We were probably still about two miles from the car when I finally caught up to Chris sitting on the side of the trail, skis off, waiting for me.
'My feet hurt' I stated.
'Do you want to take your boots off and put your feet in the creek?' Chris asked.
I declined and kept slogging knowing that once I took my boots off, they weren't going back on for a number of days. I've been skiing the same boots exclusively for the past three years and after a superb boot-fit at Neptune Mountaineering when I first got them, I've had zero issues with them. But I guess I've never done a 15+ mile flat slog in them before either. Funny things happen with boots and feet on flat ground and torn up feet are the number one reason people don't finish the Elk Traverse. I now understand why.
We'd toured far back Cement Creek with the hope of reaching the crest of Trail 400 by tracing what is one of our favorite rides in the summer. Starting the tour hungry, I immediately found myself grumpy about my feet which were starting to complain from the get-go. But I ate, blaming my bad attitude towards my feet on my hangries. With food in my stomach, my attitude improved, my feet did not.
We slogged our way to the base of Hunter Hill where we stopped for a snack and evaluated the options. We debated following the trail up the valley to the pass, we debated trying to climb Crystal Peak. I admitted that my food and motivation levels probably weren't going to get me to either of those destinations but I was more than willing to start climbing Hunter, and when I got tired of climbing, we could turn around and slog back home.
Turns out, the second giant, aspen-shaking whoomph was more that enough to spook me. Although we were on a 15 degree slope, I made the official call of making the day an official Anti-shred day so we ripped skins and make our dozen turns back down to the valley floor.
My pity party started almost immediately on the slog back. Knowing I still had at least two hours in my boots, I reverted to my best coping method: It could always be worse. So I thought back to the times my feet have hurt worse: Our Rollins Pass Traverse, CTR in 2010, a dozen rides where my feet froze solid and then painfully thawed in the shower. The thoughts didn't make my feet feel any better, but it was plenty entertaining to think back to all the stupid stuff that I've done.
When I finally pulled my boots off back at the house...well, let's just say I won't be skiing for a few days. I've got some pretty impressive holes in my heels. Whoops. All in the name of training...or trying to figure out how I'm going to ski 40 miles in 24 days.
Recipe of the Day: Tuna Loaf
Normally I have a tailwind home and I get home in about 35 minutes. Today, I had a headwind and since I only worked in the morning, had a glorious 45 minutes to think about what I was going to conjure up for lunch from a fridge that was startlingly empty. Did I mention that I was starving? I ended up with something that tasted good enough that Chris ate some, so I guess it's good enough to post here. It wasn't the prettiest meal, but I'm all about taste over looks.
Ingredients: Can o' tuna, 2 eggs, mustard, pile of veggies, ground flax seeds
Directions: Coarsely food process all the ingredients together. Put in a pyrex pan and bake for 25 minutes at 350F.
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