It’s what hikers call it – zero mileage. We had to book another night at the Hyde Away because Cliff ended up with macerated feet. Yeah, I didn’t know either – had to look it up. It’s also known as “trench foot,” a condition resulting from lengthy immersion in water. You know when you’re in the tub for a while and your finger tips get wrinkly? Well that’s mild maceration. If you hike up and down mountains in wet boots for oh, say, 18 hours or so, you are comfortably beyond the “mild” category. The skin gets so soft that it becomes sort of like an uncooked pie crust – right down to the possibility of stretching it too thin over the fruity contents as to break and form holes. Then when it dries, it cracks and peels. Apparently it’s an issue for ultramarathoners as well, as you can see in this link. Fair warning – the pics are pretty horrific so if you’ve just Chipotle’d or something, you might want to skip a click here.
Cliff’s feet were not this bad, but they were on the way, and he spent the zero day mostly in bed, or hobbling around on his heels when he had to get up (to play giant Jenga for example as you can see in the vid). So, as was the case with my ankle, the whole trip was once again in peril – under the sword of hiking Damocles if you will.
I hitchhiked into town (again, first car I saw – 3 kids who all live “in the valley dude!!” and were headed to a fave swimming hole – took me for a thru hiker right away despite no pack) for supplies and burritos at Mad Taco. Big plug for that place – yum yum margaritas while you wait and a kitchen that plays punk and ska at proper decibel levels and shouts out the lyrics while they cook at a corresponding bpm pace. There was a postcard on the bar commemorating the 1981 Clash shows at Bonds, and I said to the waitress that I went to 2 of those shows. She told me to “wait there,” ran into the kitchen, and brought out the cook who made me out to be a B lister for having been present. Shook my hand vigorously, saying “respect man!” I said yo I wasn’t on stage I was just going to see a band I liked, but his trouble squaring how old I had to be to have attended with my appearance was a nice augment to the Cuervo buzz!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clash_at_Bonds_International_Casino
Upon return to the Inn, Cliff was still hurting, rendering the rest of the trip questionable. You’ll have to read the next post!
The back yard of the Hyde Away Inn in Waitsfield. Pleasant for anyone; heaven for thru hikers!
We have seen the enemy, and it’s wet boots
Done and dusted – continue on reverse…
Waiting for my food at Mad Taco. I was happier than I look here.
Another satisfied customer. And the bearded guy looks chill too. In the below, I thought I had Cliff on this one!
Long Trailer 