Miles Hiked 52.6
Elevation 5,274 feet
Miles Hiked Today 3.9
The post title gives away the focal point of this post. Nevertheless, here is how the day began, progressed and ended.
I was up at 5:00 AM again. This was going to be a long day. The plan was to hike twenty miles and my ankle is still not doing good from the sprain, which occurred yesterday. I was the first on the trail from our group and my pace was pretty good considering the problem with the ankle. The trail was not doing any big elevation gains or losses – at the most 100 to 200 feet.
The first target for the day was the Pioneer Mail Picnic Area where there were picnic tables under shade trees. I made it there within a couple of hours and met other hikers of our group. We sat around eating breakfast and talking. I added to my water supply since the next water was at our planned tent site approximately 16 miles away. As other members of our group arrived, I decided it was time to move on. I wanted to keep ahead of them for as long as I could. Of course, eventually they all would pass me, but at least I would be that much further down the trail.
The continuation of the trail was right where I had got water just a short while ago. I saw James at the spigot and waved to him as I passed by. Not more than fifty feet further, on completely flat ground with no rocks, I heard a loud pop and my foot radiated a terrible pain. I could put no pressure on my foot at all, and I couldn’t walk. James sensed something was wrong and ran over. He took my pack and I leaned on him as we started back to the picnic table and our group of hikers. Ben (Unfiltered) ran over to help.
I sat down at the picnic table. A physical therapist in our group took a look (how lucky am I). Based on what I told her and a look at the ankle, she guessed that I had torn a ligament. At that moment, I knew my hike was over. Dorine (a hiker from Belgium) went out to a road by the picnic site and flagged down a car. This was my ride into Julian. The driver was a nice kid who was on his way to work. He called his boss and told him he would be late and drove me all the way into Julian. I gave him some money for his trouble and out of gratitude for helping me when I needed it the most.
My ride dropped me in the middle of town and across the street from the Julian Gold Rush Hotel. The only other hotel, Julian Lodge, was down the street. I decided on the Julian Gold Rush Hotel mostly because it was across the street and I couldn’t walk. I got a room for two nights on the first floor. It wasn’t inexpensive, but I really didn’t have a choice at that point. Unfortunately, it did not have a laundry, so that was a problem. I knew I was heading home in a few days and I had to wash my clothes.
After checking in, I wanted to get out of the room, so I limped out onto the main town drag. Fortunately, the hotel was right in the middle of downtown. I meandered over to Mom’s Pies. This establishment gives out a free slice of pie with ice cream and coffee or tea to every hiker for free. It was awesomely delicious.
That night I walked over to the Veterans of Foreign Wars lodge and had dinner and a beer. I had read about the place in the Far Out app. Their special for the night was beef stroganoff. I love the Mountain House beef stroganoff meals, so I ordered that and a beer. The meal was so much better than freeze dried. I scarfed it down.
While at the VFW, I met another injured hiker, Brandon. He was camping at night at the VFW. We compared notes on our injuries, which tends to be something hikers do. After dinner, I headed back to the hotel and just rested my foot. Tomorrow, I would be planning my way back home.
