Today was a no-hike day to see if my heel would lighten up on the pain a bit. Got up, had breakfast and went up and signed up for the kayak trip down the Nantahala River. They gave us wet suits and shoes to keep us warm because we were going to get wet. The water temp. was 55 degrees and quite cold. Had a lot of fun going about 8 ½ miles down the river with some pretty good white water. Came back to shore and went to get a cup of coffee and ended up having about 3.
Went back to the room and started sorting clothes & food and such. I sent a package back home with some small stuff that I hadn't used in the first two weeks so I really didn't need them. After supper, went to the rec room and talked to Sweat Hog and Spinner and Nomad. They will all be hiking again tomorrow with us, so will most likely see them on & off for the next couple days.
There are a lot of people with foot problems much worse than mine. I don't feel so bad.
Rick and I have gotten our trail names, I guess. He goes by "SHOTGUN" and I go by "JIM-BOB". People are already calling us by these names...kinda cool!!!
Today, up at 6:00 am and off to the kitchen to cook breakfast and then head out by 7:00 am. Anything that might have been gained by taking the day off for my heel was lost in the first couple miles. A lot of rock hopping and twisting my ankle right and left. By 9:00 am my foot was hurting very bad (right up there with my broken collar bone and ribs), and I was slowing down a lot. Not much progress in the first five hours of walking till noon (only did six miles which is pretty slow for us). Should have been 9 - 10. Oh well, I hobbled my way through the day and Rick - a.k.a. "Shotgun" - was pretty cool about it and waited at the tops of most of the hills.
Weather was pretty good for hiking. 55 degrees and sunny. As the day progressed the clouds came rolling in and it looked like rain.
We set up camp on the ridge with Sweat Hog & Spinner. Made supper and had to go into the tent to eat because it started raining. It's now 5:00 and raining quite hard outside so I guess it will be kind of a long night. (When you go to bed at 7:00 at night, you tend to wake up about 2-3 am and it's hard to fall back asleep). I'm not sure my heel is going to get better on it's own, but I'll give it until we get through the Smokey Mountains which will be about 7 days. Then we'll see what happens. You can only live with the pain so long. Miles today 12.9.