May 13. Day 25.

Cajon Pass to about PCT mile 356

Miles hiked: ~14.

Well.

Shit.

My leg is not better despite the 2 full days rest I gave it.

The morning started out pretty well. Had one last hotel breakfast, packed up, and got back on the trail by 7. It was so nice to be walking away from that freeway intersection that had been my home for the last few days, with all its fast cars and trucks, fast "food", and the constant rumble of internal combustion. The trail passed under the interstate via a big tunnel that a creek can flow through when it happens to be flowing. Kale, who I first met at kickoff and who I've been leapfrogging with since Ziggy and the Bear's was sleeping under there, having done a big 34 mile day yesterday to get to McDonalds. I guess it really draws some people...

Here'r the new shoes. Merrell Grassbrow Air. They, at least, worked pretty well today.

Another 6 or 10 hikers had all left the hotel at the same time, and the trail felt a little congested for a few miles as the faster hikers passed the slower ones and everyone settled in to the day of hiking. This was by far the most people I've seen in one little stretch of trail so far. We crossed the busy tracks and got to watch a few long trains go rumbling by. Then we climbed up through more dry scrub hillsides and passed some wonderful eroded sandstone formations. I kept my pace slow and conservative, intending to take all day to get through about 18 or 20 miles of this next 28 me waterless stretch. Knowing I might still have about half a day of hiking to do tomorrow, I was carrying 7 liters of water, which along with the 4.5 days of food I had was about maxing out the comfort level of my pack. It's such a Catch 22 in these dry areas that if you want to slow down to give your body a rest, you end up having to carry so much more water.

Hikers exiting the tunnel under I-15.

About 5 miles from Cajon Pass the trail dipped down into a little valley which is apparently the rift zone of the San Andreas Fault. Having seen the preview for the new movie by the same name several times over the last few days, I didn't linger there long but instead began the long gradual climb up onto the ridge that would take us past Wrightwood. 

Cool rocks and cool hiking temps.

This climb felt really good, my legs had warmed up nicely and I had settled in to a nice easy, sustainable pace up the hill. However, wanting to be sure to take it slow and be careful with the leg, I sat down at around 8 miles out of Cajon Pass to have a snack, rest, and do some stretching. The next mile or so after that felt really good too. But then my leg started to stiffen up ever so slightly right in the same place. I immediately slowed my pace way down, shortening my stride and relying on my trekking poles much more to keep moving forward. The tightness grew a bit more into some slight pain so I sat down again for another rest and more stretching. But this didn't seem to help, and soon I was just barely shuffling along, focused only on where and how I stepped, not paying much attention at all to the area I was walking through (though at one little break I happened to see a chipping sparrow carry food to what must have been its nest in a dense conifer branch). The one that I did have to pay attention to was the Poodle Dog Bush. Now that you've had a moment to chuckle and wonder at this name, I can tell you that this is a plant that grows up thickly soon after wildfires, and can cause a rash similar to or worse than poison oak. There is actually a section of trail 40 or 50 miles ahead where the trail had to be rerouted around a number of miles that were really overgrown with PDB. The section I walked through today was only about a half mile long and not too overgrown, but there were a couple places where I had to drop down below he trail to get around some branches, and even this little down hill I could barely negotiate without really hurting my leg. 

At this point it was only about 6-7 miles back down to a road where I might be able to catch a ride. But it was all down hill, which based on he previous days hiking with this injury I knew would be slow, painful, and probably cause additional aggravation. In stead I decided to keep moving forward. Even though it was a greater distance to the next road (15ish miles), it was all gradual uphill, which was the easiest walking under my condition.

All sorts of thoughts were going through my head as I shuffled along. Clearly I needed to give this thing more time to heal up. This wasn't the sort of achy pain I'm willing to walk through; a tendon in my foot has been right, sore and uncomfortable the whole hike, but it hasn't gotten worse and hasn't impacted the trip. But this new problem feels like I'm doing more and more damage with each step. It was distracting me from what I felt were the most important aspects of this trip: observing changes in the landscape and keeping a keen eye and ear out for interesting critters along the way. But how long should I take to rest? A week? 2? I need to take enough time "hit restart", but this has been a hard injury to judge because it feels so good for 8 or 10 or 12 miles and then it gets so bad so quickly. Then after all these thoughts went through my head I would think about how lucky I am just to be out doing this thing that I love so much, and self pity all this self pity would make me feel even more rediculous. 

The trail climbed a little rise and there on a dirt road was a car, with a driver who was handing out drinks and snacks to hikers.

"Can I talk you in to a Gatorade?"

"No thank you."

"How about some chips or cookies?"

"No, that's OK."

"Well what do you need?"

I could hardly bring myself to say it, "I think I'm going to need a ride to town." Such a loaded statement. Is this really the right decision? Is this really what I want to do? Am I giving in to this pain to quickly? Should I push on to the paved road crossing so it will be easier to get back on the trail once I heal? I knew that if I got a ride from this little out-of-the-way forest service road, I probably wouldn't be able to catch a ride back here to start back up where I left off. By catching a ride from here I knew I was committing to either skipping at least 13 or so miles, starting over near Cajon Pass to redo what I had just done before continuing, or backtracking from the next road crossing to cover these miles.

I called Libby for some physical, emotional, and logistical consultation. It was good just to hear her voice and talk through what my options were. It was quite a low point, all full of disappointment and anxiety. I didn't like it, but I ended up getting a ride back to Wrightwood after this very nice man had handed out drinks and snacks to the 10 or so hikers who arrived behind me. I hung out in front of the little grocery store there investigating my options with my spy phone. I also called Tracey again to see if I might be able to stay with them for the night while I figured things out. They took me in again, feeding me dinner again and letting me take a shower and giving me a big air mattress to sleep on and even offering to give me a ride tomorrow if I needed to get somewhere. To really top it off, Tracey is a massage therapist and after dinner she did a bit of work on my legs and feet. So incredible to have these people take in a total stranger and give so much!! 

By the end of the evening I had a plan in place. I feel like I need to give this at least a week, and I really didn't want to go back to the hotel for that much time. I also knew I couldn't stay with Dan and Tracey for that long, just plopping myself down right in the middle of their lives. No, if I was going to be just sitting around for a whole week, I might as well try to get home so I could be with my girls and recover in a more comfortable place. So, in the morning Tracey will drive me to the closest Amtrak station, and I will catch a bus to Bakersfield then transfer to a train to get me the rest of the way to the Bay Area.

I am temporarily down, but I am far from out! I'll be back out on the trail somehow eventually. I just need to heal so I can get back to having fun while hiking.

Anyone have any book recommendations?

Sad to be riding a train, but at least I get to look at more trains.

Birds:

Rock Wren 

House Finch 

Bewick's Wren 

Western Scrub-jay 

Warbling Vireo

Wilson's Warbler 

Bushtit 

Ash-throated Flycatcher 

Spotted Towhee 

California Towhee 

Lesser Goldfinch 

Wrentit 

Black-headed Grosbeak 

Black-chinned Sparrow 

Brown-headed Cowbird 

Northern Flicker 

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 

Western Wood-pewee 

Chipping Sparrow- food carry