05/22/23 Miles 20.5-32: Monday. I woke up early, refreshed and ready for the day. The pain in my leg hasn’t gotten worse, but it hasn’t improved. 🤷🏻♀️ My usual mentality for things like this is rub some dirt in it, keep going, it’ll be FINE, but being so far out from any kind of help and in unfamiliar territory has me feeling more cautious. I made 12 miles, but not without some crying under a bush on the mountain side because I was missing my people, hot, in pain, worried about the leg thing and tired. (Insert superhero girlfriend’s pep talk here.) Honestly eating more regularly would have fixed 98% of these problems. From here on my whole routine has changed. Early start, water myself every two miles, feed myself every 5 miles if not more and a good long break during the crazy mid day heat, then back to it in the afternoon. For me a schedule like this has kept me chugging along and looking forward to something. Although I went through the entire range of emotions, the afternoon of hiking this day was my favorite and the most beautiful yet, high on the hill side looking down at Kitchen creek, which I was able to hike down to, to sit on big smooth rocks and enjoy the creek and views. I camped with some lovely, familiar faces in Fred Canyon, it was a cold night but I slept well. Getting out of your tent to pee in the middle of the night is the worst, but you get to see the stars, just make sure you point your head lamp at the bushes before you squat.
PCT 20 23 