[pct-l] Fwd: Off Trail

[Tracy Martin]

I'll chip in as well. I've only hiked a few thousand miles in my life so
I'm a rookie in that aspect, but I love the outdoors, a common thread with
all on this site.
All my life I wanted to walk the AT. So when I retired this year I went. I
was worried that an old injury (my achilles) would act up. Well fifty miles
into the trip I pulled/tore the tendon off my heel. I went on to walk
another 500 miles basically on one ft/leg. I went off trail after 555
miles,when after favoring my left leg for so long, going up a hill I pulled
the calf muscle on my other leg. Hardest thing I've ever done was quit. In
my journal I told people I felt I failed. What hurt me the most is I
trained hard for this. Not one muscle pain or ache (tons of blisters from
my weird gait though),but the daily grind on the old injury didn't hold up.
The doc said he made a mistake and I should have had the surgery last
year...no shit doc....you think!

I met, saw and lived part of a dream. So value the experience, no matter
how short. It's not a race, it's the journey. In reality I dont think any
of these trails were meant to speed through and thru hike. They were meant
to be enjoyed, by young, old, and in between. Men, women and children and
if you do it all at once great, if not, great!
Now the cool thing is how fast one can walk. Tons of folks passed me, it
just allowed me to meet new friends, and most the time I saw them the next
day since I got up early and limped along while they were still sleeping.

I have surgery next Wed to reattach the tendon to my heel (MRI showed over
70% tore off heel). I'm planning to resume my rehab, work some areas of
weakness, walk the high Unitas mts of Utah for my practice runs again, and
be stronger and better next year. But I plan to hike SOBO on the PCT next
July13. In my mind this time I will just follow my nose and walk, as far
and long as I can. Getting out attempting what others won't is a win in
it's own rights. None of my friends think I failed, but I still do.
After the crowds this year on the AT, the solitude may be a nice change for
a SOBO. But I have a lot to do before then.
I didn't mind the rain, snow, camping, or food issues, hell I was doing
something everyday that folks during the week dream of.

mentally I pushed myself way beyond I thought I could. If you've ever torn
your achilles you know the pain that goes wth it and to continue for
another month was a daily struggle. I ate ibuprofen like candy. I learned a
lot, miss my friends still on the trail, and I, like Mark, struggle sitting
here, but it was wise to quit.

Look at your gear, stuff you think you need....do you need it all or is it
a maybe use? I loved the first meal after a food drop...add variety of food
too heavy to carry days, but ok for a short hike out.

I love reading the inputs on this site, the words of wisdom from some are
spot on. It has helped me heal mentally and get ready for next year. And it
takes (at least me) a year to plan logistics and prepare.
Good luck to all and be safe.
Corona Sam
 On Jun 8, 2012 3:20 PM, "Maxine Weyant" <weyantm at msn.com> wrote:

> Mark,
>
> My heart goes out to you.  And writing that was an act of bravery.  I
> recommend you read some of the posts from last year where several people
> wrote about some of their own emotional meltdowns on the trail, or why they
> left the trail.
>
> Seriously, you should consider that if you've already arranged the time
> off for this hike, just rest a bit, reconnect with family/friends, and go
> do some more of the trail without having to thru-hike it.  Do the best of
> the Sierras when the weather is decent, like the John Muir Trail in late
> July or August, or WA in August.   If you go back and try a thru-hike
> another year, the Sierras will look very different in snow so it won't seem
> like a repeat. (and you might have fewer navigational challenges in the
> snow if you've already been there once.)
>
> Being out in the mountains day after day in these stunning places is one
> of the most exhilarating and spiritually-uplifting things you can be doing.
>  If you remove the pressure this year of a thru-hike, you can see more,
> notice more, and take an interest in the ecology, geology, or history of an
> area. It will allow you to feel a more positive type of humility, along
> with a sense of gratitude.  And if you thru-hike it in the future, you can
> buzz on by with a lighter pack and a lighter heart, and with the privilege
> of revisiting an "old friend."
>
> A big lesson here is our tendency to feel like a failure because others
> are achieving more than us.  This is fostered partly by all the attention
> paid to the yo-yo hikers, Triple Crowners, Ultra-Runners, and the stories
> that sell in Outside Magazine or on TV.  On the trail, enough people start
> bragging about doing 35 miles/day or more that it starts to seem like
> that's the norm.  There will always be so many people more fit than you,
> who can hike faster, bag more peaks, tolerate altitudes better, inhale more
> pancakes.  Your negative self-appraisal and the sense of pressure you felt
> to keep up, to the point of not eating well and not listening to your body,
> caused you to reach the limits of your physical and emotional reserves.
> Sometimes all-or-none thinking and other disordered beliefs can lead to our
> undoing.
>
> But the good news is that you can now take stock, re-evaluate your gear,
> your strategies--like when you get up, what food you bring, how often you
> eat, if you need to hike in the evening on hot days, should you take a
> short day and chill out by a lake, etc.  And you can try to learn more
> about your own coping strategies and patterns, what triggers the negative
> thoughts that lead to negative feelings, how you can recognize when that's
> happening and choose a different way to respond.  If you find you can't
> stop feeling bad about how much faster everyone else can hike, don't hike
> with the herd or simply do some sections in the opposite direction.
>
> For those planning a thru-hike in the future, if you haven't done any
> long-distance backpacking, I highly recommend trying a 2-6 week section
> hike, solo if possible.  Figuring out footwear, gear and food choices,
> blisters,  is a lot easier on a test run.  Getting to "Know thyself" is an
> important part of the journey.
>
> Cheers,
> Dys-feng shui-nal
>
>
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