[at-l] Back from a first real hike

[lturneo@essex.ac.uk (Turner, Laura)]

Hi -- OK, walking in Britain is pretty wussy compared to walking at home (p=
ub meals, Guinness, the option of youth hostelling whenever you feel a drop=
 of rain and of course no bears though I did get mobbed by a flock of sheep=
 at feeding time) but after 256 miles I got a feel for the real thing I thi=
nk.

AT-l probably isn't the right place for a trip report on a British walking =
trail, but if anyone is curious I've written one and can send it out privat=
ely.  The most amazing thing is that we were caught just north of Yorkshire=
 in one of the worst flash flood situations in recent history.  The day of =
most of the rain I was walking the bank of the river Tees for eight miles. =
 Usually you can walk across the Tees it's so tame, but when I went through=
 it was a huge muddy monster.  The waterfalls were awesome and lots of plac=
es the trail was under water and you had to make your way along the hills o=
ver the water line.  It was incredible if a bit scary.

Anyhow, one thing I've figured out is that my stuff is too big.  My tent is=
 nice and roomy to be in (plus easier to keep dry since things don't touch =
the sides) but it's bulky and heavy to carry.  My pack was so big I got com=
ments on it constantly although you get conditioned to the weight really fa=
st.  And, typical female, I brought too many clothes.  I have three general=
 questions:

1) I got into the habit of taking an ibuprofen tablet every morning before =
hiking which helped ease stiff muscles.  Is this a bad habit?  My thought i=
s that if something really hurts so that I shouldn't be walking on it, the =
ibuprofen won't mask it.  Any thoughts?

2) I took a can of waterproofing and sprayed my boots every morning they we=
re dry enough.  They held out pretty well considering the bogginess of the =
trail but I got tons of questions about whether the stuff really works.  Do=
 others spray their boots regularly?  The stuff is reasonably heavy so if I=
 could leave it, I might.

3) And I did end up having problems with my right ankle.  I can walk on it =
no problem without weight -- I could have kept going in fact, but I don't k=
now for how long. I was icing it when I got the chance and used an ankle su=
pport and was pretty careful the last days about where I put my foot down. =
 It's definitely a weak spot.  The guy I was walking with had a similar pro=
blem with his Achilles.  How do people usually deal with problematic knees =
and ankles on the trail?  Do problems like that ever "go away" like most so=
re muscles after a while?  Is it a question of conditioning?

Sorry this is long.  It was an absolutely amazing trip but it's good to be =
home,

Laura