"Cliff" Notes
Helpless as the blood stain made its way, slowly, across the front of my sock, it was too late to question my decision to pack 200 feet of rappelling rope, and slings, into canyons with not a single face less than 300 feet.
The constant pounding of my feet into the toes of my hiking boots as we descended from the south rim of the Grand Canyon, surely generated the blisters upon busted blisters, upon busted blisters, that furnished the palette for my sock redecoration; but I thought it might make me feel better to blame the weight of the ropes than my own foolishness and inexperience.
It turns out that heaping layers of moleskin provide much more effective relief than feeble rationalization.
Of course, this was only the first day of a spring break trip, many years ago. A trip launched, I’m convinced, by my brother strictly for his personal amusement, knowing the punishment I would receive.
For a more eloquent account of hiking through Grand Canyon National Park, join us for a discussion of Colin Fletcher’s “The Man Who Walked Through Time”, at Shelly’s Place around the middle of February.
It promises to be an intense experience…so, don’t forget your moleskin.
Thanks for the plug, Pinhole... and the advice! I'll bring along plenty of moleskin.
By the way, do you happen to have pictures of that sock? It sounds like an amazing scene.
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My pleasure.
No, no photos. And it was both socks; not pretty.
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Your trip sounds like one I'd rather hear about than experience! Anything having to do with moleskin is extremely unpleasant!
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The moleskin was a lifesaver, Montucky. Otherwise, it would have been a pretty miserable trip.
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I ordered a copy via Amazon a couple of weeks ago, but it has not come in yet. I better make an inquiry about that very soon so I do not get left behind in the wilderness
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Yes, we'd hate for you to get lost! Hope your book gets there soon.
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At least you were young Pin....imagine going through that experience now....I used to love climbing, hiking, spelunking....that last thing I climbed was a sand dune at Warren State Park in Warren, Michigan some 20 years ago and I quickly realised it wasn't fun anymore...or....(maybe you are a whole lot smarter and realised it wasn't so much fun at a much earlier age.)
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Nope, never learned a thing. I'd like to get myself into a little better shape and do it all over again. Minus the ropes, of course.
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A good trick is to wear one pair of thins nylon type of dress socks and then a regular pair. Te slipping will occur between the layers and you will not get blisters.
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Hey, thanks, Travis! I'll remember that.
The problem with that trip years ago was new boots that hadn't been broken in, and then a 10 hour hike straight downhill.
But, still great advice, and thanks for dropping in, again! Will you be joining the discussion?
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