Since my last post, Ive had to make some hard decisions, but so far, Im happy with my choices. My knee was getting worse and worse, the left side was always swollen and feverish and there were times when the pain almost brought me down. Id been trying to manage it with ice in towns and ibuprofen on the trail, but it hardly helped. I got to Rawlins, Wy, the day after Abandoner left, and I knew it was time to try something else. If I didnt let my knee actually heal and rest, I risked ending my journey. After powering through the pain to maintain high mileage for several weeks, I had finally gotten within a day of Abandoner and really didnt want to lose all my progress, but something had to be done. I started talking to my parents, discussing my options, and they suggested I get a cortisone injection to bring down the inflammation. After calling around to different doctors and clinics in the area, we found that the only chance I had to get the shot was at the orthopedist in Lander, at 8am the next morning, 120mi away. The stretch between Rawlins and Lander is known as the Great Divide Basin, and its another desert with most of the trail on dirt roads and water sources up to 30mi apart. I wasnt too excited, but when it came to deciding between missing another few days in the desert or potentially missing the better terrain to the north, I knew what I had to do. I hit the highway around 3:30pm, and 4hrs and 3 cars later, I was sitting in McDonalds in Lander. Thats the farthest Ive ever hitched and it was actually faster than it was to get back to the trail from Lander. Once in town, I met up with Data, Southern, and Not So Bad, who I hadnt seen since we were all waiting for snow to melt in Pagosa Springs, Co. The next morning, Dr. Lambin pin pointed my IT band as the exact problem, and proceeded with the biggest shot and needle Ive ever seen. He told me the shot would numb my knee for a few hours, but then my knee should continue to improve over the next few weeks and it should last up to 2 months. The injection wont help my knee heal, but itll at least feel ok until I can actually rest. One week later, my knee feels pretty amazing. Abandoner got to Lander that evening and weve been hiking together since. All in all, Im confident that this will give me the best chance at making it to the end. So far, Wyoming has been beautiful. There are alpine lakes all over the place, and still a surprising amount snow. But the mosquitos are terrible, Im just waiting to get carried away. Ive also met up with a distant cousin, Scott Thomas, aka T Bone. Hes Abandoners age and also working on his triple crown. Id never met him before, but now hes hiking with us too. On to Canada!
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 15:28:55 +0000
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