Five Days In and Everything Hurts

At mile: 77.3

We have been hiking for four and a half days along the PCT. And it sucks. It is so hot, and somehow, the hiker hobble that affected us weeks into our AT thru-hike only took one day on this hike to rear up its ugly head. David has blisters all over the bottoms of his feet. I will count myself lucky if this time next week I have half of the toenails I came out here with. No amount of moleskin and duct tape can make a difference.

So why don't we stop walking? Sit down and rest? The first reason is practical: We have a limited amount of food and water and need to spend every day getting ourselves closer to more food and water. The second reason is that the pain has this funny way of luring you in to thinking it is getting better when it isn't. After sitting for a while, just putting my socks and shoes on causes me to gasp in pain. Then when we start walking, the pain level is horrible enough that we hobble around like we are relearning to walk after a major injury. But after a few hundred yards, the pain stops being horrible and starts being merely awful. Half a mile after that, the pain level is just really bad. And we think 'its going to feel better finally!' A mile later and the pain is...its still really bad. It doesn't get any better than 'really bad.' But it at least feels manageable.

The frustrating thing about our feet hurting is that the trail so far has been pretty easy. Unlike the AT, which marches you up and down every peak it can find, the PCT leisurely meanders around the sides of hills and mountains, gently gaining and losing elevation. If we were in better shape physically we could be flying down the path.

But it's okay, we're okay. I'm being dramatic but it is nice out here. To quote our FAQ page: "It will be fun. And horrible. But mostly fun." We just haven't gotten to the mostly fun part yet.

At least the views are nice. Because we are always on the sides of mountains, there is usually a nice view and drop off to one side. The hills are covered in chaparral and other hearty plants. There are wildflowers and cacti in bloom and the yucca plants are sending up tall stalks heavy with flowers.

But the sun.

Right now we have decided on a strategy to deal with the heat and unrelenting sun. We'll try to knock out some miles early on before the sun is right overhead. Then we will sit in any shade we can find for a few hours at midday. Around 4pm we can start hiking again, taking advantage of the cooler temps and shady sides of the hills.

Yesterday was our first attempt at the siesta, and mostly it was nice to be out of the sun, but only having hiked seven miles so far in the morning, it was hard not to feel lazy and indulgent. We finished the day by hiking another eight miles as sunset approached and into the night. The temperatures were more comfortable, but it wasnt a great pick for our first night hike, as the trail became a thin strip at the edge of a steep drop off, and we had to inch along or risk losing our balance in the dark.

We are currently at a little oasis in the desert--an RV park that has a day rate for hikers. We'll shower, wash our clothes, and get some cold drinks before heading back to the trail for our evening hike.