After only one week of hiking the PCT, I was met with the reality that hiking long distances day after day with a 30 pound backpack puts a lot of stress on the legs. I knew that injury was a possibility when I started the trail, but I was nevertheless surprised by how quickly my body buckled under the pressure.

When I returned to civilization in late May, I met with an orthopedist and found that I had contracted patellar tendonitis in my right knee, and Achilles’ tendonitis in my left heel. I started to go to physical therapy to rehabilitate my injuries and increase my leg strength. As mentioned in my Week 1 post, the knee tendonitis was the main reason why I was forced to stop hiking, as I could not stand up or walk properly for several days after getting off trail as a result. However, the knee tendonitis has healed relatively fast, and I stopped feeling pain in the knee after about 3 weeks of rest and PT. The Achilles’ tendonitis, while not immediately as painful, has healed slower and has the greater likelihood of causing me problems going forward, since it is a chronic injury that can get progressively worse with continued use.

My injuries did not completely phase my enthusiasm for hiking or the trail, though, and in some ways I am even more invigorated to hike now than I was 2 months earlier. For that reason, I am planning on continuing to hike the Pacific Crest Trail starting on July 25^th. I made the decision to skip about 1100 miles of the trail and rejoin it in Northern California a bit north of Lake Tahoe, so that I can be in approximately the same location I would be if I had been able to hike continuously over the past 8 weeks. This decision was made with the knowledge that my injuries could very easily flare up again, so to mitigate that I plan to take better preventative measures to protect against overuse injuries this time.

Over the last two months of rest and rehabilitation, I have been steadily increasing my physical activity as I am capable to help maintain and strengthen my legs, but in addition I have had plenty of time, especially soon after the injury, to consider why the injuries occurred in the first place. Certainly there is a point to be made that overuse injuries are common on such a long trail as the PCT, and indeed a lot of people are forced to quit the trail for similar reasons as me. Perhaps I would have gotten injured regardless of how much physical preparation I did ahead of time. However, after over-analyzing the first week on the trail, I believe I have identified some factors – mistakes I made – that likely contributed greatly to my chances of sustaining an overuse injury. At the very least, I think that if I had addressed these factors earlier or at all, I may have gotten a less sever injury and been able to keep hiking.

These factors or mistakes that I’ve identified are summed up below:

• Not using trekking poles: This is the most obvious mistake I made. I greatly dislike using hiking/trekking poles during normal hiking, as I view them as more of a burden than a blessing. If you are not actively using the poles, you have to carry them in your hands or strap them to your pack, which is annoying and tedious. Furthermore, the poles often prohibit or get in the way when attempting to do anything with your hands, such as taking pictures, eating a snack, or retrieving something from a pocket. However, when carrying a somewhat heavy backpack over 15-20 miles of rough terrain each day, the benefits of trekking poles certainly become noticeable, if not crucial. The fact that around 95% of thru-hikers I met were using poles at least part of the time indicates that my judgement in this case was wrong. I should have used trekking poles, especially during downhill sections, to reduce the constant stress on my legs.
• Trying to keep up with hikers who are hiking at a faster pace: An easy mistake to make, hiking at an uncomfortable pace is a surefire way to cause problems through careless foot placement and overstressing joints and tendons. Everyone hikes at a different pace, and at the beginning of the PCT I was going a bit slower than most other hikers, doing a consistent 2-2.5 mph. A lot of the people I was hiking with were going a more brisk 2.5-3 mph, and some zealous hikers were booking it at 3+ mph. At the end of the day, it is not worth risking an injury to keep up with someone that is hiking at a very different speed than I am.
• Failure to address pain early on before it escalates: After getting to camp late in the day, it is easy to neglect proper care to your body, but it is important to keep on top of preventative care so that small issues don’t grow into big issues. I did not spend enough time monitoring my body early on, and proper care when I first felt pain on my knee may have reduced the severity of my injury.

In response to these mistakes, I plan to make the following changes to my hiking as I regain the trail later this month.

• I will be using trekking poles, especially on downhill and uneven terrain.
• I will be wearing shoe inserts to ease the pressure on my heels.
• I will be monitoring my legs and joints closely for injuries every morning and every night and responding to any issues preemptively. This includes stretching before hiking in the morning.
• I will attempt to hike at a comfortable pace for my body, regardless of how fast people around me are going. Hike Your Own Hike, as the saying goes.

With these changes to my hiking routine, I hope to have a more successful second outing this year and, if all goes well, perhaps I will make it to Canada after all. Even if I do not make it all the way to the northern terminus, though, I am excited to see some amazing views and meet some amazing people!