58

"So I hiked about 350 miles in the white mountains of New Hampshire and the rugged Maine mountains with a broken ankle," Bob said.

"Bob had more than 300 sponsors pledging at least a penny per mile. He raised over $75,000 for three charities. Bob wrote a blog about his adventure that you can read here: http://grauathiker.blogspot.com/

Wow!... for more reasons than one.

Rain:sunMan

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tiptoe

10-04-2011, 14:41

Well, hats off to Bob! That's absolutely amazing, and I wish him a speedy recovery. I broke my ankle in the Carter Range in August. There was no way I was going to continue, not even one step more.

Driver8

10-04-2011, 16:58

Wow, what a story! His donors should pony up more in honor of Bob's grit and perseverance. Hope he heals fully.

Jeff

10-04-2011, 17:10

Honored to have Buckeye Flash stay with us for a night.

Kerosene

10-10-2011, 09:43

Well, hats off to Bob! That's absolutely amazing, and I wish him a speedy recovery. I broke my ankle in the Carter Range in August. There was no way I was going to continue, not even one step more.Note that there are different types of breaks, as well as different pain thresholds. Probably still hurt like hell though, and who knows if the ankle will ever fully recuperate after that sort of beating.

Storm

10-10-2011, 10:22

I went up to Parma last night to hear Bob's presentation. He is a pretty good speaker and also showed slides of about 120 photos he took during his jouney. Got to pick his brain a little during the questions session at the end. Someone asked him if he any trouble adapting back and if he would do it again. He said he had no trouble getting back to a "normal" life and that his ankle was pretty much a non issue now. He said he may go on some section hikes of a week or two but doesn't think he would ever devote the time to a thru hike again. Very nice gentleman and I really enjoyed his presentation.

Doc Mike

10-10-2011, 10:31

I met buckeye flash at old orchard shelter this spring and gave him a large bag of Gorp. He later took the time to shoot me an e-mail with thanks. I followed his blog and he is very tenacious, I'm not suprised that he continued to hike on despite the broken ankle.

Doc Mike

Trailbender

10-10-2011, 10:33

I went up to Parma last night to hear Bob's presentation. He is a pretty good speaker and also showed slides of about 120 photos he took during his jouney. Got to pick his brain a little during the questions session at the end. Someone asked him if he any trouble adapting back and if he would do it again. He said he had no trouble getting back to a "normal" life and that his ankle was pretty much a non issue now. He said he may go on some section hikes of a week or two but doesn't think he would ever devote the time to a thru hike again. Very nice gentleman and I really enjoyed his presentation.

I did my thru in 2010, and I never stopped thinking about the AT. I left school, and am currently trying to pay my loans off, so I can get out there and hike it again, probably repeatedly.

tiptoe

10-10-2011, 12:27

Note that there are different types of breaks, as well as different pain thresholds. Probably still hurt like hell though, and who knows if the ankle will ever fully recuperate after that sort of beating.

Of course, all injuries are different, and "broken ankle" covers a wide range of problems. I broke both tibia and fibula, and the foot was literally dangling from the leg. Continuing was definitely not an option for me. Oddly, my injury was mostly pain free. I certainy hope Bob has a full recovery in spite of the additional stress of continuing his hike.