This was my view this morning, I will copy another full size version of it at the bottom of the post just so you can get a comprehension of the grandiose nature of it. I awoke to this knowing I would be descending into that canyon with the huge rock face hanging over me. I was super charged and super motivated after a great nights sleep. My only lingering fear was of my Achilles, this was a two day walk into the higher Pyrenees, no shops, no refuges.... No help. It was a make or break decision but my foot felt good. I went up and downstairs a couple of times and felt OK. It felt a little stiff but that was no different from any other days. We had breakfast and decided to go for it. This could be a 10 - 12 hour day today with a lot of ascent and descent.
As we set off across the car park and towards the trail head the above photo was my view, it was jaw dropping. I was excited! We finished crossing the car park and hit the trail. Not five meters into it I felt a searing pain followed by a lack of energy in my calf. Although it was stronger pain than yesterday I just thought it was because my Ibuprofen and Paracetamol for the morning had not kicked it. I also had a bad pain in my back but that had been ever present since day one. I stopped for a moment to let the pain pass. As I started walking again another pain came in my foot, like someone holding a burning match to my heal. It was that moment my calf lost almost all its power. I realised there was a problem I told David and Helen to continue on, they had a long day and it was only a short distance back to the camping. As I hobbled along with the odd glance back I was gutted. All those bad days, all those crappy rolling hills (Still steep but not like a mountain). It was all for nothing. At this moment I really wasn´t sure of the injury. I had a serious Achilles problem in the past but it was from over stretching and working myself too hard. It just didn´t feel right though. When I arrived back to the camping I took a coffee and after that tried to walk again. It was OK but i was hobbling a little still but the jarring pain had gone.
As I worked my way through the camping looking for a staffer who spoke English, I found a guy who said he spoke a little. I explained my problem and he basically told me to hitch hike the to next town of Anso. I explained i couldn´t walk and should probably see a doctor, he said he understood, I should hitch hike. "How close is Anso?" I asked, "about 15km" said the guy.
I grabbed my bag and went to the car park exit and assumed the hitch hiking position. See the experience of last night seemed to continue as car after car just ignored me and drove past, not even asking to where I wanted to go. "I'm gonna end up walking this" I thought.
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