Unfortunately, I had made a crucial error in footwear. The combination of extra-thick socks plus the heated pads in my hiking boots created a very tight shoe, which proved to be a huge problem heading down the mountain. As I hiked downward, my toes were crammed into the toe of my shoe.,The pain was immediate and relentless. I toughed it out and tried to sidestep or backward step as often as possible to minimize the pressure. However, the damage was inevitable. My toenails pressed painfully into the nailbeds with every step.
Meanwhile, our group showed mixed fortunes. Two hikers who had struggled earlier felt reinvigorated on the descent. One of them actually raced down the mountain with astonishing speed and vigor. The one with the upset stomach also did well, but was in the back with me. One other hiker who had had nausea before we began the summit also vomited again coming back down, but managed to keep moving.
When we finally hit the first camp for lunch, exhaustion hit hard. By this time I was moving pretty slowly and I entered the lunch tent to find one of our hikers sound asleep in her chair and the rest debating the remaining distance to our final camp. At this point, my feet were throbbing in pain. I desperately asked if anyone had a spare pair of socks. Thankfully, a fellow hiker was able to loan me a pair. I removed the heating pads and the extra thick socks – but by this time the damage was done.
