My Feet Fucking Hurt

April 6, 2023 - Day 6

Mile 103.6-113.1 (9.5 miles)

The sunrise woke me up around 5:30, a glowing orange and yellow expanding out throughout the whole sky. I fell back asleep until 7 and by the time we were all up, packed and hiking, the sun was already hot.

Sunrise from bed

Wonder took off in front of us, she had to reach the road crossing to get her shuttle into Tucson to fly back home. Hambone and I followed shortly after, planning on saying our goodbyes to her at the trailhead.

Mess of the morning pack up

The more I hiked today, the more my feet hurt. Two huge blisters on each of my heels are really bothering me. I fell way behind and could see Hambone about a half a mile in front of me, trucking along. Seeing him effortlessly flying down the trail only irritated me more. I limped along, sun umbrella held high to hide me from the extreme heat. I caught up to him in a cactus patch where I saw him chatting with a mountain biker. 

When I reached him, he explained that the older man, named Ed, offered to take us to a grocery store to grab some more food since we were so low. I knew I should be grateful and excited, but really all I could think about was how bad my fucking feet hurt. The thought of going to a grocery store and then coming right back to trail to hike more this afternoon and evening made me want to cry. So we decided to just head into Tucson with Wonder and get a room for the night so I could rest them for the evening. 

Back at the trailhead, we thanked Ed for the offer and told him we actually were going to head into Tucson instead, to which he graciously offered to just give us all a ride there now. We still stopped at the grocery store but I couldn't even focus on all of the bright aisles full of good food. The pain and the heat severely diminished my hunger and nothing even looked close to appetizing besides bottles of juice. I grabbed some things without thinking, all I wanted to do was shower and lay in a cold room.

Ed dropped us all off at the La Quinta in Tucson. I cranked down the AC and tried to snap myself out of my bad mood. Hambone and I apologized to each other for being cranky and took full advantage of the big comfy bed before we even showered. Our sandy, dirty bodies stuck together in places but neither of us cared. After, I scrubbed myself in the shower and was soon settled in the big comfy chair soaking my poor tattered feet in epsom salt. Later I went on a mission to do laundry and talked to Mom on the phone for a while. Wonder came over to our room for a pizza party and we all split a 2 liter of Dr. Pepper. Before bed we squeezed her and said our goodbyes because she would be flying out early tomorrow morning.