Most of you already know that on day 2 of our expedition, after a gruelling day of slow snowshoe trudging in sugar snow, we decided to hike out to a road, scrap plan A and come up with an alternative. This turned out to be the right decision not only because there was no way we were going to make our distances but also because, on day 3, I woke up with creaking achilles tendons. Like unoiled hinges, everytime I took a step I'd feel them painfully struggle to elongate. Turns out, this is a classic sign of Achilles Tendinitis which, without proper rest and rehabilitation, can lead to chronic achilles problems or a ruptured achilles. Yikes, no thanks!
I haven't talked about my injury until now because I wasn't sure the extent of the problem and whether or not it would impact our overall trip. We had already made the call to switch to biking and my physio gave me the go-ahead. She told me "If you bike with the center of your foot on the pedal then you should be fine to keep riding. A change in activity is sometimes just as good as full rest."
For the most part biking went great. Apart from the odd ache after a long days of riding and one instance of minor creaking, I saw significant improvement. After 5 weeks of biking I wasn't experiencing any pain at all. Unfortunately, when I started to try to train for our hiking section by doing more frequent day hikes, I was quickly reminded that my Achilles were not yet fully healed. Despite my hopes that I would be good to go by the time we reached Canada and start hiking on July 10th, it became obvious that that was just not going to happen.
It was hard to come to terms with the fact that my body needed a break. I was so excited to get hiking! It was made harder by the fact that I knew two weeks might not be enough time for me to recover fully, further impacting our trip. Thank goodness for Heather, who was supportive the entire time, gave me space to figure out what I needed, and embraced the idea of hiking alone until I could rejoin her.
I came up with yet another new plan. I would make up for the distance I would be missing hiking by adding on a few days of biking. That way I could still complete the Y2Y traverse. I biked from the Canadian border to Invermere where I met back up with Heather who had gotten a ride there after our border crossing. We spent a few days together and I got to be introduced to a new part of the Kootenays as well as to Heather's welcoming and playful friend group. On May 9th we said our goodbyes, Heather headed to Waterton and I headed North to visit a friend and put my feet up.
It has now been three weeks since Heather and I parted ways with the hopes that our paths would come back together on the trail. Sadly, as Heather explaines in her own blog post, she is now also injured.
Mt Assiniboine overlooking Marvel Lake. The prefect place to write that blog post you have been avoiding.
I am writing this post on the shore of Marvel Lake in Banff National Park. I am here doing day hikes and a few overnights to test my Achilles. I have felt the odd twinge here and there but haven't felt any lasting inflammation. We will see what the next week brings and I will keep you posted on my plans. For now I just feel lucky to be here watching a loon pass over the glassy reflection of Mt Assiniboine!
Much love, Amaya
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