DAY 89: A ROLLED ANKLE....

miles: 12.5

So.... today was both wonderful AND awful at the same time. Is this possible? It is.

We woke bright and early (Rocky and I) at our Granite Chief Campsite Supreme and I was excited because today Chik-Chak's good family friends John and Deb were coming out to meet her and hike into Truckee with her.  Ben and I wanted to get an early start to beat the heat (like usual) and get into Truckee AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Side note: It is always my goal to get into town as soon as I can on the day that I am to arrive in town. If I can push bigger miles during the previous days, I will, just so I can make the most of my town days. I prefer to get into town before noon so that I can hit the Post Office and stores before closing time.

So, we're off. Walking at the speed of light, wind in our sails, daydreaming of the pizza we will be consuming in a few short hours.

The climb from the junction with the "Painted Rock Trail" where John was meeting Angela (with his sweet dog Floozy) was horrendous for me. For some reason, on this morning, I had a very hard time with the hill. Had I not eaten enough the day before? I felt weak, tired, lethargic and down right beat - for seemingly no reason at all! I was well hydrated, well rested (for the most part), and had eaten plenty of breakfast. Electrolytes were even on tap!

So I chugged and huffed and puffed up this hill. It's 7:00am and I am OVER IT. This climb isn't even significant! It was already hot outside and pretty exposed so maybe this had something to do with my fatigue?

When I finally reached the top of the bald hill I burst onto the ground like a popped water balloon. Pack contents dripping out, foods exploding out of their packages, I was starving and ferociously eating all of my high calorie snacks. I never do this.

I never, ever, collapse from exhaustion like this, this early in the morning, with this light of a pack (our packs are always at their lightest at the end of a stretch of trail, the day before town, because we've eaten it all... see what I mean?)

What is wrong with me?

I muster up the energy to move only because the sun is scalding my skin and I have no choice but to push forward, if only to avoid a third degree sunburn.

At some point on the exposed descent, I begin feeling slightly more energized. I am enjoying a pack of Keebler Cheese Cracker Things and my pace quickens.

Then I fall.

Well... I ate shit... really.

So here we are. Keebler Crackers strewn about, pack pinning me down, road rash on my leg, pebbles and debris lodged in my open skin. I haven't fallen in a long time. It really rattled me. Ben comes running back up the hill to see if I'm alright (which I am - Thank God) but my ankle doesn't feel so good. Able to move it, and walk normally after a few minutes, I push on. I want to get to town SO BAD I can't even stand it. This is the final straw...

The rest of the descent is alright, and as Ben and I get closer to Donner Pass we are in HIGH SPIRITS! YES! 1.5 miles to go! Normal path morphs into some terrifying gravel-scree and I fall. Again. This time even worse than last time.

Ankle - not okay.

Summary? I am able to make it down the 1.5 miles to Donner Pass at a slow, hobbling, wincing limp, but only because I am so determined by the promise of a bed, pizza, cold root beer, and ice cream. Day hikers stare at me and wonder if I'm alright. I'm not really alright, mostly because I am worried this is the type of injury that will set me back. I rolled my ankle pretty bad the first time around, but the second time was because that ankle was weak. Weakened by the previous fall. Now I had a puffy swollen puff ankle and am unable to hike faster than .5 miles/hour.

Donner Pass. There is trail magic at Donner Pass. I couldn't even express my relief and delight because of the pain, but THANK YOU RENO DAVE for the amazing, perfectly timed trail magic! I received a cold beer, cold root beer, AND a bag of ice so that I could ice my injury.

Perfect!

Reno Dave and his daughter were also kind enough to drive Rocky and I into Truckee and drop us off at the Safeway/Starbucks. THANK YOU A MILLION!!!!

At the Starbucks, all of my woes washed away. A Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappe was in order and I was still able to purchase it with a gift card provided by Jan back at home! (THANK YOU JAN - this is yet another frappe that has brought tears to my eyes thanks to you!!)

Third bit of "trail magic" happened when the woman sitting next to us at Starbucks overheard us on the phone with the Postmaster at the Post Office in town (they thought they lost a package... blah blah blah) and she literally just came out and said, "You guys need a ride somewhere? I can take you wherever, seriously" so casual. ... Yes. Yes please, we need a ride to the Post Office. Her name was Cindy and she was so kind and generous! She not only drove us to the Post Office and dropped us off, but she gave us her number just in case we wanted to go somewhere else LATER (like, if we needed a ride back to the trailhead or to a different part of town)..... !!!! Thank you so much Cindy! We couldn't believe this kindness.

In my phone she is: "Cindy TrailAngel".

After picking up our package from Peter Yoon (NEW HEADPHONES YES!!!!!!!!!) we were happy to find that the best pizza in town was right next door. We positioned ourselves there for the next few hours, my leg up, icing, sipping our happy hour beers, each consuming an entire large pizza. The people watching was fantastic as we waited for our Wolf Pack team to get into town.

Soon we received notice that everyone had made it safely to Truckee and that John would be picking us up ASAP and bringing us to the Truckee Donner Lodge on the edge of town. And, wow, was this a nice place! A REAL TREAT - THANK YOU SO MUCH JOHN!

The icing on the top of the trail magic infused cake of a day was winding up at Fifty Fifty Brewing where we rejoiced, shared stories, visited, drank good beer, and ate well.

Where I rolled my ankle on nothing.

When the trail is rocks.

The best pizza on the trail so far. Also the best people watching.

Truckee Best Pies.

Icing the ankle.

That's quite a bit of cash.

Smiles, Starfox, Chik Chak, Rocky and Dr. Slosh count the money.

Dirt pant legs. Yes. that is dirt.

Ben's laundry outfit.

Our little cute packs.

What hikers do to hotel rooms when they share them.