If you still remember me, it is I, Burpina. It has been three years since I have written in this blog and I have been thinking about it for a long time. There had been a backpacking trip that had brought upon this leave of absence which then evolved into a period of being very sedentary. Which is a huge bummer. I’ve had some outdoor adventures but not as many as I wish and it all winds back to this particular trip where my foot decided to combust.
We begin our tale in late March 2021. I was hiking a fair amount and I wanted to go backpacking and I was determined to go further than my previous trip. I also wanted to try out my new Altra Lone Peak trail runners. Travis had worn them for his thru-hikes and he suggested them to me for their wide toe box and for being lightweight. Dear reader, this was the first mistake. They’re also “zero drop” which means that they are essentially completely flat on the inside without any arch support. I have higher arches therefore needing more support for them bad boys (meaning my feet).
We were firmly in quarantine times and I had put on some weight by this point. I blame the cheese plates that Travis and Kayla (our roommate) and I would lavish ourselves with DAILY to keep sane during Covid-19. I should also blame many other poor choices but let us just focus on the cheese for now. Having the extra weight already on my body with an additional backpack loaded up for our trip added even more on li’l ‘ol me. (Btw, did you know for every pound you weigh, it’s like 3 pounds of pressure on your knees?) Second mistake.
We decided to go on a longer hike than I was used to. Third mistake. We started near Agua Caliente Creek on the Pacific Crest Trail and headed south to Eagle Rock. We took a little break because I was feeling it. After a few minutes and a snack, we went down another 1.5 miles to camp near a creek. It was approximately 6.5 miles from where we parked to our campsite. When we were walking down a steep hill to the creek, I noticed a sudden tight sensation in my right foot. It was in the arch and extended into my heel. At first I thought it was a rock in my shoe, but then it started to burn. I shrugged it off but it started to become worse. By the time we were setting up camp, I was limping. By the next morning I could hardly stand, let alone walk.
Fun side note: it was about 30 degrees that night which was awful because it was the first time I was using my homemade backpacking quilt that was about 3 inches too short on me (wamp wamp). When I woke up the next morning and was slowly thawing out because our tent was rapidly heating up, I saw a bunch of wild turkeys form a large circle and watched two of them squabble with each other in some kind of bizarre fight club situation. Anyways.
I had to drag my ass back alllllll the way to the car and it was excruciating. When we reached Eagle Rock after 1.5 miles, there was a bail out point where I could have waited at a parking lot and Travis could have run to the car and have grabbed me in about an hour and a half. But I’m too proud. So I decided to keep walking. It took FOUR HOURS to walk 5 miles. I had Travis power walk ahead to grab the car from down the road to meet me because
I just couldn’t walk further.
When he pulled up, I hobbled to the road and it was so painful I was on the verge of crying. I didn’t know it was possible to experience this particular pain so brutally. I have an incredible pain tolerance but it was some of the worst discomfort I have ever experienced in my life.
If I had decided to bail out sooner, I could have healed in probably a month. Because I am a horrifically stubborn person, it took me close to a year to heal from debilitating plantar fasciitis. To this day I get bouts of P.F. in my foot if I exert it too much. I can’t walk around barefoot, I have to roll out my feet on frozen water bottles, I need to stretch them. I believe that I still suffer the consequences that I inflicted on my foot from that trip. So I pay for it now unfortunately. It blows.
If there’s something I took away from that backpacking trip it would be to listen to my body and bail out when it comes to preserving my health. I lost out on many valuable hiking trips and opportunities to train for more difficult adventures because my foot decided to explode because a series of factors within my control. It’s never fun when your body decides that it’s not up to a task and would rather check out. Weight, fatigue, and lack of support does NOT do a body good. So now I just try to be more mindful of what I want to accomplish and try to figure out my course of action to keep my feet happy and healthy.
That being said, I will take any and all tips on plantar fasciitis prevention and care!
Do yourself a favor and listen to your body. Avoid plantar fasciitis at all costs. Don’t eat cheese plates everyday. Go outside. Happy Trails.
SB Agua Caliente -> Eagle Rock -> Little Creek:
Beauty: 7.5/10 Difficulty: 1,000/10 Mileage: 12 miles Elevation gain: 856ft.
Big Tail on the Trail 