[pct-l] Knees

[palomino.pct at gmail.com]

I'm a solo section hiker in my late 50's with two meniscus surgeries on the same knee. Bone on bone now with degenerative arthritis... I have good days and bad days. I pulled into Belden a few years ago having an exceptionally bad day and got some advice from the Braaten's about fish oil that has helped me a lot. I've been taking 1000 mg in capsule form every day since then and the pain has been much more manageable day to day. I normally spend 4-5 weeks on the trail every summer. I try to stay pretty light, pace my mileage out in steady pieces, make good use of my Lekis, soak the knee in cold streams when possible, stretch a LOT, maintain a regular dose of Ibuprofen, stay hydrated, and use icepacks on zero days. What gets to me is steeply sloping sideways snowbanks that require walking at an angle to the trail. Uphill and downhill isn't the problem. YMMV, but fish oil and stretching seem to help most in the day to day and icy cold streams help the most on the trail.    
Palomino
San Juan Bautista, CA
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