[pct-l] Re: Another one bites the dust…………..

[Bill & Cathy]

Sorry to hear that you had to call it quits but am glad to hear that your 
replacement knee did OK. Its been 6 weeks today for me and I went out and 
did 1.5 miles LOL Hope things get better for you, keep us informed and
Remember "Be Prepared"  Ground Pounder Bill  "Semper Fi"
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim and_or Ginny Owen" <spiriteagle99 at hotmail.com>
To: "at-l" <at-l at backcountry.net>
Cc: "pct-l" <pct-l at backcountry.net>; "cdt-l" <cdt-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 3:00 PM
Subject: [pct-l] Another one bites the dust…………..




We’ve procrastinated about writing this but we can no longer avoid it.  The 
short version is that the injury isn’t life-threatening, but definitely 
precludes serious hiking for some indeterminate time.

But let’s go back to the beginning – we started the PCT on May 13 at Big 
Bear, CA after my daughter’s wedding. The intent was to 1/ “test” the (left) 
replacement knee, 2/ “possibly” thruhike the trail and 3/ just have fun 
hiking.  In reverse order – we DID have fun, the thruhike will have to wait 
for another time and the intended non-destructive “test” eventually became a 
“Kali test” for the right (supposedly “good”) knee.  For those who are not 
acquainted with the term, “Kali” is the Goddess of Death and Destruction.

I developed a blood blister under the callus on the ball of the right foot 
on the first day on the trail.  It caused more problems than anything else 
up till our last day on the trail.  The left (replacement) knee performed 
well except for a persistent (but gradually diminishing) pain on the outside 
of the knee.

The coup de grace came while crossing Mount Jenkins, where I twisted the 
right knee on loose rocks and probably tore the meniscus (again).  The next 
morning I couldn’t walk.  So we (slowly) bailed out at Spanish Needle Creek. 
Took me 8 hours to do the 10 mile walk out.  Luckily, it only took about 10 
minutes to hitch a ride into Kernville.

Next day we took the bus into Bakersfield and rented a car for a week, 
hoping the knee would get better and we could continue hiking.  So we spent 
a week visiting Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Yosemite and Death Valley National 
Parks.  It was a sorta good week – Ginny got in a little hiking and I got in 
a LOT of painkillers.  And the scenery was great.

But ….after a week, there was no joy in Mudville. I was still walking like I 
was 132.   So we flew back to the East Coast to see the surgeon – again.  We’ll 
see him tomorrow.

Overall – the trail was better than we remembered, the people (both hikers 
and Trail Angels) were just super, and we experienced more concentrated 
Trail Magic in a month than we had on all of our previous thruhikes 
combined.  Our thanks to the Saufleys, the Andersons and Meadow Ed, in 
particular.

We hiked nearly 400 miles, saw a lot of beautiful country, met a lot of good 
people, and had a lot of fun.  Someday we’ll be back.  Hopefully, sooner 
rather than later.

To those still on the trail, we wish you clear skies, good trail, no snow 
and all the beauty you can handle.  Canada awaits – go for it.

As for us, it depends on what the surgeon says.  We’re thinking about 
heading north from here as soon as we get the all clear – and doing a slow 
wander through New England and Eastern Canada.  Where we go is utterly 
unknown right now.  As usual, we’ll be looking for natural beauty and 
wildlife, good camping – and hopefully a bit of hiking on the side.  We’ll 
let you know.


Jim & Ginny

http://www.spiriteaglehome.com/


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