During Parent & Family weekend my freshman year, my mom challenged me to complete the Prescott Circle Trail before I graduate. My walk across the stage is just around the corner, so I recently made one final attempt at the 56 mile walk around all of Prescott. When I tried it in January (see Horizons Vol. 39 Issue 9, “Running Around Town”) I made some bad assumptions that stranded me in the snow behind Thumb Butte. Though I failed, I used all four years of engineering education to collect data and update my analysis as follows: I can hike 3 miles per hour. 56 miles / 3 miles per hour = about 19 hours. I should finish the while the sun shines in the midafternoon. Conclusion: start hiking during the previous evening. So with conviction in my heart and caffeine in my head, I arrived at the Fitness Center parking lot at 10:00 p.m. on a cool Friday night. I was just in time to meet the late-night gym crowd, who looked curiously at my headlamp and hiking poles...
My number one skill is getting injured. I’m afraid that I’m wasting my time here at ERAU, and that I’m
better off at ERIU. That fear came true when I tore up my ankle at the start of spring break, and couldn’t
put any weight on left foot. “How?” you may ask? To paraphrase my favorite professors, that story is
“Beyond the scope of this column.” The point is, my holiday was beginning while my ankle was
throbbing, so I planned to spend spring break on the couch.
That plan fell apart when some buddies invited me to go hiking in Sedona. I still had crutches and a
brace from the last time I tore up my ankle (it was last semester), so obviously I said yes. I’d never hiked
in crutches before, and I figured it was a good time to start.
Two hours after getting the invite, I was laced and braced at the Sugarloaf Hill trailhead. We set out for
Sugarloaf’s summit on a gentle 1.9 mile climb through Sedona’s red rocks. The trail was tightly lined by
various bushes, and several times I had to hop through them with my crutches in the air. My pogo-stick
impression was worth it though, as we quickly reached the top of Sugarloaf. Looking out at the airport
mesa, I briefly wished that an ERAU pilot would take pity and airlift me back to Prescott. Alas, no hero
came to my aid, so I hopped my way back to the car.
ERIU must be experiencing some budget cuts in the College of Crutches, because mine didn’t survive the
hike. One of their big rubber tips wore through to the metal, leaving me with a nice little spike. It was no
issue for the packed dirt of Sugarloaf, but was no match for the polished floors of Sedona’s rock shops.
My crutches slipped and screeched while trying to keep up with my gem-enthused buddies, nearly
sending me crashing to the floor. I credit those sacred stones with aligning my chakras and helping me
catch myself every time.
It’s a little funny that my crutches worked on rocks, but failed in rock shops. Part of me wants to call it
ironic, but I know I can’t throw that word around willy-nilly. Alanis Morissette, take notes.
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