Day 4: Pain

Well, day 4 is complete and with it has come an almighty ache. Everything hurts. My lower back is screaming, my right knee is shot, my calves are sore, three blisters on my feet have already popped, more blisters are forming, my thighs are chafing, my shoulders ache from the weight of my pack, and my feet constantly throb (although the heels I wear for work probably don’t help). While I knew that long walks everyday would bring this type of soreness, I wasn’t necessarily ready for the reality of it. Every step of the 10.6 miles (17 km) I walked yesterday was torturous. I really hope my body gets used to this type of workout; otherwise the entire journey to Mordor will end up being one big ache.

I feel like Frodo did after waking up on the second day of his journey, “Frodo woke up first, and found that a tree-root had made a hole in his back, and that his neck was stiff.” (Chapter 3, The Fellowship of the Ring). Considering that I am at mile marker 33.75 (54.3 km), my journey corresponds to the hobbits second day. At this point Frodo and company had already walked most of the morning and afternoon. The way is fairly easy considering that they stuck to the road. But mile marker 32 (51.5 km) brings trouble. A rider can be heard on the road behind the hobbits and Frodo is taken by a sudden uneasiness. Acting on his feelings, Frodo and the hobbits hide off the road. Peering over one of the roots Frodo is hiding under, he is able to see one of the Big Folk (hobbits refer to men as such). Except this man is shrouded all in black and stops before Frodo’s hiding place, searching and smelling for the concealed hobbits and Frodo is overtaken with the desire to use the ring. The rider suddenly continues on, leaving Frodo disturbed.

The appearance of the rider is one of the first signs of danger. Sam and Pippin are not as unnerved as Frodo, but they give in to Frodo’s desire to stay off the road, though Pippin does question the overall secretive nature of Frodo. Staying a stone’s throw from the road the hobbits now have trees, thick grass, thickets of trees, and uneven ground to contend with.

Though my journey today did not deal with the danger the hobbits, I have had to contend with the conditions they described. The footpath I had chosen yesterday spluttered out and died about three miles along and I was left with no trail to follow. So I walked along a game trail (the paths that deer and other such animals create) figuring it would lead me somewhere. The trail left me to deal with sticker bushes, tall grass, uneven and rocky ground, thick groves of trees, and lots of holes.

The only danger I encountered was a hound dog out alone in the woods. I was sitting and eating lunch when the dog started barking and ran at me. Quite scared I threw him my roast beef sandwich and high-tailed it out of there. Later I realized that I had been trespassing and the dog was trying to chase me off the property. I will have to look harder for “no trespassing” signs in the future.

The road goes ever on and on,
~Daisy Buttons