Bone Bruises...Light isn't always right! (The Trap Dike)

(editors note: this has been sitting in my drafts folder for 14 years....time to unleash it, I'm publishing it with the current date but will archive it to Aug 1, 2012)

Group ascending the Trap Dike in the Adirondacks High Peaks. This is a Class 3 (with about 10ft of class 4) scramble

A few weeks ago I did a scramble in the Adirondacks (Trap Dike). I chose to wear running shoes because I knew the group would be moving fast and the approach to the start of the scramble was fairly flat and fairly soft on the feet. Moreover, I knew I'd be swimming, rather than hiking, the most foot unfriendly section of the hike in (Avalanche Pass).

That blue dot in the water is me swimming Avalanche Lake with my pack and gear in a drybag. I swam 400yds in under 10 minutes, and was dressed by the time the hikers arrived

However, I didn't really consider the descent, which of course is where the majority of the impact is on any hike. During the course of the ascent, I switched to my sticky rubber approach shoes (sort of a climbing shoe merged with a running shoe). These are a little small on me, but work perfectly for the ascents, where a tighter shoe offers more control and climbs better. These shoes are very thin to begin with, and my foot got tender under the ball on the ascent of the 3rd and 4th class terrain, but the superficial hot spot turned into deeper pain by the end of the 13 mile day. 

What went wrong? The bottom line, I was carrying 15-20lbs on my back, I was descending a fairly typical northeastern rock hop, I didn't have my trekking poles and I was wearing running shoes designed for light duty trail running on easy trails. 

The end result, a bone bruise on the ball of the foot. I followed up this with a 20 mile weekend in the mountains, and a 30 mile weekend on two of America's toughest trails. Each hike it became more evident that what was wrong wasn't just superficial. 

I admire people who are svelte and nimble enough to get away with ultralight shoes, while hiking along with little or no equipment, but that isn't me. I'm always prepared on the trail, I'm self sufficient. Besides the only way to prepare to carry 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 or more pounds in the mountains is to load up and go hiking. 

Nevertheless, it's ironic that I have solved the issues of my musculoskeletal inflammatory/overuse injuries in the last 8 months by eating a moderately to highly anti-inflammatory diet, only to be back on the injured list with a bone bruise I could have avoided. 

Hopefully someone reading this blog can learn from my own stupidity, which is definitely not that off the mark of what we are fed on a daily basis from the media gurus of the mountain world. After all, just because magazines make a fortune telling you how everything you own is heavy and overbuilt and should be replaced, doesn't mean it is. Sometimes a few extra ounces or a little extra bulk or a little more durability is worth it in the long run.

Under the Gunks...5 1/2 minutes you aren't getting back!

It's been a busy 2 months dating back to mid April. Lots of trips and trip reports on the back burner, but I'd rather be outside than blogging about being outside, so like all of 2008's missing trip reports, these might end up in the permanent incomplete file.

If you follow this blog, then you know that we've been working with Colvin to get him climbing at a competent level. This summer is mostly focused on getting him climbing 3rd and 4th class rock scrambles with or without moderate assistance. In a few weeks we'll start working on vertical rock descents with him on rappel.

This month he's done his hardest single day hike, 18 miles and 12,000ft gain and lost, and his hardest scrambling to date. The hiking was no problem, but the scrambling has been a heck of a challenge for him, though he is making hella progress as he continues to be pushed beyond his comfort level. Last year he was terrified of going above treeline into the wind, this winter he was first to ascend no matter how ferocious it was. With a little luck he'll get his confidence on rock this summer.

The video is "Under the Gunks", and it pretty much covers the underground half of our day in the Gunks. Colvin also climbed a 3rd class scramble to the top of the Shawangunk Ridge earlier in the day. Some photos of that more scenic half of the trip will follow.

Although it's probably 5.5 minutes you'll want back, chances are it's more interesting than whatever you were gonna do with that 5.5 minutes anyway.


Under the Gunks from Mountain Visions on Vimeo.
After spending years climbing the clean white cliff faces of the Gunks, we decided to mix it up and try a convoluted loop over and under the Shawangunk Ridge in the Hudson Valley of New York State.




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