Injured

Holland and I decided to go backpacking/camping over Memorial Day weekend down in south Utah. We went to Owl and Fish Creek Canyons, because our guide book said it was a great hike and that we would get to see Anasazi Indian ruins. With some of my tax refund money and with a coupon I had, I bought my own backpack and hiking boots from REI! Look how great my boots are! It pains me to think of how horribly dirty and beat up they are now. =(
Unfortunately, the trail was not what we thought it would be, which was well-marked and at least somewhat maintained. I don't know if it was because it was early in the season or what, but the trail was hardly marked at all after the first mile or so and was not cleared very well. So we kept getting lost and having to search around for an hour or so to find the trail and getting scratched by trees and bushes. Not to mention the gnats! I didn't realize that gnats bit but we were both eaten alive.

The real rough part of the hike came at the end. In the beginning, we had climbed about 1000 feet down into a canyon. Which meant that, in the end, we had to climb back out. We had already gotten very lost at least twice. When we finally got to the end, we had to basically rock climb out of the canyon. The trail markers completely disappeared about 1/3 of the way up and we were stuck on a rather sheer rock face, trying to figure out how to please-for-the-love-of-God climb out. Getting out took us a couple of very stressful hours and when we finally did get out, we had no idea where we were or how to find the trail to get back to our car. We wandered around for at least two more hours, completely lost and running out of water. We could just see the search parties coming to find us the next day when we didn't show up for clinic.

Just as we were getting ready to give up and stay put until the rescue team found us, I finally deferred to Holland's innate sense of direction and we ran into the trail. The trail that led us back to the truck! We were elated. The Gatorade that I got in the first town that we came to never tasted so good. Unfortunately, it was dark by the time that we got back to the truck and we ended up getting back to SLC very late before going to work in the morning. I guess the good news is that we still like each other after that harrowing experience.

Unfortunately, along with the many scratches and bug bites and near-dehydration, I seem to have overworked my Achilles tendon. It is bothersome to me, especially with exercise, and has some physical exam findings consistent with Achilles tendinopathy so I'm treating myself for that. Because self-diagnosis is always good right?!?

The most irritating thing is having to rest it. The lack of exercise is driving me NUTS.

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