A Bridge Over Troubled Water. July 12. Day 16. Part 2.

Continued from: A Bridge Over Troubled Water. July 12. Day 16. Part 1. 

When I got back to the beach I discovered the hiking family in front of me again. It was fun to watch them out there in front of me as they paused to discuss when to leave the beach. I assumed they were using the same guidebook I was (the only one for the Oregon Coast). I was impressed when I learned they weren't using a guidebook. They were navigating entirely by maps. (I was also impressed to learn they had forded Sand Lake outlet, the one I decided to walk around the day I met George. It had been chest-deep and they carried their backpacks on their heads. Oh, for their youth and balance!) Nevertheless when they chose an earlier exit from the beach, I preferred to follow my guidebook. I complain about it a lot but I also really appreciate it. 

My second roadwalk included a bridge across the Alsea River. The collage in Photo 6 shows the bridge as I crossed (lower) - I was so pleased there was both a bike lane and a very safe pedestrian walkway - and the view of the bridge looking back (upper). I find the design of bridges very interesting and often quite beautiful. And Johnny Cash's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" has been singing in my mind ever since listening to his album yesterday. 

 

I was delighted to notice as I crossed the bridge that the river was not flowing out to sea. There were complex cross currents but just as one would expect at high tide the river had reversed its direction. This brought the memory of the man in Seaside at the hostel who had noticed, living beside a river, that sometimes it flows one way, sometimes the other, and sometimes it is still. 

Then double my delight - I saw seals in the river! Just as I had only seen lily pads in lakes until this hike (when I saw them in a river), I had only seen seals in the ocean. The photos in the collage in photo 7 aren't very good but I hope suggest a little of the excitement I felt walking on the bridge and seeing seals in the river water below. Isn't it interesting, too, how different the water color is in different photos? I am not sure if that is the angle of sunlight or an artifact of the camera. 

 

 

It was a beautiful day. But I guess I haven't mentioned that my feet hurt during the hike. I have a problem with the fatty pad on the ball of one foot having slid forward toward the toes. A wonderful podiatrist told me it was part of aging and I couldn't fix it but I could live with it and slow it down by using athletic tape to pull it back into place. During today's hike the fatty pad on the other foot slipped, more dramatically and more painfully. I also developed a large deep blister on my heel. I taped the ball slippage and put moleskin on the blister, and felt blessed that I managed to keep my feet out of water (that might have made the bandages fall off). The taping helped but the feet still hurt a little. 

When I got to my beautiful Campsite I decided to do inverted pose (photo 8). 

 

 It felt great - but afterwards I was really limping when I went to visit the others at the camp (Carol, who insisted on giving me hot tea to drink, which I loved, and her kids, and Nathan and Benjamin). I came back to my tentsite and uncovered the ball of my foot to have a look. Photo 9 shows what I saw:

 

This is the biggest blood blister I've ever seen. I googled blood blisters and read about the risk of infection. I showed it to my fellow hikers and everybody agreed it was time to bow to destiny rather than push through the pain. 

I don't know yet if this will mean the end of my hike or only some rest and a changed, probably diminished, itinerary. But I do know that the tide is high and it's time for the river to go with the flow and flow backwards. 

And I do know reader that you - and this blog-walk that we co-create - is for me at this moment a bridge over troubled water. 

I don't know if or when I will see you again on the beach. (It is clear to me that the level road, plus the unique qualities of sand, stress my feet more than trails with more varied tread. My emotional stress over the lost wallet may have made me more vulnerable physically as well. Or perhaps having the four leaf clovers tucked in the wallet meant that I lost my luck when I lost my wallet. In any case, the tide will determine which way the river will flow. )