Bloody Socks

2 miles in to the hike and I peel of my shoes and socks to find bubbles forming on both of my heels. 2 miles in to the direct uphill portion of the 20 (or so) mile hike and I have blisters forming on my heels. Great.

There’s sweat running down my back and staining my white T-shirt and I can feel the skin on my heels being ripped off. Blisters forming, growing, and skin being ripped off. Cool.

My mom (thank God for that beautiful women) peels her socks off her own sweaty tired feet and hands them to me. We switch socks, and continue up the Pinnacles Trail in Big Bend.

Hot. It is so hot.

The trail takes us all day, and all of my water reserves are gone; .7 miles left to go and I’m out of water, the skin feels like it has been completely removed from my heels, and I start to run. I full out sprint back to my cabin. I run the rest of the trail. I HAVE GOT TO BE OFF THIS GOD FORSAKEN TRAIL. GET ME OFF THIS TRAIL.

I am in tears as I peel the once white socks, off my bloody heels. The socks are now an orangey-red and reek. They smell like something has died in these very socks, and it looks like it too.

The South Rim trail in Big Bend, with the added North East Rim trail, complete with detours came out to be about a 20 mile hike. 20 miles, round trip. 18 miles with blistered heals, and a .7 mile sprint back to the comfort of air conditioning. Big Bend claimed my pride, I am not as bad a** as I once believed. Thanks for putting me in my place.

If you’ve ever hiked with the wrong pair of boots you know how painful it can be. If you’ve ever hiked with the wrong pair of socks you know what blisters feel like. If you’ve ever hiked with the wrong pair of boots AND the wrong pair of socks than you know how painful it is, and you know what its like to have skin ripped off the size of quarters, and you know what it feels like when your blisters literally get blisters on top them. My blisters literally had blisters.

(I found out that I had been wearing a boot 2 sizes too big, and have since replaced them thanks to REI and the wonderful sales associate who brought me about 20 pairs of hiking boots to try on.)

*keep all of that in mind as you continue reading this post*

This summer I embarked on a road trip; complete with stops at Big Bend, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Taos, Antelope Canyon, The Painted Desert, The Grand Canyon and other places that I could probably right a 3,000 word blog post for, each.

But for the sake of your own sanity; and my own, I’ll try not to do that.

This road trip was a road trip of hikes, so many hikes. If you are planning a visit to the Grand Canyon; first off YAY FOR YOU, and if you’re not than you should start right after you finish reading this (and all of my other posts if you haven’t already). If you are planning a trip to the Grand Canyon I’ll let you in on a little secret; park rangers do actually know what they are talking about, and if they suggest not doing something I HIGHLY recommend that you don’t do it. LIke for example if you’re hiking down the South Kaibab trail at 3 in the afternoon in the dead heat of summer and you think that you have somehow transformed into superman and think that you can make it all the way down to the river and back in one day with one Ozarka bottle of water you are literally delusional and you need to go to a doctor and will need to if you attempt that.

If you feel that you are physically fit, and have serious experience on trails than I would highly highly recommend getting on the 6 mile round trip Grand View trail and getting down to the Horse Shoe Mesa. This trail is not for beginners y’all. Parts of the trail are covered by land slides and you have to climb up and over huge piles of rocks. Thus bringing me to the fact that basically the entire hike you are walking on a trail angled strait down on the side of a plateau. At one point of the trail you come to a section that once was trail but was knocked out by a land slide and the trail has become a 6 inch path bordering a drop that I’m not sure you could survive if you fell. A boot doesn’t fully fit on this portion of the trail, its too skinny. Not to mention the fact that it is this red dirt that crumbles and is definitely not sturdy. Despite all of those warnings, DO IT DO IT DO IT. It is exhilarating and completely worth the hike.

This photo is part of the trail that was blocked by a landslide

And this photo (does no justice) to show the majority of the trail, narrow and bordering a ledge.

If the description of that trail sounded like hell to you, made your butt pucker a little, or at any point your mouth fell open and you thought to yourself “oh heck no”, than definitely try out the Bright Angel Trail, it is well maintained and easier than the other two hikes previously mentioned (in my own opinion). As long as you don’t go down at night during Arizona’s monsoon season (who knew they even had one of those, right?) when storms blow in at random and consist of insane lightning and pounding rain that floods your tent, and force you to hide at the 3 mile house on the trail while you wait for the lightning to die down on the rim of the canyon so you don’t like, ya know, die.

Bright angel trail did, however re-open the blisters on my heels and I hiked the last quarter mile or so barefoot.

While in Arizona we had the opportunity to visit Antelope Canyon and wow is all I have to say. Just wow. If you haven’t already seen pictures of this magical place go Google pictures now (mine doesn’t do it much justice).. we’ll wait…

Done?

Awesome.

Is that not magical looking? It so is, it took my breath away, literally completely took all of the air of my lungs. It is definitely worthy the reservation and the price (which includes a Navajo reservation fee as that is where the canyon is located).

As for me, I recommend the 10 am tour of the Upper Canyon. #yourewelcome

However, be forewarned that this tourist spot has blown up recently and it can definitely get crowed and a little hectic in the canyon.

Places also not to miss while in Arizona/ in the Grand Canyon area:

Lake Powell

Horseshoe Bend

Navajo Bridge

Lee’s Ferry

Kaibab National Forest

Too much happened on this trip for me to recap here in this space, and I don’t feel like crying from reminiscing; Like hiking through the Kaibab National Forest and stumbling upon a herd of Elk and being within 200 feet of them, hearing their calls and silently crying along side my boyfriend at the beauty we were witnessing. Or when later on that day we saw a Bald Eagle and watched two hawks swoop down on the eagle in attempt to fight our nations bird. (completely amazing)

This trip was truly the road trip of a lifetime and I am so grateful that I got to spend it with my three favorite people.

GO OUT AND ADVENTURE PEOPLE. QUIT WAITING. QUIT MAKING EXCUSES.

But make sure you are prepared for what you are getting yourself into.. aka the right hiking boots and socks. Know your own abilities, and know your limitations. Always be prepared, no nix that, always be OVER prepared.

That is my advice for the day.