RamSham: First visit to hospital for this year’s hiking

Cane hiked for first three days, this past Monday thru Wednesday, however something was not right. He was experiencing “wardrobe malfunction”. Not like what you might picture of what occurred to Timberlake/Jackson episode, but it had to do with his boots. He wore his boots from last year, but for some reasons, either his feet grew a bit bigger or his boots shrank a bit. He was not hiking comfortably, so his toes kept “beating up” for miles and miles.

Yesterday, we took a zero day to re-organize our things and wash our clothing. Cane and I went to the outfitters for Cane to buy a new pair of boots. He got a Keen boots. When we got back home, Cane said his big toes (yeah, both) were throbbing and he was wondering if he should seek medical advice. Raffle Queen’s husband told him that he went through same thing and he conducted his own medical fix by drilling a hole in his toenail to relieve some pressure. Cane thought he could give the drill a try on his injured toenail. However, as soon as he saw the hand-cranking drill, he decided to decline and opted for ER and be in professional medical care. I thought it was a smart move. We, Raffle Queen, Cane, and I, went to ER last night. They made a hole in his toenail by burning a hole with special instrument. It was so cool! The pressure relieved at last. Raffle Queen got to take the special instrument home for “just in case” situation. LOL

I experienced a minor “wardrobe accessories malfunction” – my orthotics were giving me some troubles (hotspots, blisters) on both sides of my feet and toes for first 2 days. On first day, I tried to hike with new trail sneakers, but my feet were swishing all over inside the shoes with orthotics. I gave up on trail sneakers. On 2nd day, I hiked with a new pair of Salmon boots that I wore last year, but with orthotics in it. It gave me hellish hiking in the morning. At lunch, I took my orthotics out and put the insoles back into the boots. I applied moleskin all over my feet. Ahhhh, it felt much better hiking with insoles. Looks like my orthotics issue is put on hold for now.

Today, Raffle Queen, Cane and I hiked around 7 miles in cold and rainy weather. Cane felt good with his boots and healing toe with “tiny” hole on toenail. It looked like his “wardrobe malfunction” issue may put to rest at last.