[pct-l] foot pain

[goforth@xxxxxxx (Joanne Lennox)]

Figure out what you got the fracture from, sounds like it might have beeen
walking in the first place???

I was doing the JMT section in the fall after the snow got a lot lower and
I had really bad tendonitis, this in spite of thruhiking the trail and
spending the previous 4 months on the trail.  My injury made me very
sensitive to the injuries of other.  When I was thruhiking thru the JMT I
was always alone, but there were many more people on the trail during the
fall and what I saw was that about 1 in 4 people were nursing some kind of
injury.  Probably mostly from in adequate conditioning, but it was not true
in my case, and it may just be that the constant up and down over rough
trails and at high altitude, takes a toll on some feet and joints.  It
seems to me that the JMT(ESPECIALLY on June 1) is not the best place to
start a trip by toughing it out.

You might choose a little more gentle terrain and plan for a week, and if
things are okay, go for a longer period.  Flexibility will help you deal
with this problem, it doesn't have to stop you dead, and it is not the end
of your JMTdream.  If I were you I would walk from I -10 through Big Bear
and thru Cajon and the San Gabriels to Agua Dulce.  It is prettier and more
varied than you can image, and there are a lot of places that you could
bail and just exit to the Ontario Airport.  If you could do some of the
southern section of the PCT before June 1, it will help your conditioning
and experience for the Sierras, and it will tell you what you need to know.
 I liked the first 900 miles of the PCT more than any other part, this
surprised me as it has many other people that have found it wasn't just to
be endured in order to get to the "real stuff" but in the end turned out to
be the best and most varied terrain.

Or go into the Sierras and use a basecamp to dayhike from.  You might ask
yourself what exactly you wanted to get out of the JMT trip and how you can
accomplish that goal in other ways.  In another month you will probably
have no doubt whether you can start the JMT this year.  If you can't, you
will be even hungrier next year.  Part of a long hike is dealing with these
problems and if you do not deal with them well, they just get bigger and
bigger.

Goforth

----------
> From: Nathan Goldfarb <natgold@ufl.edu>
> To:   pct-l <"  pct-l"@mailman.backcountry.net>
> Subject: [pct-l] foot pain
> Date: Thursday, April 10, 2003 6:03 AM
>
> HI-
>
> Looks like I might have a stress fracture in my foot, but we won't know
> for a week when I get the bone scan.  What a bummer!  Our JMT hike is
> planned for June 1, about 9.5 weeks after I think I hurt my foot.  The
> P.A. at the school infirmary said if it was a stress fracture then our
> hike was off.  He said it could take up to 8 months to heal.  But, I
> have read 8- 10 weeks.  Does anyone have any exprience with this?? or
> suggestions?   I can't explain how discouraging this is.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Nate
>
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