Trip Report

October 4, 2006

My attempt to complete an unsupported Long Trail Yo-Yo was unsuccessful. I actually aborted about a week ago, just five days after starting.

The reason? My left iliotibial (IT) band got all inflamed on me. It'd been bothering me while I was in Yellowstone but it stayed under control with IBU and stretching, and I was hoping that I could hike it off during the Long Trail. It really flared up on Day 4 and I tried to get the pain level back under control by resting in a shelter for 36 hours; while there I massaged it extensively using liquid butter for lubrication. That seemed to have no effect, and I figured there was no way I was making it to Canada (and back) with a bum leg, unless I was willing to endure a whole lot of pain and prolong my recovery for weeks. So I got out of there.

This was the second failure of the summer -- the first was the aborted Colorado Trail hike -- and this one was definitely more frustrating. The first, I could just blow off as a fluke; the second, I have to wonder whether there is something more serious going on. My body has just not been cooperative the second half of the summer, which is a marked change from the first half when I rocked on the PCT and first Colorado Trail hike.

I think my body is slightly beat up, so I went to a chiropractor to get my hips re-aligned and to a sports massage therapist to get my muscles de-knotted. I think another problem has been my schedule: I've been hiking (usually pretty hard) for a few weeks, and as soon as it's over I'm either flying or driving to my next location, and immediately I'm back on the trail again. This inconsistency does not help the body keep it's rhythm.

I'm still planning to do "The 'How Far? How Fast?' Challenge, starting October 15th. It took me about a week to get the pain to subside, and I've slowly been building back up: short walks with a light pack to start, moving towards longer walks with a heavier pack.