It had been raining for the past few days, and I had been feeling down and cabin-feverish. I decided to go on a longer hike than I'm used to through the Everglades with a local group. Because it had been raining, I wore my hiking boots instead of my sneakers in case of muddy trails. That was a good call initially. Until the first mile when I started feeling some chafing on the backs of my heels.
I've had these same boots and heavy duty hiking socks for years and assumed they would be fine. However I don't usually walk that fast or that far. And I was an absolute dumbass and didn't say anything or try to adjust my laces or even turn back, although I could have done any of that. The pain wasn't that bad, although in hindsight I realize I may have a weird idea of tolerable pain.
We saw bobcats, beautiful birds, and quite a few alligators, which I would have missed if I had turned back early. I was in considerable pain after mile 5, but there was no shortcut to the car by then, and it was getting really dark. So I pushed on.
Driving home was so painful that I wouldn't stop for food even though I was hungry and craving a burger. I took off my shoes the second I was inside and holy fuck, my poor heels were just abraded off. I'll spare you the photos of that, but I will share the wildlife photos.
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| large 12 foot alligator |
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| little bit closer to get a better photo |
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| heron catching dinner |
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