20 miles and counting...

Dad and I are trying to get ready for the Paria hike, so we went on a 20 mile walk on Saturday. We took off at about 5:30 in the morning...it was much colder than we thought it would be, so after the first 4 miles we stopped back by the house and got long sleeves and gloves (those were for me). We were walking at a pretty good pace for the first 9 miles and then dad's stride kicked in and off he went. There is no way I can keep up with that! His legs are just way to long for me =) The last 10 miles I pretty much walked alone...I could see dad up ahead for a little while then he was gone. I felt pretty good for the first 10 miles and then my heals started hurting. I had a couple of blisters to begin with, but I had put mule skin on them and thought I would be good! Boy was that a mistake! I stopped one time to take some rocks out of my shoes, and the mule skin slipped off the blister! OUCH! By the time I got home I had a blister on my left foot the sized of a golf ball! It took me about 5 hours and 25 mins. to complete the 20 miles. When I was walking down our street I could see dad sitting on the tail gate of the truck waiting for me. That was a sight for sore eyes ( or should I say sore feet).

Well I learned some valuable lessons...Don't leave home without any supplies to fix blisters, wear shoes that fit ( dad has been telling me for months to buy new shoes!) and don't try to keep up with dad!

I will be getting new shoes today, because we are going on another long walk this weekend...22 miles I believe. Even though I'm a little sore, I'm really glad that we did it. Now I will be prepared to walk the canyon!