Days 79-86
This morning Huey dropped us back off at The Doyle at 7 am, so we had some time to kill before the doctor opened. Nokey’s parents were coming in town today to say hi to him since they were on their way to NC for a vacation, but weren’t coming until about 2 pm. we went across the street to Goodies and ordered a cheap breakfast and ate. The food was great, but it was still pretty early. We decided to walk to the other end of town and hang out in a park until I could get into a doctors appointment. Nokey went down to The gas station for some Gatorades and came back with a big surprise: Wall-e! I hadn’t seen him since before the Shennandoahs! He was with Juan Solo and they were coming in town for a short resupply and hike out. We hung out for a while and then I went to my appointment. The diagnosis: acute and chronic bursitis lateral to the Achilles. I was given some localized pain patches and told to rest a few days. There isn’t much that can be done due to it being an overuse injury. I went back to The Doyle where Wall-e and Nokey were shooting pool and told them the news.

Nokey’s parents showed up close to 3 pm and we decided to jump in the car and go on vacation too. It gives me a chance to rest my foot and get us away from the trail. We are in a weird bubble of hikers at this point and the fun is kind of disappearing. We’re weary and exhausted from the constant beating on our bodies and a break is desparately needed. No thinking about the trail for 8 more days!