An Unwelcome Discovery

I’m bummed out to say that overnight the pain in my heel has gotten significantly worse. This morning my foot felt really stiff andf and sore such that I was stumbling through camp. Safe to say I would not hike out for the initially planned six miles today, and just take a complete rest day. I got down to the Grumpy Bears Bar and joined the others for a gigantic pancakes and eggs breakfast. It was great. During breakfast I had a nice phone-call with my buddy Max and also with my mum and brother. It felt good to catch up.

After breakfast the Canadian Family walked in, it was real fun to see them again after the last stretch, all of them are doing well. I worry-some was talking to someone about my foot-ache. A lady who was sitting next to me overheard my symptoms and told me that it was most likely plantar fasciitis. She told me about the symptoms and and possible ways to treat it. She then showed me how to give massages to the heel and arch of my foot to relieve some of the pain. Other things that may help is soaking in cold water or try arch-supporting insoles.

After breakfast I went out to the nearby store to collect my bear canister. Its basically a oversized peanut-butter jar that’s to protect your food from being taken by bears. Its a big clunky thing and adds 2 pounds to everybody’s packweight, so nobody is really excited about lugging it around through the Sierras (where its mandatory). I broke down camp after buying mine at te store, then caught the shuttle to the General Store. Here I’d have 3 packages waiting; a new hiking shirt, my resupply food box and my bounce-box with my warmer clothing for the Sierras. I was procrastinating getting my stuff sorted out for a very long time because it was just so nice to do nothing for a while and chat with a all the hikers gathered out on the terrace. We said goodbye to Slinky, Bogey and Jono, three amazing people we spend lots of time with the past stretches. They left today and we probably wont catch up with any of them; we might summit Mt Whitney soon, and they will do a a very long stretch, where I’ll have to resupply halfway. This will create a couple of days gap which I expect unlikely to make up for.

First time stuffing all of my food into my bear-can, it barely fit. If there’s longer stretches coming up I’ll be in trouble. The rest of the evening I spend hanging out, relaxing and massaging my foot. Natalie, Thad and Jimmy have yet to arrive, maybe they got delayed a day… Just before heading to bed I started on a chore which I was more excited about. I mentioned I picked up a package in Tehachapi several days ago. It contained my new backpack! Im sending away my Osprey Exos 58, because I’ve been quite unhappy with the way it packs and unpacks, the weight distribution and the clunky feel it has to it. I am super psyched to try out my new and lighter Hyper-light pack on trail. It’s very sleek and I like the weight distribution a whole lot more. I spend some time figuring out how to fit all my gear into it initially, and will post a picture of my new precious piece of gear in tomorrow’s entry. After giving my foot a final rubdown, I went to bed hoping that the situation improves overnight.

Sing me something soft,
Sad and delicate,
Our loud and out of key
Sing me anything
We’re glad with what we’ve got
Done with hat we’ve lost
Our whole lives laid out
Right in front of us

Sing like you think no one’s listening

Existentialism on Prom-Night – Straylight Run