Last week was completely and utterly forgettable. The snow/freeze/thaw/freeze/snow situation only got worse, and the calluses on my feet that I was “this close” to being rid of became more painful due to my feet constantly adapting to the frozen and or soft and lumpy terrain. To quote my wife, “poop.”
As a result, I found myself housebound for a few days to mentally and physically prepare to get back this week.
Part of that preparation included soaking my feet in warm water and Epsom salts in an attempt to finally get those calluses fixed and ready for my new, better fitting, hiking shoes. And I am happy to say that a sardine-sized sliver of dead and dry skin is now gone.
Another part of my preparation to survive the Winter That Will Not Fucking End was picking up trekking poles from Paria Outdoor Products.
I had been considering poles to help with stability in the snow and ice for some time, but after reading some reviews and seeing them mentioned as the Best Budget Poles on iRunfar.com, I forked over $59.99 and waited for the delivery man to show.1
Sadly, winter weather caused a delay in the delivery, and what was supposed to come on Saturday didn’t come until Monday afternoon. Which left me once again quoting Wifey, “Poop.”
I was hopeful that when I got to the trailhead on Monday, the trails would be packed down and hard enough that hiking shoes with microspikes would hook up and be enough. They were not.
I was already in a mood that would make Sylvia Plath get the itch to clean the oven, and I was also NOT going to put my now pain-free feet through any more torture. So I ditched the spikes and did some laps on the park’s dirt service roads for a few miles. It was pretty lame, but I did see another (or the same) red-tailed hawk chilling out in a tree, so there’s that.
Later that day, my package arrived from Paria, but since I was still riding a wave of self-hate, I said, “fuck it,” and put the box in my office until I gave a shit 18 hours later.
I had it briefly in my mind that I would stay in bed until spring finally comes in May, but after setting my poles up Tuesday morning, I started to get the itch to get outside in the sun and blue sky.
I’m so glad I did because I can’t say enough about the difference the trekking poles made, and I can’t believe I waited so long! At times I was moving easily along through melting snow that alternated between frozen pock-marked ice and soft, lumpy mashed potato snow like I was Doctor Octopus from Spiderman, only fatter and with fewer arms. For my cycling friends, it felt like going from riding a full-rigid cyclocross bike on singletrack to a full-suspension mountain bike.
After a few days of slack and self-loathing and Monday’s alternate service road walk, Tuesday’s short W.C.A.-approved 3.25-mile loop was just what I needed.
After 25+ years of being a cyclist and being familiar with what is needed from me and my equipment to make a quality ride, it’s a bit humbling to admit that something as easy as “walking” comes with new challenges and new things to learn.
Later.