Tag Archives: long distance hiking
It’s a Hard Knock Life, or Meditations on (Temporary) Termination
I came off the PCT on April 4th, 2014. Tomorrow I will see a doctor in Sacramento, where I live, and will likely be referred to a podiatrist for peroneal tendonitis. I developed this tendonitis in early February when I … Continue reading
PCT Day 11: Opiates, God, and a Sickening Reentry
April 4, 2014 Mile 121 to Mile 127 I shifted under my quilt in the pre-dawn light, squirming away from the wet walls of my tent. Meander was up. When I stopped rustling my down, I could hear him moving. … Continue reading
PCT Day 10: Decision Day
April 3, 2014 Mile 109.5 to Mile 121 Meander had been waiting out the rain and snow at Monty’s while I was there tending to my tendonitis and getting new shoes, and we left together from the Warner Springs Community … Continue reading
PCT Days 7-9: Tendonitis, Tears, and a Triple Zero in Warner Springs
March 31 – April 2, 2014 Stuck at Mile 109.5 On the morning of the 31st, the thru-hikers who had stayed with him the night before piled into Monty’s truck again and took off for the Warner Springs Post Office. … Continue reading
PCT Day 6: Cave Dwellers and the Hiker Bar
March 30, 2014 Mile 96 to Mile 109.5 Last night I fell asleep around 9 after setting up my tent in what I thought was a relatively sheltered site. LaVonne was camped in Billy Goat’s cave, a tiny horizontal cylinder … Continue reading
PCT Day 5: Primal Fears and an Ominous Soreness
March 29, 2014 Mile 77.2 to Mile 96 I’m feeling strange tonight. Not quite discouraged, but I’m not sure I’m having fun yet. My foot is sore and I’m worried about the possibility of my tendonitis relapsing or becoming chronic. … Continue reading
PCT Day 4: The Cold Blooded Would-Be-Killer
March 28, 2014 Mile 59.5 to Mile 77.2 In the morning, I turned over on my sleeping pad and felt a frigid spray of condensation rain down from the walls of my tent. I unzipped the silnylon and peered out … Continue reading
PCT Day 3: Smashing Pumpkins, or Thank God I Pulled My Hamstring
March 27, 2014 Mile 41 to Mile 59.5 I woke up early to the same cold, blustery weather that had forced me into my quilt shivering the night before. I knew I only had a little over a mile to … Continue reading
PCT Day 2: Clouds Are Not Cotton Balls
March 26, 2014 Mile 20 to mile 41 Last night around 11:30, one of the increasingly strong gusts of wind pulled a stake that had anchored my tent. When I climbed out to repitch the tent, I stepped into a … Continue reading
PCT Day 1: Tick, Tick, Tick, Your Time is Up
March 25, 2014 Mile 0 to Mile 19.5 As we drove to the border today, the sky was purple and full of mist. On the way south, we passed the Lake Morena camp ground where I am now sitting and … Continue reading