September 30th, 2018, Virginia
I planned to meet my friend Bob after 11:30 at a trail parking area about 11 miles away from my starting point this morning. As I was getting ready to depart I noticed a pain above my ankle that started the day before but hadn’t gone away over night. Generally, any aches and pains from hiking have been gone by morning. So I took my time hiking, walking gently on the ankle, and made my way to our meeting point.
Bob and I caught up over lunch then he took me for a short stop through Walmart for a couple things.
He dropped me back to the trail around 3pm and, after goodbyes, I headed uphill for a few more miles to the closest shelter and camping area. I was looking forward to another short hiking day in order to avoid further aggravating my ankle. I plan to take shorter and shorter hiking days until it feels better.
I reached the shelter area about 4:30. I was the only one camping in the area for now. I had a couple snacks for dinner—having just eaten a big lunch a couple hours earlier—then hung up my food bag and enjoyed the peaceful late afternoon from the hammock. Given the very low possibility of rain overnight I didn’t put up my tarp and could enjoy the trees and sky above.
And, just because, here is a raccoon paw print I came across in the mud today…
