On a side note, this was a good test for my new Big Agnes Sunnyside 2 tent. Our down (useless or worse when wet) sleeping bags were still dry inside the tent.
I got seriously depressed after my accident. I had been doing a lot of leading for the Sierra Club and had done some really interesting hikes that year including a big loop around the Mammoth Lakes basin from Duck Pass to just before Mammoth Pass as well as Mt. Whitney. Going up Whitney with those big 18" to 24" stone "steps," was no problem even with a heavy pack (it was October and about 17'F at night and snowing on and off). A short while later, I couldn't even walk. It took me about a year before I could walk again more or less normally, and the complications, mainly plantar fasciatis and tendinitis, only allowed me to hike intermittantly until early 2006. In 2006, it was a real joy to hike regularly and to do my first backpack since breaking my leg. In all, I did five backpacks last year, and I've already done four this year. Pent up demand, I guess.
