My Body Hurts

We took a double zero in Shasta to try to let our feet heal. On our first day, we headed over to the Foot Jesus at the 5th Season to get new shoes and insoles. Jesse is a podiatrist and will evaluate your gate, pronation, and recommend shoes and make custom insoles for you. Amazing! After that, I scheduled an appointment with Blaze to have some cupping done on my Achilles. She gave me some stretches and exercises to do while on trail. Bonus visit with her dog, Honey. Everyone should have a dog at their job. Then we got more food for the trail and tried to rest the rest of our time in Shasta.

Back on Trail

The following morning, we headed out to the road to hitch back to the trail from the town of Shasta. As soon as I began my hitching attempt a guy walked over and asked where we were going. He said he could take us. We followed him to his converted bus. Oh My! The best ride ever! After our luxury ride, he took the exit from the freeway and dropped us off. It’s amazing how people will help you. Total strangers are awesome in the hiking community. We made our way down the road due to the trail closure and before long we were back on trail. After about four miles my feet began hurting again. Why can’t I heal?!? I was limping down trail and felt miserable. I told myself I can’t quit. But my feet felt broken. I was in so much pain. Tears began flowing down my cheeks. My husband saw my discomfort and said we needed to stop. After taking a moment, we discussed things and decided to turn around. I looked at the map and saw there was a side trail to the road. So, we headed that way and found a woman who was waiting for her son to finish a section hike. We asked if we could get a ride back to town and she agreed. After we got back to Shasta and decided to book a flight home to allow more time to heal.

Headed Home

We headed home to rest. The problem is, I don’t know how to sit around. I felt anxious as I knew I was supposed to be hiking, but my feet hurt and it felt like I weighed 1,000 pounds as I walked. Every morning I would limp out of bed. But I had to do something to keep my sanity, so we decided to head out on a road trip during our time of rest. Let’s go on a crazy road trip! Our first stop was Etna. We still had reservations in Etna that we could not cancel, so first we would drive to the Collier Hotel for two nights. Then we decided to head to Canada and explore Banff. After almost a week there, we headed south to Glacier National Park, Yellowstone, and then the Tetons before we headed home. We spent about three weeks on the road. My feet started feeling better. So, we will be back on trail soon. Yay!

To see pictures of our road trip, check out my Instagram page at Jmtgirl.
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