Day 18: Shin Splints!

 Day 18: 31 miles

    It was evident that Peter’s sore shin was morphing into full blown shin splints. This was made evident by the wincing and limping after a long morning descent. He laid down on a picnic table and I attempted to do some release to his calf and shin. Other hikers walked by and asked how they could get in on the action. We both have suffered from shin splints on thru-hikes before and taping it always seems to provide a bit of relief. We only had so much food with us and we had to make it to our next re-supply so hanging out and letting it heal where we were wasn't exactly an option. I watched Joanna Ford work through shin splints while still hiking 50-60km a day on the GDT last year so I knew it could be done! 

    It was a beautiful day and we just tried to enjoy it as best we could. Hiking uphill felt good for Peter and we just took it a bit slower on the descents. We stopped and ate lunch on this beautiful bluff, albeit a little windy! 

    Later in the afternoon we came across this beautiful lake, appropriately named ‘Blue Lake’, and I couldn’t resist a swim! The blueberry bushes were plentiful today and we made sure to take advantage of natures anti-oxidants! 

    At some point this day we were made aware of an upcoming town called Trout Lake. It seemed to be the talk of the trail and everyone kept asking us what shuttle we were getting on. I’m assuming that it wasn’t on our radar because its 13 miles off trail. We typically didn’t plan to go into towns that weren’t within a few km of the trail. We took some time to research this shuttle that everyone kept mentioning. A group of local volunteers rotates through a pick up and drop off schedule that runs 4 times a day, everyday. There is no cost to hikers but donations are encouraged. Once we found out there was real food to be had we were sold! Also, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to give Peter’s shin a rest. We put in a pretty long day this day so as to put ourselves as close to the pick up location as possible as the first shuttle arrived at 830am. 

    We arrived at camp quite late. There was just enough daylight to wash ourselves off in the creek before settling into the tent for the night. We were still on a nighttime routine of watching one Netflix episode per night. I think we were on criminal minds at this point in the trip. I looked forward to that 45 minutes at the end of each day. We had earbuds (not wireless) that we shared so as not to disturb the other campers. One in Peter’s left ear and one in my right ear. Sometimes one of us would fall asleep but typically we were pretty engaged with the show. We both found it a great way to unwind at the end of each day. 

Next up: Trout Lake! 

Marathon and Pole Vault