Ouch

So, in light of the fact that I was finally feeling like I was winning the battle over the flu - The Boyfriend and I decided to go hiking with Kathy and David this yesterday.

(I just want to jump ahead and say it was an amazingly beautiful hike and I had a great time despite my clumsiness!)

We headed to Topanga Park and started on 1/2 mile hike to a fork in the road. To the right - a hike to a Waterfall. To the left - a hike to some Ranch House that I can not remember the name of.

Kathy and David left it up to us to decide which way to go - David suggests the Ranch House hike. I, of course, pick the Waterfall hike because it is "easier". So we head out.

It was a really great day for a hike. After a couple of wrong turns that took us straight uphill, we get to the interesting part where we are hiking through the actual creek bed, instead of next to it. It's still fun as I make a joke about "Maybe we should have called someone to let them know where we were going" as we traverse over slippery rocks.

Then we get to the biggest rock that actually has a rope for you to climb up the rock with. I was very proud of my upper body strength at that point, plus the fact that I hadn't gotten my feet wet (seriously, some of those rocks were slippery!).

So, we are about 100 feet from the waterfall when it happens. I slip and fall. And I swear I hear a nice snapping sound on the way down. Robb and David were behind me, Kathy was ahead leading the way. I begin crying immediately from the pain and then I proceed to hate myself for crying. Fun, huh?!

Total damage - I had twisted my right ankle and skinned my left knee. Thanks to David's suggestion I immediately take off my shoe and stick my foot in the ice cold creek water to stop any immediate swelling.

Well, the good news is that it's obviously not broken. The bad news is that I get to hike the 1 and 1/2 miles back to the car on a bum ankle, including climbing back down the rock with the rope helper.

Here are pictures from last night - but I should let you know my ankle is much more swollen as I type this...

I am pretty proud of myself for making it back to the car. I know I didn't have much choice, but I also didn't whine to whole way about how badly my ankle hurt. Plus, no matter how badly I hurt, Kathy was in way worse shape and she was very upset at the fact that someone she had brought on a hike was hurt. It was the first time that had happened and I honestly think she is more traumatized by the whole thing than I am!

Now I just want this stupid ankle to heal so I can get back to running and hiking!