Original Post: August 2, 2015

Hooray, we were finally blessed with a day when we could wake up slowly and take the day easily.  I had booked two nights at the Grand Canyon and we were grateful for the down time.  Showers and shopping for souvenirs before a short drive to Cape Royal where we’d been told by another camper and photographer that there’s a great view of the canyon, perfect for pictures.

But Cape Royal (or Cape Royale as Nate wanted to call it) was not in our future.  Our plan was ultimately foiled by a turnoff for Green Lake.  There was a trail off the side of the road that looked little used and we figured it had to be worth the short hike just to see what might lie ahead.  Not 50 yards in, I stopped to take a photo.  When we began to move forward again, I foolishly adjusted my camera and wasn’t watching the trail.  I rolled my ankle on a loose rock, felt a snap, and let out a string of imaginative curses I could only have put together in pain.

It was several minutes before I could place my foot back on the ground and bear any weight on it and only when I was sure it wasn’t broken did we make our way back to the car.  I won’t lie.  I was in tears on the way back to the campground.  I saw all of the plans I’d spent so long preparing (much of which involved hiking) fall to pieces with my five seconds of stupidity.  And accompanying this regret?  A flashback of my honeymoon, where I ended up with acute tendonitis in the very same ankle from walking a few miles in sandals, causing my new husband and I to miss our scheduled trip to scuba dive the coral reefs in the Bahamas.  It’s twelve years later and we still haven’t done it.

I took three Ibuprofen and as soon as we got back to the camp, settled in the tent, put my leg up, and iced the ankle for three hours.  I discovered it didn’t hurt at all once it had gone numb.  Nice!

The good news – it wasn’t a bad enough injury to stop me from enjoying the rest of my trip and participating in everything I wanted to do, with the exception of a hike in or on the rim of the Grand Canyon.  

The bad news – it’s definitely injured and will take a few months to heal.  Since I’ve dealt with tendonitis frequently in my wrists, my ankles, and my knees in the past, I’m pretty sure that’s what I injured.  Now, a month later, it’s a whole lot better than it was, but it’s still not great!  Give me two more months at least.

The worst news – I injured it after taking this shot

That wasn’t even worth it! 

The only good news from this day?  At least there were several lookout points we could drive to.  I did get a few decent photos, but I’ll just have to face it.  The Grand Canyon was simply bigger than I was this day.  I’ll suppose this means I’ll just have to return to conquer it another day!   (Just twist my arm…  Hmm, maybe a bad phrase to use, given that I’ve already twisted the ankle.)