Yes, I kinda hurt myself a bit here and there on my recent road trip to the Grand Canyon, other parts of Arizona and Utah. The 8 mile hike down into the Grand Canyon from the Hilltop to Supai Village with 35+lbs. on my back. I have a great pair of hiking shoes from Teva. They've been to Korea, New Zealand, China and all over the U.S. But I guess all the hiking I've been doing over the past few months wore them down like a pair of old tires. I knew I couldn't replace them so close to the hike into the Grand Canyon onto the Havasupai Indian Reservation because the last thing I wanted was to break them in and get blisters. Well, I was doing fine until about the 6th mile. I could hardly walk the last mile. But I was not about to give up and just spend three days in the Supai Lodge. So we walked another 3+ miles a day. It hurt, but I have great pictures.

Next time I'm wearing Moleskins before I hike.

Below is my injury from Arches National Park. It was sunset up on the Delicate Arch and a couple new friends and I decided to stay after dark and do some night photography. The hike 1 - 1/2 miles downhill can be a bit treacherous if you're not careful, even with a headlamp. At some point, because my two new friends were walking a bit faster than I was comfortable with, my footing was so quick that I must've landed on some uneven rock on the mountain side. That's be to God I landed fist first into sand and my shin took the brunt of the fall. I was too tired to be embarrassed and said, "I'm okay, I'm okay.." and we just kept going. It wasn't until I tried to take my jeans off later that night at the hotel that it hurt like heck and it was hugely swollen. Oh, cool! At least nothing was broken.

It's kinda ugly-gross, but I'll always remember how hard core this last road trip was. :)

My Travel Injuries