July 25: A number of days ago, we were on our way to Scipio, UT and I noticed a slight ache in the armpit of my right side. It was not unbearable, but rather, a minor annoyance. Tending to it as best I could while walking and pushing the buggy was all I could really do and I figured nothing more would become of it. Well, the morning of the 25th started out with a clear view of the Sevier Lake bed- a huge basin now filled with nothing but dust and sand. The morning sun shined on the lake bed giving it the illusion of being filled with water as the waves of heat reflected off the near white sand. While packing up the camping gear, a little golden scorpion emerged from the shade of the ground tarp. Overnight, it had curled up beneath Jakes tent to avoid the intense heat of the upcoming day. As it walked off of the blue tarp, it seemed to vanish with the tint of the surrounding earth. As we left the view of the lakebed and watched as this desert critter crawled away, we started walking up a large hill to what the map defines as Skull Rock Pass. The pain under my arm extending in periodic bursts of dull pain beneath my shoulder blade was a little bit more aggravating today, yet still bearable. I tried to avoid overuse of my right arm, but as I made my way up the pass, a huge sharp pain seemed to rip its way through the anterior aspect of my right chest and beneath my arm. A little ache turned excruciating and after pushing the fully loaded stroller the rest of the way up the pass I sat down to ponder what I could do. I first took a couple ibuprofen to try and reduce some of the inflammation and following this, I had Jake tie my reflective vest around my arm and over my shoulder to act as a sling. After a brief break we moved forward and I managed to push the buggy solely with my left arm. A mile or so past where we took the break, Jake remembered that Nick had left him his head scarf to borrow for the remainder of the walk before he left in Durango. I quickly exchanged it for the vest to use as a sling and it worked great! Nick, you indirectly helped me tremendously today! I eventually got the hang of pushing my gear with one arm and completed 31 miles by the early evening; however, before our final destination was reached at mile 24, we had 1 more pass to conquer through the Confusion Mountain Range via Kings Canyon. At 8% grade over 8 miles, a one armed push of the cart up this monster was not going to be easy...Luckily, there was a plan! Taking a few bungee cords and carabiners, we devised a contraption where one end hooked onto my cart and the other, to Jakes belt loop. This allowed Jakes pulling power to take the place of my right arm and before we knew it, the summit had been conquered and we set up camp in the midst of our final Hoorah in Utah! July 26: Into Nevada!- I went to sleep with a bind around my chest to keep from injuring myself further in what I personally believe to be a strain/tear in one of my intercostal muscles. I originally thought it was one of my shoulder or pectoral muscles, but realizing that the bulk of the pain comes with turning my body around, pushing, and inspiration, I believe it to be intercostal. I continued today with the sling, did a few morning stretches and made way to the Nevada border in relatively high spirits despite the situation. There was one moment where I even laughed to myself during the final 13 mile stretch. I could see the next mountain range looming beyond the Utah/Nevada border and for some reason found it humorous to think of pushing all this gear across the upcoming state with one arm; however, though determined enough to do so, it was not on the list of things to do on this walk. With this being said, we made it to the border and into the Pacific time zone (cant really believe it!). Across from the border is a lone motel, gas station, and casino that we are definitely going to take advantage of. With the current injury at hand, we are also going to spend an extra day here before venturing towards Ely, NV. I want to thank Betty and Nikki who met us on the border. The mission was close to their hearts and they gave us some money to help with upcoming expenses! July 26: The Injury will probably be pretty painful for awhile. These things can take a long time to heal, but I have been icing it and resting for the entire day. I probably wont talk about it much more after this post as I do not want to make a big deal of it, but I will continue to tend to it as I make way through these final 2 states. 600 miles to go!
Posted on: Sun, 27 Jul 2014 21:39:50 +0000