Toes vs. Rock

The rock won. This was about three hours after breaking my toes at the base of Milestone Mountain. I had been wading in a small stream, cooling my feet and getting water. Strangely enough, I was being very careful not to stub my toes, but I didn't anticipate that my right foot would suddenly sink several inches into silt as I stepped over a triangularly-shaped boulder. I was not looking forward to the 22-mile hike out. I felt really, really stupid too. How could I hurt myself like this when I was being so vigilant? The heat on the lower part of the Shepherd's Pass trail made my toes swell and ache. I felt like my foot was going to burst out of my shoe. Eventually the ball of my foot turned purple too, probably because I had to walk on it so much. This experience was nothing compared with the sciatic pain and muscle spasms from badly herniating a lumbar disc last October, but I would rather not repeat it!