R2R Rundown 12

Part 12
The Aftermath.

We'd stumbled out of the canyon well after the shuttles had stopped running. We called a taxi, but there were 30 or so people in our group alone waiting for one and the wait estimate was an hour and a half. Ick.

I text our leaders to let them know that we'd made it out safe and were waiting for a taxi. It was decided that because there were so many of us, he would just send the bus to pick everybody up. The bus arrived and we hobbled on. There was one group left in the canyon, we decided to wait for them to finish before heading back. They made it up just after 11 pm. We drove home exhausted and triumphant.

Upon reaching the hotel, I was too tired even to shower. I was starving but too tired to even think about chewing. I examined my blistered feet, (bad, but not as bad as anticipated,) text you, Dear Friend, and crawled into bed filthy and exhausted.



I did not sleep. At. All.

There was no position I could lay in that didn't hurt my feet. The sheets were too heavy on my blisters. I was famished. Ravenously hungry. And at one point I awoke to a pain that I can only assume was the result of my organs eating one another. The victory adrenaline was still coursing through my veins.

At 3:30 am I got up and somehow made it to the bathroom. I took a long, long, long shower. It felt amazing. I was super gross.

I got dressed and packed up my stuff.

At 5 am I was faced with a dilemma. I NEEDED FOOD. I wasn't sure if the hotel offered breakfast. The lobby was inexplicably located below ground. To reach it I would have to walk down the stairs from my room and across the parking lot. From there I had two choices, I could go up another flight of stairs to take the elevator down (up is WAY easier than down on sore legs), or walk down two flights of stairs to the lobby. There may or may not be food at the end of my journey.

The second option was to walk all the way across the parking lot then across the road to McDonalds. It seemed impossibly far away, like a tiny speck on the horizon, but I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that there would be food there.

I didn't even hesitate.

Antoline was up at this point, and she made the journey with me.

My legs, despite my best efforts, were barely functional. My brain said 'right leg step forward' but my leg seemed confused about what exactly it was that I was expecting it to do. My legs were so sore and exhausted that my gait was more 'drunken toddler' than 'exhausted hiker'. I was weaving slightly, back and forth. My calves were unbelievably tight, my knees were stiff and resisting the commands to bend.

Slowly but surely we made it across the road. We were rewarded with food. Sweet, glorious food. It didn't even matter that it wasn't good food. It was food. I was soooooooo happy.

We returned to the room, checked out and made it to the bus. Inexplicably, in a way that seemed to ignore the very laws of the universe, of physics, of biomechanics, some people from our group were out RUNNING. Jogging like they hadn't a care in the world. Like they hadn't just hiked a whopping 23.5 miles the day before. I scowled at them in disbelief. Then my disdain melted into awe. One day, one day I will be like them. Unaffected by distance and elevation. A monument to hard work. Yes, one day I too will conquer the canyon and waltz around the next morning as if it had been a mere cake walk.

I promptly passed out on the bus. I slept most of the ride home.

Somehow I made it to Dad's house, still coherent. I regaled him with my victory tales as best I could. I showed him all 600+ pictures I had taken. I collected my sweet dog. Drove home. And collapsed into my own bed.

I walked like a drunk for a couple of days. It was as though my legs had completely forgotten what walking was and were puzzled by the task. Tuesday I was at my most sore, and my knees were screaming at me. Wednesday all the pain from my blisters had vanished. By Thursday I was mostly better. My knees still whine a little at the end of the day, but I can take the stairs again without having to stop.

I miss the canyon every day.
It is on my mind constantly.
I can't wait to go back.