My short time on the Pacific Crest Trail

So, I didn't think that I would wind up writing this so soon, but my PCT adventure has come to an end. I did return to the Pacific Crest Trail at Hart's Pass on July 6, 2024 and the PCTA considered it a resupply and were happy that I turned back and waited for conditions to be better instead of dying in the mountains. This time, I was ready to head up to the border and there was no stopping me.

However, before I did that, I had to get back to Mazama

The first time I went, I got a ride from Early Riser, aka, Dan the Man, a Trail Angel out of Sedro-Wooley, however he was fully booked so I decided to go the long way around. When you're a fully independent thru-hiker from Port Moody, your trip looks like this:

• Port Moody to Vancouver - Skytrain
• Vancouver to Seattle - Amtrak Cascades
• Seattle to Wenatchee - Amtrak Empire Builder
• Overnight in Wenatchee
• Apple Line from Wenatchee to Patreos
• Trango Bus from Patreos to Twisp and Twisp to Mazama

The Skytrain was just shoved there for effect. I could have Uber'd to the Train Station. I actually took a connector bus and crossed at the Pacific Highway Crossing. When I crossed, I was told that because I'm currently unemployed that I shouldn't make a habit of crossing back and forth to do the PCT and that once I leave the trail again, I'm stuck leaving the trail for good. This is an important detail that I will bring up later on in this story.

Anyway, I rode the Empire Builder and there's a National Park Service employee who is paid to tell you about all the different towns that the Empire Builder passes through. I thought this was really cool as I headed from Seattle to Wenatchee, and I'm certain it's even cooler if you take the train all the way to Glacier National Park in Montana. However, I was just going to Wenatchee. After a very sketchy hotel stay, I took the Apple Line up to Patreos, and I was back at the PCT Lions Den at 7:00 PM on July 5th. I was informed that I missed a BBQ because I left on the 4th of July instead of the 3rd. I kind of regretted that.

Pacific Crest Trail - Section L (60 Miles)

The next morning I was back on the PCT. I managed to hike all the way to the camp right before Holman Pass where the Pacific Crest Trail and the Pacific Northwest Trail share the same trail. It took me five nights to make it to the border, but I could have done it in four if I didn't decide to do a short day near the border at Castle Pass campsite where the PNT and PCT depart once again. This is also the junction of the Ross Lake trail where you can head to Ross Lake and in theory hike back up to Hozomeen Campground and meet up with people from Canada who can drive down on the Silver Skagit Foest Service Road. In reality, this trail hasn't been maintained for years, and because of that, people dig cat holes and poop in this area. In fact, Castle Pass campsite has the most catholes out of any campsite that I've seen.

On the last day of border tag, just past Holman pass, I ended up with really bad shoulder pain. I suspected this was from an old gym injury years ago that I didn't think was a big deal because it never bothered me before. I remember cursing myself and thinking that this injury was going to wreck me. I then ran into Corrine, a veteran fron the Navy who only had one lung and packed in way too much stuff. However, she did help me out with a Lidocaine patch that numbed my shoulder and allowed me to finish up the hike to Harts Pass. I then recovered from that injury at the Lions Den.

After the border tag, icing the shoulder and heading back, I then started the hike from Harts Pass to Rainy and had it flare up at about five miles in. The people I was hiking wiht were more concerned about my left ankle that was super crooked. I then told them to leave me behind and that I would attempt the Mazama challenge. The Mazama challenge is where you go down the Methow River Trail, an eight mile overgrown, unmaintained trail, back to Harts Pass Road and then do a five mile road walk back to Mazama. After looking at the trail the next morning, I changed my mind and decreased my mileage to 10 miles per day and did that section in three days instead of two. I actually didn't have the shoulder issue on the second and third day, but was feeling pretty low having people tell me to leave the trail and decided to head to the PCT Lions Den one last time.

Escape from the Vortex - Rainy Pass to Stehekin Again (20 miles)

At the PCT Lions Den, I made an appointment with Blaze Physio and was told by the Physiotherapist that I should do some exercises on the trail. I also under her instructions ditched my Altras for HOKAs once again, and I mailed back my old Altras to Vancouver. At this point, I was once again so eager to get out of the PCT Lions Den that I forgot some laundry. I didn't realize this until I got to Stehekin. I managed to get a hitch from this lady climber who drove an old Jeep that had 268000 miles on it. The Jeep broke down on the way to Rainy Pass and we weren't sure if it was the smoke from the Pioneer Fire or from the Jeep itself. However, after waiting for it to cool down, we managed to get back on the road and I made it to Rainy Pass once again.

I managed to make far better time this time around and I decided to end it late at Bridge Creek Campground. I did do some of the Physio Exercises when the pain from the pack got annoying, and there's video of me on an NPS wildlife camera rolling out a towel and doing Cat-Cow (I hate that exercise and think it looks stupid) and Threading the Needle. I realized very quickly that it's super impractical to do these exercises as a pain mitigation technique on trail because you need a flat surface to roll out a towel or foam sleeping mat and those don't really exist on the PCT outside of campsites, especially south of Stehekin.

Once in Stehekin, I ran into a group of SOBOs and a NOBO, and I did my first resupply. I then realized that I had NO IDEA WHAT I WAS DOING and I hated myself for buying Mountain House Beef Strogonoffs out of a bucket, and I also threw out my VEGA protein that I thought was such a brilliant idea because I had no way to cleanly mix it. I stayed overnight at the Group Campground behind the Park HQ and it was an extremely windy night with lightning out in the mountains that would set of numerous fires.

The next morning I woke up and headed back south. However, only after three miles, the pain returned and it was too painful. I decided that I was going to quit the trail entirely and throw in the towel due to the pain. That is until I ran into the Trail Chiropractor.

At High Bridge, there was this guy with his family who happened to be a Chiropractor. He asked me questions about my shoulder and told me that it was in fact a popped rib and that he could pop it back in. After I consented, because I was desperate to keep my thru-hike going, he did an adjustment on my back at the High Bridge Picnic Table. I got a ride back down from a Bus Driver and his Wife who were picking berries at the time and watched the Chiro do the work on my back. It was probably the craziest thing that happened to me on trail. This Chiropractor probably bought me an extra six days on trail and allowed me to do another section. Unfortunately, it wasn't Section K, the Glacier Peak Wilderness.

Section J - Stevens to Snoqualmie - (79 miles)

When I got back to Stehekin Landing, I found out that not only was there a new fire at Hwy 20, where I came from, there was also a fire on Vista Ridge, 500 ft from the PCT itself in the Glacier Peak wilderness. I decided that I was uncomfortable with that, and I left Stehekin and spent another night in a much nicer hotel in Wenatchee and then headed to Stevens Pass to get my next resupply package and to start the next section there. At Stevens Pass, I also ditched my Ice Axe, because it was completely impractical to ship an eighty dollar ice axe back to Canada, and I believed that the Chiropractor was right and I was able to get back to Canada.

I was wrong.

I started the section, and after the first day, I noticed that I still had the pain but that it was milder. There was a retired nurse who said that it was scapular fascia, which made sense. It was only after the third day when I was hiking with an older woman on the trail that it really started to flare up and become almost unmanageable. By the time I made it to Snoqualmie Pass, I decided that this pain was too unbearable and that I should get off the PCT. After I parted ways with the person I hiked with for two days, I checked into the Summit Inn for the night, got my resupply that I hiker boxed away and went to the Commonwealth. As I was sitting at the commonwealth drinking my beer, I noticed that I had a hard time actually picking up the beer and drinking it, which further confirmed that I needed to get off trail. I spent a second day in Snoqualmie Pass due to the shuttle being booked and stayed at the Guye Cabin, swapping stories with other hikers and enjoying a shared dinner and breakfast. I then headed back home to Vancouver, knowing full well that my PCT adventure for 2024 was over and that I would not be hiking to Mexico today.

Where are things at now

Well, when I got home, my shoulder injury decided to be nearly omnipresent. It doesn't really hurt when I do nothing, but it's definitely there and I don't dare put any heavy load, because any load with my right arm will trigger discomfort or pain. I suspect that my Osprey Levity 60 pack was in fact the culprit and that if I picked a different pack with better shoulder straps that I might have been able to stay on trail. I don't know if it's a rotator cuff, or a broken or popped rib, or a spinal thing, BUT it's scary enough that while I hate that I have to go off trail, I don't regret the decision because it's the right thing to do with all the information that I have at this time, which is retired medical professionals and Google, and the latter keeps saying that I'm dying anyway.

Oh yeah, it's uncomfortable driving with the shoulder, so my road trip backup plan is possibly out the window without the use of Vitamin I.

That's basically what happened to me in July on the Pacific Crest Trail. I now have to figure out how to get better, and how I can fund and do my next thru-hike attempt of the PCT. Honestly, I don't think it's possible to thru-hike the Pacific Crest Trail in a single year anymore due to climate change and it's heartbreaking that both Stehekin, a place I just visited, and Jasper, a park that I've been to numerous times are both burning right now. This month has been pretty rough as far as bad things happening and I'm hoping that I can at least get to the bottom of my shoulder issues and that they're not permanant, because this has kind of ruined my summer. I don't regret going on the PCT, because I still needed that time to think and decide what my next career move is.