The Shin Bone’s Connected to the . . .

It’s now been 18 weeks since I had the surgery to try to put my Achilles tendon back together again. And yesterday I had my last physical therapy session (because that’s all insurance will pay for—to hell with what the patient needs).

But I am still improving, albeit slowly.

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Toe Tendons ≠ Achilles Tendon

“Are you OK?”

I was hiking/walking yesterday at the nearby Pickerington Ponds park, working on rebuilding my soles (and doing general Gymnopodal Therapy) after my official Physical Therapy session. As I hit the bridge on my return trip, I was met by a couple going the other direction who saw me and were really, really concerned: “Are you OK?”

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Ya Wanna Get In Shape For Hiking?

Central Ohio is probably not the best place to be located if you are trying to get in shape for hiking or backpacking somewhere with mountains. But I do have a favorite place to do as much as I can.

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April Dapples Bring May Apples

I made my way out to Alley Park on Wednesday.

Spring has Sprung, the Grass is Ris. I wonder where the Flowers Is.

Well, there they were.

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Possum Path

On Monday I made it out to Alley Park ahead of yesterday’s snow. This is the first I’ve made it out in a while. Temperatures for the past couple of weeks have been just a bit too cool (as in, below freezing) to be out there barefoot, and while I obviously can hike wearing moccasins, it’s much harder to motivate myself to get out there and do it.

It was nice to be out again.

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Natur-Alley

Here’s a bit of a composite of two barefoot hikes I took recently at Alley Park, just a bit south of Lancaster.

While it is on the edge of the Hocking Hills region, it still has some nice Blackhand Sandstone features.

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Spring is Busting Out All Over

I made a point of heading over to Alley Park yesterday morning. I’m slowing increasing the weight of my backpack, so this time it had about 40 pounds in it.

I found it a bit more challenging for my bare feet, only because I felt the stones more than usual (and my knees complained).

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Greetings from Alley Park

Another of the local parks that is pretty much ideal for beginning barefooters (or those doing a bit of Rehab) is Charles Alley Park, part of the Lancaster City Park System. The park covers around 300 acres with about 6 miles of hiking trails. It is a kind of mini-Hocking Hills. It seemed a good place to go yesterday.

I had another reason for going.

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