Big Stump Hike March 29, 2017

Holy crap. Today has been a damn good day for me planning a 2018 PCT thru hike. I've been afraid that my knee and back pains would be dream killers; that they'd prevent me from even attempting any backpacking trips I want to do; much less the PCT. (And they came so soon after the moment about a year ago when I realized, "Hey; wow.  I could hike the Pacific Crest Trail now...."  More on that moment in another post.)

Ok, so I decided to hike today after all.  I took some ibuprofen at noon, ate a small-ish breakfast, and hopped into the shower.  In the shower, I talked myself out of going.

"What if you hurt your knee further?"
"What if there's too much snow?"
"What if your back hurts?"

And then I started thinking about what I would do around the house if I didn't go. How disappointing that would be. How boring it would be.

So, as is usually the case for me, deciding not to go, gets me out the door all that much faster. I got dressed, wrote the earlier short post and headed up.

First thing was this mound of snow.

Mound of snow "blocking" trail.  Boo...

A little discouraging. I walked up and over it and looked at the trail anyway and it seemed fine. I loaded up my day pack, started the GPS on my phone, started a "hike" on FitBit, grabbed my trekking poles, and headed out.

Some snow. Way back there.

The lack of snow was nice!

The going was slow, I had to consciously think to myself, "Slow down." I slipped once or twice with my left knee on the snow and that caused a short stab of pain but it went away quickly.

Selfies? Never!

Got to the part of the trail I expected to make it to; a small meadow with a fallen sequoia.

Shattered Giant

Upstream of the Shattered Giant

Slightly less upstream

I crossed the Shattered Giant and headed on.  I knew there was a trail around the other side of the meadow and figured I'd decide if I'd turn back or keep going once I got to the trail junction.

Doesn't look much like a meadow

I felt pretty good at the junction so I continued on to Mark Twain Stump.

Mark Twain Stump

And that was my hoped-for goal. That I'd be physically able to make it to this spot. I did. And that's when I realized, if I take a hike slowly, carefully, deliberately, I can still hike.

I continued on the loop for a short while, crossing 180 and heading on the back-end of the loop to my truck.

But, the trail on the other side of 180 was not well traveled and covered in snow. I was slipping more than I cared to on the snow. I couldn't navigate with my phone, use the trekking poles, and watch my step all at the same time. So I turned around and went back the way I came.

Took a couple of pictures from the other end of the Shattered Giant meadow.

OMG! It's a tree!

Same stand. Panorama'd!

It'll be green and growing and flowering soon. I promise.

And then I made it back to the truck. I had to stop and rest some more when my left knee started to hurt again. And I used the poles to help take some weight off of my knee.

Got in the truck and then headed home.  On the way, I found a waterfall along the highway I didn't know existed.

Zoom in? That's crazy talk!

After I got home and rested for a bit, I took a walk up and down the driveway here at home (about .22 miles round trip). I was walking back, and I saw the sun set over the Central Valley through the oak trees on either side of our driveway; I started crying. I realized I can still go see the sun rise from the mountain tops. I can still go watch the sun set every day and watch it rise every morning all summer long.  I cried to myself over and over, "I can do it. I can do it. I can do it."  It wasn't a mantra of reassurance and self reliance. It was the absolutely joyous realization that my dream is not dead.

My hike will probably be slower than I would like but it will be my hike.

Today's hike was short, flat, and slow (1.7 miles in about 90 minutes) but I didn't experience any overly painful knee problem nor back issues. I know I can do the PCT.  I can still hike. I can continue the dream. I can do it.

I'm experiencing the same tearful jubilation as that moment last year when I realized I could hike the PCT.

Also, I realized today that hiking on a ton of snow (probably) just isn't gonna be my thing. But, I learned that my boots are reasonably waterproof. That woolen socks help keep my feet warm even when wet. And that fording streams isn't something awful to fear. (Creeks and rivers, well, we'll see about those.)

All in all, a damn good fucking day today.