Thursday, August 6. Mid-60s and sunny going up to 99. Smoky from Oregon fires.
Up at 7:00. Light breakfast, finished packing, and waiting for my ride by 8:00.
I have 1148 miles to go. Exciting and depressing all at the same time.
My trail angel picked me up in Mount Shasta and dropped me off at the trail by I-5 at 8:20.
Entered the Castle Crag wilderness.
About noon I stopped at an intersection of the PCT and a local trail that leads back to the Castle Crags State Park. There was surprisingly good cell service on the side trail.
I sat down for an hour and had a good hard look in the virtual mirror. My left Achilles was hurting a lot. The three-day break did not seem to do any good. I was almost collapsing from the pain every few hundred yards. And now the pain was not just in the back of the ankle where the Achilles attaches. It spread down into the outer left part of the foot. That later part was a constant burning pain and the Achilles pain was a bad stabbing pain. I stared at the map on my phone for a long time. If I push on, I move into a remote 5-day stretch of trail with only one sketchy exit point on day 3 or 4.
I called Pitcrew and we talked for quite a while. I made the very difficult decision to end my PCT thru-hike at this point. My Achilles is just getting worse. Each night it is painful to the touch, let alone walking on it. I am only making 15-17 mile days at best. I should be doing 24+ mile days at this point, but that is not going to happen. I am worried that if I push on I will tear the Achilles and get stranded in a remote area with no good way out.
Deciding to end my hike at mile 1508.3 was one of the most difficult decisions in my life. I know I will regret this a lot in the short term, but I think it is the right thing / safe thing to do.
I texted my trail angel from this morning as I can limp back to the state park entrance, which is only about 3.5 miles away and is very close to her home. My plan is to get a rental car in Redding, CA, and then take some time sightseeing in CA and OR before finally making my way home. She was available and could pick me up around 2:00 when I arrived at the trailhead.
As I was hiking the side trail back to the state park entrance, I passed Chinchilla, Niaal, Jacob, and Bonk. They got on trail late today, headed north to the PCT, and were each about 5-10 minutes apart. I stopped and said goodbye to each of them. I have been hiking with or around these folks since my first few days on trail.
I reached the Castle Crags Park parking lot at 2:05 and 8.7 miles for the day. My amazing trail angel arrived about 15 minutes later and drove me to the Enterprise car rental in Redding around 3:30.
I took my time and drove back up to Burney with plans to visit Burney Falls tomorrow. I did not take the side quest to see them last week, and since I am so close, I figured I should check them out.
I decided to do some sightseeing along the Oregon coast and work my way back over to Reno to catch an Amtrak train back home. This will give me some time to think and to see some nice sights on the way home. I should be back home next Wednesday around noon.
Needless to say, I am emotionally messed up at present and need time to decompress, contemplate life, and come to grips with my abrupt PCT conclusion.
I will have one more post for my travels home (it was an adventure) as well as a post-PCT epilogue once I get home. Thanks to everyone who followed this blog and supported me on my first adventure on the PCT.
Technical Notes:
- Protein Shake (10oz): 330 cal, 19g carb, 13.5g fat, 36g protein
- Kielbasa 400
- Mango (3-4p, 30g): 100 kcal, 25g carb, 0g fat, 0g protein per
- Water liters: 1
- Miles: 8.7
- Time: 5:49
- Up: 1414
- Down: 1506
- Calories consumed:
- Calories burned: 1733
- iPhone battery used: 40%
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