Day 24 - June 12 Colville National Forest and My Damned Foot

What a day. It began well enough – I felt wonderful and in tune with the universe and all that when I awoke around 6 a.m.  But the universe decided I needed a little more than smooth sailing for the day it appears.

I left the campsite and drove through the wildlife refuge, hoping to get a glimpse of some wildlife. I saw and heard a lot of lovely birds, but that’s about all. I took a wrong turn and ended up on a road that became impassable, so I had to back track. No problem, I thought. Little did I know that would be the theme for the day.

I had planned to hike the Frater Lake Trail, which consisted of a few loops a hiker can string together. After looking at the maps posted and the one I got at the forest service the day before, I decided to do the Cougar Rock Loop which was just under five miles long, and if I felt like, I would add on the Tiger Loop for another two miles.  I could even add the Lake Leo Trail for another three miles, making it a 10-mile day, depending how I felt at that point of the hike.

So I took off, full of energy and feeling good – it was a cool morning and I wore my sweatshirt for the first few miles. When I did take it off, it was still cool enough that I was chilled as my sweat hit the cool air. That didn’t last long though, and the forest was comfortable and shaded for the most part. The trail itself was pretty easy – there were some elevation gains and some rocky areas, but for the most part the climbs and descents were well graded and gentle.

I came along a sign a few miles in that showed “you are here” and I was just where I thought I should be. I continued on, enjoying the day. After a while, and a few more miles, I felt I should have started looping back around to the starting point where I could jump onto the shorter Tiger Loop. I checked the GPS, and I had gone about four miles, so I should have been well around the original loop by then. I checked my maps, and I was headed away from the start still. I followed the trail a while longer, wondering if I had somehow misjudged the measurement of the loop – maybe it was 4.8 miles to the connection to Tiger Loop, not for the whole loop. But as I continued to hike, and regularly checked the direction I was traveling, I realized I was just getting farther and farther out.

 

I pulled out the map I had picked up at the forest service office, and I looked it over again. I realized that I must have been following a trail that went on for miles and miles, never looping around. I had gone about five miles at this point, and I decided to just turn around and go back the same way I went out. My right foot, which has been a real pain (literally and figuratively) since last fall, began aching pretty severely. Although the plantar faciitus I suffered until a month or so ago has gone, I apparently have a weak joint, and that square bone in the middle of my foot has a tendency to pop out of place, dropping down toward the ground. My wonderful podiatrist, Dr. Coffin, has popped it back in place before, put a small pad on my insert to help hold the bone in, and showed me how to pop it back in if need be.

I sat down when the pain became almost unbearable, pulled my boot and sock off, and popped it back into place. Now I’ve moved it back in place other times when it started hurting, but I don’t think it had been this much out of place before.  I actually heard it pop when I manipulated it. This helped a lot, and I was able to complete the last five miles with much less pain. I couldn’t wait to get my boots off and slip on my sandals, but the pain lingered and in fact got worse once I removed the boots.

I stopped at the Beaver Resort, a little collection of cabins near the trail head, and asked if they had a shower I could buy. The woman there, whom I had met on my way to the trail head when I bought a cup of coffee from her, said sure – they were $1.00 and to take my time.  Walking to get my stuff for showering was excruciating.  I couldn’t believe how much my foot continued to hurt. I must have looked like a crippled old woman, shuffling slowly across the parking lot. That’s what I felt like anyway. 

Some interesting things grow on trees (not money, dammit)

The shower helped everything but the foot. It became stiffer and sorer as the afternoon wore on, and by early evening, I was about in tears - not only from the pain, but also with the fear that it wouldn’t get better. There is no way I can hike 220 miles through the Sierra Nevada on a bum foot.

I decided I had to quit wearing my sandals and put on my tennis shoes with my inserts in them. I also added another pad to the spot Dr. Coffin had put the first one, lifting the support a little higher. And I took ibuprofen for the pain. After a few tearful conversations with a few friends, and a dipped cone at McDonalds (yes, in fact they do have dipped cones now!) I began to feel better.

It’s still a bit stiff, but it’s beginning to feel normal again. I think I’m going to wear shoes, not sandals, pretty much all the time now until the hike. I have a call in to Dr. Coffin to see if wrapping it in some way will help, and I’m going to ice it regularly, massaging that damn bone into place every night.

All I can do is hope it heals quickly and this was just a fluke. I have a lot more miles I want to hike this summer, and I don’t need a bum foot slowing me down. I’m taking tomorrow off from hiking – I’m driving down to see the Grand Coulee Dam and do a little auto sightseeing. I’ll give the foot another try the next day somewhere in central Washington.

What was I just saying yesterday about the universe always giving me what I need, even if it doesn’t seem that way? This would be one of those times.