[Nevertheless] It Was Worth It

After missing a turn on our first hike of the year last week, I somehow thought things would go a bit more smoothly on our second hike. Choosing an easy hike that was something like 1.3 miles, I felt confident that, even though I was having major neck issues and not feeling too great, I would enjoy the hike, the time with friends and family, and the view. 

Arriving at Hurd State Park, we discovered the gates were closed. Looking at the park map while we were waiting for friends to arrive, we realized this added a long walk down the park road to a different trail than we had originally planned on. On the map, it didn't seem too far. The trail would lead us to our original choice, so I didn't think the added distance would be too problematic. 

Starting out, the children were playing with sticks and ice and water while the adults had some nice conversation. Arriving at the trailhead, it was much steeper than I'd envisioned. When we began to scramble up some rocks, I started to get concerned, but a nice break on a huge boulder brought needed sustenance and rest.

Wending our way along the peak, we stopped every once in a while to take photos. Arriving at beautiful views of the river below, we stopped to soak in the beauty. Two of the teens were getting cold and impatient for our descent to the van, so I started back down the original, familiar path with them. 

Getting to the road that led back to our van, I realized we were around a mile away, not the quarter to half-mile my husband had assumed. By this time, we had more than doubled the length of our hike already, and my body was not happy. We stopped to rest after I nearly passed out mid-crutch.

At this point I texted my husband to let him know I was not ok. I didn't want to let on to the girls and panic them, but I needed someone to be aware. Once I felt ok enough to go on, we made our way slowly back to the van, where I chugged water with a salt/electrolyte tablet dissolved in it and took a stress dose of prednisone. I was shaky and dizzy, and ever-thankful when my husband arrived back at the van. 

It was another hour until we made our way home after dropping off one teen and picking up two more, and by that time, I thankfully felt very much improved.

It was a difficult, painful, scary hike for me in many ways. There are many things I could have done to make it a better, safer experience, but the thing with chronic pain is that you don't always think logically when you're in a flare and are so used to pushing through, often you don't realize when you shouldn't. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful hike with great company - a wonderful time with friends and family. It was worth the pain and sickness to be able to take in the beauty of nature and have a good time with friends.