Monday, 12 August – Saturday 18 August 2018
Cascade Locks: 0 miles / 420 total miles walked
It has been a strange week. Filled with more anxiety, but also more laughs than I can remember in a long time.
Sink took wonderful care of me, especially in the first two days when I really couldn’t do much except for elevating my ankle and medicating.
Our stay at the hotel was way too short lived, but filled with many movies, ice packs and fun.
We moved to a local Trail Angel’s house on Tuesday, where I commandeered the couch, and we were able to do some laundry.
OnePiece made it to town on Wednesday and we hung out and watched the Boondock Saints about three times. NoMan, one of Sink’s NOBO pals also showed up and we had fun hanging out together.
Thursday brought with it an attempt at walking and maybe even going to Portland for the day. That was abandoned quickly when the bus we wanted to take never showed up. So back to the house, for more conversations and together fun.
Friday was the beginning of Trail Days, an annual event held in Cascade Locks, with vendors and activities. Many many hikers showed up and the town looked like it had been overrun with Hobos for three days.
I did manage to get my faulty water bag fixed, picked up an adapter for my Sawyer filter (for easier cleaning) and I also bought a new backpack. 😁 No more giant ball on my back. I went down in size from a 55l to a 38l and I still managed to fit all my stuff. I guess I really have been packing too much fear. And the color is amazing.
One more crazy encounter happened on Friday, no actually two. The first happened during dinner with OnePiece, when suddenly the whole staff showed up at the table next to us, asking for a picture. It turns out that the actor who plays Vizzini in The Princess Bride sat next to us the whole time. Inconceivable! 😁
And later that night I encountered StrangeBird. Oh my god, I was so happy to see him. I first met him in 2014 at Mike’s Place in the desert, going on a crazy van ride on dirt roads. Funny how the trail turns back time.
On Saturday we said goodbye to OnePiece after breakfast…..so sad that she’s moving on already while I was still stuck with uncertainty on whether I would even be able to hike at all.
Hopper, NoMan, Sink and I went to the event area for a while and just hung out. So many people there. Hopper and I skipped out briefly for ice cream (Thank you Hopper 😘) before I went back to the event area to meet up with Corey.
Corey is a Physical Therapist and posted on Facebook that he would attend the event and would be happy to help with any issues hikers might have.
So he looked at my ankle, poked and prodded and shifted things. His opinion is that what’s causing the pain is either a burst bursa (painful, but minor) or I may have cracked my fibula (painful and major).
He said if the pain continues I should get an X-ray just to be sure. Well……
Corey also taped my ankle and then showed me some exercises.
Thank you so much!
In the evening we met up with some other hikers and had a good time at the brewery. A shortcut to the town leads you over some train tracks. Kinda dangerous for drunk people I dare say. 😂
I am still anxious about whether to hike or not……so I guess I’ll see how I feel in the morning.
Keeping you posted…