Welcome to My New PCT thru-hiking Blog

Welcome to my new PCT page to document my second attempt at completing a thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail.  Many of you recall my first attempt at thru-hiking the PCT in 2018. For those who didn’t follow that trek, here’s the Cliff Notes version: I did a faceplant on Day 3. At the ER, they did a CT scan of my face, head and neck, and X-rayed my right hand. The ER doctor said he was amazed to find that nothing was broken (he said he was sure I had an orbital fracture and possibly a broken nose and skull fracture) and I just had bruising and  a whiplash. I took a day off and returned to the trail. A fellow hiker with a medical background later said she thought I also had a mild concussion. The pain in my hand made every step with my trekking poles painful and kept me awake at night; a couple of medical friends along the trail said it seemed broken. (Six months later it was X-rayed again and found to be broken.) The whiplash lasted for at least a month until I went to a Chiropractor, who’s treatment helped a lot.  (Several months later a physical therapist told me I still had signs of it.) The pain caused by a protruding disc in my upper back was likely aggravated by the whiplash. Needless to say, the injuries plagued me throughout my hike (both physically and psychologically) and slowed me down. I left the trail at Tuolumne Meadows and later returned to hike about half of Washington. In between, I did some trail angel stuff in Washington. Altogether, I completed about 1,100 miles.

I have dreamed about the trail nearly every night since leaving it, and I have thought about it every single day. So, of course, I wanted to try again in 2019. But that was a very heavy snow year. I thought I might be able to complete the sections I skipped but would need to wait for the snow to melt. Meanwhile, I sold my house in Prescott and moved to Chino Valley. Then learned I had a tumor on my left kidney that was “suspicious of cancer” and I needed a partial nephrectomy. I am very thankful that it turned out to be benign, but the recovery was much slower than I anticipated, so returning to the trail was not possible that year.

So here I go again in 2020. Hey, at least I got my trail name from that face plant. Yeah, it’s a crazy name, but trail names are earned and not always of our choosing. Mine came from a selfie I posted on the PCT Facebook page to thank the people who helped me.