I had taken a big gamble by taking this trip in the shape I was in, and I had done some crazy things. I navigated an unmarked hike in Linville Gorge of all places, including a trail segment so steep it was laughable. I had just done the longest hike of in the mountains of my life, and done it solo with two bad hips. I had driven on mountain roads an entire day on a tire going flat. I had used an Amazon hub. I stopped at stop lights. There were a lot of firsts this trip. So I wasn’t going to let another stupidly steep slope stop me again, even if it was getting dark and I was having to go down first, uncertain of how difficult it would be to get back up, especially with a camera bag and tripod on my back.
Tag Archives: Sam Knob
2020/07/03 – Sam Knobs and Broomsticks
I kicked it into high gear and moved as quick as I possibly could, poles and feet crashing in furious and uncoordinated fashion into the grassy ground along the trail. And that was when it happened. My right ankle in foot erupted in pain as I had misstepped and landed with my foot sideways on the uneven ground. I couldn’t tell what was actually hurt, foot, ankle, pride….I just knew that it was NOT GOOD. Now, as somebody who has been hiking for years, I’m quite used to the run of the mill twisted ankle. On longer trips I usually get a good twist about every three days. Sometimes, like at Grandfather Mountain in 2017, that ankle twist will be with me for weeks. Twisted ankles are quite common for Jess as well, to say the least. As a former cross country runner, I’m well accustomed to just dealing with your run of the mill ankle twist. But nothing about this felt run of the mill.
J. Parker Nature Stories 