Slow Motion
For the sake of health, restoration, and knee preservation, I’ve decided to divide my next two days into three – thus building in an entire extra day before reaching Willamette Pass. This means three sub-20-mile days in a row, and a lot of free time on the trail.
Sounds good in theory, but it’s a big challenge to slow down that much, even for just a couple of days, after averaging 26 miles/day over the last month. It was as much as I could stand to stop after only 17.7 miles today, having spent the entire day in self-enforced slow motion – especially since the trail was flat and easy, with my inner racecar driver aching to push twice as far.
I did see my second bear of the trip this afternoon, a big black one which ambled across the trail right in front of me. And, though I hit a couple miles of big snowdrifts over the trail near Mount Thielsen, that section wasn’t nearly as bad as recent reports had indicated – I didn’t even need my GPS, much less traction spikes. Pshaw.
Hi Noah,
Glad you’re back and taking care of the knee. Something else you can try is when you’re near running water at rest breaks putting your legs up to your knees in the cold water….I imagine it’s near ice cold…
Take care,
Erin
When you said “Self-Enforced Slow Motion”, I couldn’t help but think of the 6 Million Dollar Man and that repetitive metallic clankey Sci-Fi sound effect they would play when he ran fast, but was shown in slow motion. So, when your moving slower you must be noticing new things, Pictures in the Clouds, Stopping to smell the bear poop… errr Roses, Savoring a few fresh berries? I’d guess you did something with all that extra time, besides walking slow? Fill us in, Enquiring minds want to know! I spent the day finishing some Carpentry, Painting, and Watering the Garden (It’s been a hot one down here today). Enjoy the Elevation and Snowdrifts!
Take care of that Knee, and best wishes for making the best of the slower pace,
AnonyMoose