(I'll no longer attempt to summarize every day. I'm hoping this will make blogging less of a chore for me and make me post more frequently.)
Hiked a whopping 10 miles today. My knee still feels a little tweaked, and it was getting worse as the day went on. Tomorrow there's a 4,000' descent into Belden. This will be a real test as to whether I can continue in this state. I'm trying to mentally brace myself for a 1-2 week trail break, if that is what I need to recover. It kills me to interrupt my hike like this, but sometimes you don't have a choice. People can require surgery for this kind of thing. Knee problems can be trip ending.
If I do take a 1-2 week break, when I return I'll have to skip up something like 200 miles to reach the Northern terminus in time. In that period, I'll lose my "trail legs" and be doing low miles for a few weeks. If I still finish in late September, I can do the sections I skipped this year. I'm not a purist, but I am a completist.
I ran into some other injured hikers in Quincy. There was a father whose son wasn't feeling great due to a heart condition. They're taking at least a week off, hitching to Chico (100ish miles away) and renting a car to drive down the PCH. Amazing they made it this far; they also summited Denali (guided) two years ago. Good guys both of them. Moulson is a Canadian with a knee tendon issue. He's ending his hike, and figures that he needs surgery not just a break. Really funny, good natured person and I'm sad to see him go. This portion of the trail is shaping up to be the thru-hiker graveyard I've heard it to be. It's around the halfway point, and has little scenery. Spirits are noticeably drained. Still better than the AT I bet.
A lot of people say the trail is humbling. Usually this refers to the physical strain, a little to the mental. It's also really humbling because of the strong people you meet who don't make it or who give you invaluable advice, reminding you of how little you know. I went into this as a strong and experienced backpacker but now I'm saddled with an overuse injury. Wilderness trips definitely have an ego diminishing effect.
Hiked a whopping 10 miles today. My knee still feels a little tweaked, and it was getting worse as the day went on. Tomorrow there's a 4,000' descent into Belden. This will be a real test as to whether I can continue in this state. I'm trying to mentally brace myself for a 1-2 week trail break, if that is what I need to recover. It kills me to interrupt my hike like this, but sometimes you don't have a choice. People can require surgery for this kind of thing. Knee problems can be trip ending.
If I do take a 1-2 week break, when I return I'll have to skip up something like 200 miles to reach the Northern terminus in time. In that period, I'll lose my "trail legs" and be doing low miles for a few weeks. If I still finish in late September, I can do the sections I skipped this year. I'm not a purist, but I am a completist.
I ran into some other injured hikers in Quincy. There was a father whose son wasn't feeling great due to a heart condition. They're taking at least a week off, hitching to Chico (100ish miles away) and renting a car to drive down the PCH. Amazing they made it this far; they also summited Denali (guided) two years ago. Good guys both of them. Moulson is a Canadian with a knee tendon issue. He's ending his hike, and figures that he needs surgery not just a break. Really funny, good natured person and I'm sad to see him go. This portion of the trail is shaping up to be the thru-hiker graveyard I've heard it to be. It's around the halfway point, and has little scenery. Spirits are noticeably drained. Still better than the AT I bet.
A lot of people say the trail is humbling. Usually this refers to the physical strain, a little to the mental. It's also really humbling because of the strong people you meet who don't make it or who give you invaluable advice, reminding you of how little you know. I went into this as a strong and experienced backpacker but now I'm saddled with an overuse injury. Wilderness trips definitely have an ego diminishing effect.
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