Mega Hike Planning

My knee has not gotten better since the initial swelling went down.  I was on crutches for 2 days; doing fine but not great ever since then.  I can walk but I can't jog for even a few minutes (found that out trying to get the dog to motivate).  I've gone snowshoeing and I'd like to go hiking once the weather is nicer. 

In fact I'm working diligently to pull together a hiking weekend at Starved Rock State Park in Illinois.  They have a mega hike that goes through all 13 miles of their 18 canyons in the park on Saturday, April 27.  That means I'll miss CrazyLegs in Madison, but with my knee as it is that was probably going to be missed anyway.   I kind of stumbled onto this and now I'm really focused on trying to make it happen.  This is a good (and much cheaper) alternative to the Utah / Arizona trip I had in mind.  I'll still make it to the National Parks in that area some day, but because of my knee injury it's not a good fit for this year - I could go and hike but it would be much more limited that what I want to do and therefore it wouldn't be work the expense (to me).   The park is about 3 hours south; so I'm guessing (hoping, praying) that by late April they will have really nice weather (compared to Southeast Wisconsin, not compared to Florida duh!)

This is nine weeks away and my concern is if my knee will be in good enough shape to let me still be walking after this adventure. 

At the suggestion of a Physical Therapist, I've been taking one Aleve pill daily to help reduce the swelling, but to be honest I don't think this as done anything.   I'm going to take the next week and add in some strengthening exercises he suggested and also do the dreaded icing of the knee.  And I'm setting a deadline of 1 week - if the knee is not better from these exercises and icing, then I will contact the doctor and see about a cortisone shot in my knee.

And lastly I'll look into getting a knee brace.  I am committed to finding a way to continue hiking.  I'm willing to give up running for a while, if I have to, to heal the knee.   But if I can't find a way to hike and enjoy it both the during and after - then I will be scheduling that knee surgery asap. 

I'll need to bring my walking poles with me, just in case the knee starts to bother me.  They are adjustable height and can be adjusted down to a size that can fit in my backpack.