LEJOG day 54: Rowardennan to Ardlui
I've sprained my ankle.
I misjudged a scramble, thought I had hold of a tree, and went right over on my left ankle so hard I couldn't believe I didn't hear a crack. The pain was instant and left me speechless. Anthony (thank God I wasn't on my own) had to haul me up by my backpack to get my feet back underneath me.
The first, golden role of hiking: do not take your boots off. So we sat for a while, I chowed down all the different types painkiller I had in my bag, and with alternative options very thin on the ground, we walked on. It got less painful as we went - possibly thanks to the painkillers kicking in - and I covered the 2.5 miles we had left, but now I'm in my room and the boots had to come off to shower, it's swelling and turning purple in front of my eyes despite the ice pack and elevation.
The first thing you're told if you arrive in A&E with this kind of injury- and lots of people do- is to rest it. But if I can walk tomorrow, I'm getting out that door and onto that trail, because I refuse to give up unless I'm forced to at this point.
Up until then, everything had been going pretty nicely. I had a great night in the youth hostel, the food was great, I set off under clouds but with no rain forecast and I'd happily walked along admiring the views far more than when the rain pouring yesterday. I accidentally took the harder path - I'd meant to stick to the high forest track rather than the scrambly path along the Loch shore - thanks to a very unambiguous sign which failed to raise appropriate suspicion in my mind.
I'd arrived at the Inversnaid vaguely considering at least a cup of tea and a bathroom trip at midday, to be hailed by Anthony, sitting at a table outside with a couple of Belgians, stereotypically halfway through a pint. Decision made, I joined them for an equally stereotypical pot of tea and a soup-and-sandwich lunch, and that's how Anthony I happened to be walking together when I decided to try to break my own neck.
Obviously, I got the ferry.
Distance walked: 11.71 miles
Time taken: 4h37
Percentage completed: 76.6%
Miles left to go: 264
Miles per £1 of boot: 6.07
Days since I was last rained on: 1
Lunch: tomato soup and a ham salad sandwich
Last night's B&B: Rowardennan Youth Hostel: man this youth hostel beats the pants off every English youth hostel I've ever stayed in. There were multiple great dinner options, the beds weren't made of plastic, I got two pillows, the towel was a proper size and fluffy... Spectacular
YES I HAD A COOKIE. Gotta keep your strength up with this hiking lark
I misjudged a scramble, thought I had hold of a tree, and went right over on my left ankle so hard I couldn't believe I didn't hear a crack. The pain was instant and left me speechless. Anthony (thank God I wasn't on my own) had to haul me up by my backpack to get my feet back underneath me.
The first, golden role of hiking: do not take your boots off. So we sat for a while, I chowed down all the different types painkiller I had in my bag, and with alternative options very thin on the ground, we walked on. It got less painful as we went - possibly thanks to the painkillers kicking in - and I covered the 2.5 miles we had left, but now I'm in my room and the boots had to come off to shower, it's swelling and turning purple in front of my eyes despite the ice pack and elevation.
The first thing you're told if you arrive in A&E with this kind of injury- and lots of people do- is to rest it. But if I can walk tomorrow, I'm getting out that door and onto that trail, because I refuse to give up unless I'm forced to at this point.
Up until then, everything had been going pretty nicely. I had a great night in the youth hostel, the food was great, I set off under clouds but with no rain forecast and I'd happily walked along admiring the views far more than when the rain pouring yesterday. I accidentally took the harder path - I'd meant to stick to the high forest track rather than the scrambly path along the Loch shore - thanks to a very unambiguous sign which failed to raise appropriate suspicion in my mind.
I'd arrived at the Inversnaid vaguely considering at least a cup of tea and a bathroom trip at midday, to be hailed by Anthony, sitting at a table outside with a couple of Belgians, stereotypically halfway through a pint. Decision made, I joined them for an equally stereotypical pot of tea and a soup-and-sandwich lunch, and that's how Anthony I happened to be walking together when I decided to try to break my own neck.
Obviously, I got the ferry.
Distance walked: 11.71 miles
Time taken: 4h37
Percentage completed: 76.6%
Miles left to go: 264
Miles per £1 of boot: 6.07
Days since I was last rained on: 1
Lunch: tomato soup and a ham salad sandwich
Last night's B&B: Rowardennan Youth Hostel: man this youth hostel beats the pants off every English youth hostel I've ever stayed in. There were multiple great dinner options, the beds weren't made of plastic, I got two pillows, the towel was a proper size and fluffy... Spectacular
Ouch. Hope you can go on!! Fingers crossed
ReplyDeleteHow many pain-killers can you carry? Seriously take care and don't make things worse.
ReplyDelete