The Trip

Son

As you know I have been having a problem with my right foot. Very sore when
I walk. It is on the ball of my foot. I have been seeing my foot doctor for
4 month and he sent me to therapy and still no luck in fixing the foot
problem. I needed to know how my foot would feel on a hike with my full
pack. Last Friday I picked a trail about 8 miles round trip. My pack weighed
in at 49 lbs. I was able to walk about 11/2 miles before I was forced to
turn back due to pain in my foot.
I saw my doctor yesterday and he feels there is a tear in a ligament on the
bottom of my foot. If this is so then it is a 3-5 month fix. He feels that
if I did any hiking without letting the foot heal would cause more damage
that would never heal.
The bottom line is this. We cannot do the trip this year. I am so sorry
about not doing the trip this year. If all goes well we could do a trip in
September or October. I still want to do the trip but not this year. We have
worked real hard to get ready. With all the research and planning done it
should not be too hard to get ready for next year. We could even make the
trip a little longer.
The Gregory Palisade Backpack was real comfortable. Once I got it adjusted
right it felt great. I highly recommend the pack. I also recommend the use
of trekking poles. Going uphill or down they made it much easier and safer.
Going down hill I adjusted the poles longer for the added support. They were
able to give me two more legs that stabilized the downhill trek. Going
uphill the additional legs gave me the ability to relax my legs. Even
walking on level ground helped me as the poles took some weight off the
legs. You do use different muscles in your arms so a person should walk with
the poles before a long hike. I spent a good month with the poles when I
took my three dogs on their daily hike in the woods.

Dad