Highlight Hiker Blog
January 26, 2022
Hey Highlight! Where’ve you been???
Well, folks and fellow hikers! I’ve been back on the disabled list after pushing too hard, too fast. I had been cautious with my knee and in the process did something kinda’ awful to my hip flexor while hiking the west side of the Stonetown Circular trail on June 6, 2021. It didn’t seem too bad… until it was. By the time I came back from hiking at elevation in Colorado I knew I had a problem so I decided to rest for a few months. And then a few more. I’ve been resting longer than I wanted to but I still have pain. An x-ray thankfully revealed no structural damage, so whatever it is seems be a soft tissue injury deep in the hip socket. Chiropractic care and strength training have helped a little, as has weight loss, but before hiking season returns in earnest I think I’m going to have to go to PT. That’s what everyone tells me I should do, anyway. Family, friends, doctors, my personal trainer Tiffani, my co-workers, the cashier at the grocery store, two cousins from my husbands side of the family who are 6 and 8, respectively. Pretty much anyone who listens to my story tells me “GO TO PT!”. I can’t tell if they are giving me advice, or if they’re tired of hearing me talk about it.
But the good news is that I am only TWO hikes from finishing both NY/NJ Trail Conference maps #115 & #116 - one trail each! The Stonetown Circular East, and the Pinwheel Vista section of the AT. I pretty much knocked out two state parks in one season, which is a huge accomplishment. Of course, there are a whole slew of trails that are slated to open in 2022 (like the new Tapawingo and a lot of new blazes in Jungle Habitat) so I’ll have some catching up to do before I can officially say it’s complete but I’m still hoping to finish both maps in 2022.
My other huge accomplishment was my first time hiking over 13,000’ in the Indian Peaks Wilderness (Colorado) with my sister. Who am I fooling? It was my first time climbing over 10,000’, 11,000’ and 12,000’ for that matter! The Mount Audubon summit alluded me, however. Not because of my hip or the biggest blister I’ve ever had on my foot (it was larger than my thumb). No. What got me was the elevation. I had less than a week to acclimatize. For a sea level dweller, that’s a big ask for a body. As we were on the last 100’ of Mount Audubon I was heaving to get a good breath and the rock scrambles near the peak required a lot of pushing and pulling in order to summit. I was so close, but… for my health… I had to turn around. But that’s a story I’ll get to later. It is one of humility and triumph. With incredible pictures.
Today I’m just trying to get back into the swing of the website and catch up on all the fun I had last summer, injury or none. Some details of my hikes are bound to escape me, but my goal is to give you the best armchair hiking experience you’ve had. So please be patient if my posts take a little more time than usual to compose. I am working on them!