In spring of 2013, my club soccer season was cut short by the swift, but impactful swing of a boot. During a soccer game in Gettysburg, as I went to stop an opponent's shot, I rolled my left ankle as the striker took a nice shot at the inside of my right ankle. I reached for my ankles as I crumbled to the ground in agonizing pain. Anyone who knows me would say that I am unfairly prone to injury. Although missing a soccer season is disappointing, the Air Cam Walker Boot that I wore for the next month caused more troubles. In a little over a month, I was set to venture to Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico, the Mecca for Boy Scouts around the world. My crew consisted of five scouts whom I had known since entering the troop, along with three adult leaders. We all were set to conquer over 100 miles of the Philmont trail. Well, at least we felt mentally prepared. I would have to overcome the physical stress from the arid days, weight of the gear, and inherent difficulty of…show more content… The arrival to camp was not gratifying as each person just spread out to survey the campsite and start the set-up routine. As the sun sank below the horizon, we sat around a small campfire that night and, using the maps, planned our next route. Day two entailed a hike of over 20 miles. We figured 20 miles would be a fairly difficult day, but we had underestimated the brutality of the trails. The day started out just like the first day, a flat trail through an open meadow. There were no problems until we reached Hart's Peak, altitude of 7975 feet. The trails beyond the peak were old fire wagon trails, trails not made specifically for hiking. In addition, they were routed directly through an area that had been burned in a forest fire. For us, that meant no shelter from the sun, no give from the brittle, tarred earth, and no protection from the high-speed gusts of
