Three Times A Lady
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James at the Phelps Trail junction, approximately five miles to go.
It was probably the most pain I've been in in a long while, but we just kept keepin' on. About half the way out, James' batteries went in his light, so he was forced to follow Sir Gimpsalot, with my headlamp providing light for both of us. We took one 10 minute break and found ourselves at the trail register at 11:33pm. Our total time car-to-car: 23.1 miles, 9,000'+ elevation gain[ed and lost], 15 hours 33 minutes. I'm confident we could have shaved 2-3 hours, except for the foot. James and I got into his truck, experiencing our own private aural and visual hallucinations. We drove into Lake Placid, the only place we could find a room this late, and checked in to the Econo Lodge. The lady at check-in gave us a discount rate (on a discount rate), on account of the foot. Actually, on account of "you're in real late." I guess she wanted us to get our money's worth. When I tried to get out of the truck and make it to the room, I realized that I could not walk on my right leg anymore. So it took a little time, there. James and I had breakfast at Noon Mark, stopped by The Mountaineer, then headed south. We stopped in Troy for lunch (steamed clams and a cheeseburger), then drove to Albany, where I checked into a hotel, propped my foot up, iced it (thanks again, James, for the supplies and the kindness), and watched very bad TV. The traverse was a lot of fun. James and I were both amazed at how relatively easy the thing was, compared to our winter efforts. On that score, we're thinking probably not again. But we are considering something like a Winter Presidential Ski Traverse, perhaps. You know, something stupidly dumb. The Daks were beautiful, the weather cooperated, the partnership was as good as it gets. Thanks again. The M.D. says it's a minor stress fracture, by the way. Basically, I got this thing from overuse. I got it from walking (okay, walking and running 20+ miles on successive weekends in the mountains). It generally takes 4-6 weeks for this sort of thing to heal, provided I stay off it. I've tried using crutches. What a pain. Literally. Well, that should do it for now.
Trip Sponsors: No Little Red-Haired Girl, Noon Mark Diner, Planter's mixed nuts, Bayer Aspirin, Tylenol, ammonia nitrate, earplugs, Fine Foods Northwest Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans, Jeff Buckley singing "Hallelujah," The Mountaineer, muleish benevolence, talkin' of twangin', the tactically outfitted, Ace Bandage, Peter Bradley, Econo Lodge late-night check-in, Lionel Ritchie, steamed hams, The Wand, Kumar Pallana, Mike Myers, travellin' light, Al Petteway, "Shades of Blue," |
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