E1 day 12+13 Final decision

15./16. Mai 2018

Cabinn Hotel Arhus

Some rounds around the block

It was hard to decide. I just couldn’t. Hike on or go home? Facing another failure in my life I felt unable to move my thoughts in either direction. It was already late evening of the 15. and I was lying on the hotel bed massaging my foot when I finally decided to hike on. At least I wanted to try and if I f***** up my foot, who cares?! I just didn’t want to give up and have to deal with another disappointment.

On the morning of the 16th things looked different. I still wanted to hike on and so I hobbled towards yesterday’s cafe for breakfast. On the stairs in the hotel I tried to stretch my foot by only leaving the toes on one step and leaning backwards. First it felt good but then an intense pain appeared.

If you had a serious injury once you kind of know how it feels and if it can heal in just a few days or not. I felt it and I knew it: this was the early end of my attempt to hike to Europe’s Northernmost point.

After breakfast I returned to the hotel and booked the afternoon train via Hamburg back to Karlsruhe. My late decision cost me 20 Euros more on the train ticket than it would have a day before. But I didn’t care. At some stage you only want to be safe when you’re injured.

Am I disappointed? Yes, for sure. I wanted this hike to be so much more and I did the preparation to hike all the way to the North Cape. I am also disappointed that my body lets me down in such a bad way. If you cannot rely on your own body that’s the worst. On the other hand I never got my PCT injury checked afterwards and maybe there’s something going on in my right leg that needs some correction.

Who knows? Someone lately told me that everything happens for a reason. Really?! I have some daubts. But hey! It was nice to be out in nature for a few days! I got to see a new country – Denmark – and got to know that they can have quite a nice summer here!

I have done all the research on the Scandinavian section of the E1 and I want to share it with you. May it be helpful for everyone who is attempting a hike on the E1! Who knows? I might come back and try again. As I have seen a good share of Denmark I might start in Sweden. Or at the North Cape and hike all the way down to Sicily? We’ll see…