Day 14 - reflecting on food on the trail as I recover

My friend Amy wants me to write about what I am eating on the trail. I will give you an example but it is not exact because I did add different items at different times to create some variety.

I begin my day with 2 tablespoons of soaked chia seeds. I soak them the night before with some electrolyte mix or possibly some lemonade mix. By morning they have swollen up and are gelatinous and I slug it down and hit the trail as early as possible.

Some time later in the morning, hopefully in a sunny spot, I eat my big breakfast. This is two packages of Love Grown gluten free breakfast cereal, powdered goat milk and 2 tablespoons of dried fruit. The goat milk is awesome because it contains fat. Most powdered milk is fat free and I really want the fat content for warmth. I soak this overnight in my Bot and eat it when it is convenient.

I allow myself 4 snack bars throughout the day. Possibly 2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon but I will eat all 4 at once if I am in the mood. Once I hit mile 500, I increased my snack bars to 6 per day. I really tried to stay away from the sweet snack bars that are really just candy bars in disguise. I have pumpkin seeds to snack on too. About a 1/2 cup per day. They are a combination of salted/roasted ones and raw ones. I figured that I would need the salt in my diet and I do, however I prefer the raw ones. During the first week on the trail I had some soaked and dried pecans that my mom made for me.

Lunch is a meaty bar or a half bag of Crave jerkey and a power wrap. The power wraps are amazing! James found them in Hawaii and I ordered a few cases. They are raw sprouted seeds wraped in seaweed. They are different and delicious and come in many flavors.

Dinner is 2 cups of mixed freeze dried veggies plus a packet of miso soup and a half packet of instant mashed potatoes. I may add some dehydrated olives or a packet of tamari for interest. An entire packet of mashed potatoes "feeds 8" and I have found that a half packet is perfect at the end of the day. Another variation of dinner is a cup of bulk instant soup (like corn chowder or split pea or lentil soup) and a bullion cube and 2 cups of veggies.  I bought freeze dried veggies in bulk. I got carrots and spinach,  kale powder, tofu and sweet potatoes.  They are all quite good.

every day I am alloted a half a chocolate bar or a caveman bar for my sweet treat. It may be gone by 7 am but the beauty of it is that I get to choose when to eat it.

Day 10-13

This is not the trip I signed up for but I am dealing with it just fine. James flew down to San Diego on Sunday and we stayed at the Mt. Laguna resort. While I was waiting for him to show up I stretched and exercised under "my pine tree" then hitched into town and stopped by the visitor center. It is only open on weekends so I had not been inside before. They had the best stuffed animals and an entire table of animal pelts. The bobcat pelt is unbelievably soft.

dawn at my campsite

home sweet home

Here Kitty Kitty!

My coyote friend!

On Monday we visited the outfitter in Mt. Laguna. I had some irritations with my pack (both with the functionality and the fit) so I just bit the bullet and bought a new one. I got a Hyperlite Mountain Gear Windrider and I love it. It works better for me and it feels so much better on. I am sending my old pack back to the vendor for a refund. Then we drove to Palm Desert. We drove through Julian and Warner Springs. I saw some of the folks I met at the beginning. Some of them were having physicial challenges like me and they were taking some time off. I am taking some time off in STYLE!

The place we are staying at (for free!) is 6 thousand square feet and has a pool and a tennis court. It is close to the downtown core and Whole Foods. There is a fruiting grapefruit tree. No tennis for me but I am totally going to get into the pool.

In Julian we visited a graveyard and this
is the top of a bench that was there.

the fruiting grapefruit tree on site

The joke today is that I am supposed to be resting my leg but just walking to the back bedroom suite is a long trip. The bedroom I am in is larger than my entire Studio that I just moved out of!

When I resume hiking I will be at the back of the pack. The fellow from Mt. Laguna said that the hikers are pretty much done traveling through by mid May. This may be a universe twist of fate in my favor. I think it will be mellow at the back of the pack and I won't have hikers passing me by all the time making me feel panicked. I am suprised by how calm I feel really. I will have a fun multi month adventure no matter what happens. If I don't finish, then I don't finish. No one dies, no one gets hurt, it is really no big deal.

Well, I did not buy any of these but it is so fun to look at!
My choices of food on the trail are pretty limited.

Monday night the temp at Mt. Laguna was 34 degrees with high winds and gusts up to 60 mph. There was a 20% chance of rain. I guess this is a good week to take off, I will miss the bad weather but I may also miss the cooling breezes during the hot areas. Today in Palm Desert it is 84 degrees, sunny and calm. I had a fresh grapefruit off of the tree for breakfast.

Day 9

My shins are not better. I awoke to pain. In fact the discomfort kept me from sleeping some of the night. I realize that I can't go on to the next section. It's just too rough and too long of a stretch between water sources. On the plus side it is a beautiful day today. It is 60 degrees and breezy and I will spend the day resting in the sun. The lodge is still full so I will just hang out and camp out for another day.

This is where I spent most of my day!

Last night was an exercise in survival. The wind blew all night until the very early morning. No rain though and for that I am grateful. I had some dew on my bag at about 2:30 in the morning but by 6 a.m. everything was dry. I broke camp and moved to a sunny spot long before the first hiker passed through. I learned some things about camping last night though. I learned that if I take my raincoat and stuff it in the bottom of my sleeping bag it will help with the wind penetration and keep my feet warmer. I also learned that if I take my bandana and cover my eyes from the moonlight but leave the bandana loose and draping on my face, it will keep my face warm from the bitter wind.

I called James this morning (I have the most wonderful reception on this ridge I am resting on) and he made some phone calls for me. A friend of his owns a house in Palm Desert (his family owns it) and he is willing to let me stay there for a week. So, I am just going to take a break for a week and resume when I am healed. This is so hard for me, I want to be moving but I know a woman who hiked the PCT last year and she got shin splints early on. She took a week off and then resumed and she finished the hike. So, this does not mean my hike is over, it just means that it looks different from what I had in mind and so I can adjust by being flexible and patient. This is my life lessons today!

I found this squirrel tail under my tree as I was stretching and doing yoga. It blended in with the grass so completely that I almost missed it.

Beautiful Lupin with an entire family of ladybugs.

Day 8

It is just awful as I write this. Today I left the lodge by 10 am. I walked down to the outfitters  and had the clerk Pillsbury review my pack. I weighed in at 16 pounds base weight so there was not much more to get rid of, but leave it to Pillsbury,  she found some oportunity! We got rid of some stuff sacks, my second t-shirt and a windbreaker. My biggest opportunity to loose weight is too get rid of my backup battery and get a smaller one. I have to think  about that one. I want too  be able to blog on the trail and to be able to listen to music or books on tape if I want to. I have not done much of that yet but it is so early in the trip that I just don't know what I will want to do once I get into a rhythem.

I got my larger men's version of my Altra shoes today via FedEx Shipping.

They felt good and on my hike today I did not feel any funny business from my blister.  The blister is mostly healed thanks to my forced resting over the last few days. The black things an my legs are compression sleeves and they feel just great on my shin splints.

The post mistress helped me ship my boxes out. One box to home with gear I don't need and my bounce box to Warner springs. She was so nice and helpful. She is a horse rider and she has a trail name...it is Saddlebags.

They guys from the store were great and sent me off with good wishes

 but also their phone number in case I need to call them for a pick up and a ride back into town. Strangely I was reluctant to leave, but there is no room at the inn! I left town at 3:30.

When James sent me my shoes, he also sent me some fresh tumeric.

I take turmeric pills for inflammation because I can not take ibuprofen and stuff, so the fresh turmeric was most welcome! I just chewed it raw as I hiked and gave my tongue a nice dye job.

Most folks hiking out of Mt  Laguna at the end of the day head  6 miles up the trail to Laguna campground.  It is $25 a night and has showers. I planned on staying at a little site nearby under a pine tree but it is so unbelievably windy that I had to change my plans.

I am down in a gully trying to get out of the wind. I have all my clothes on because it was too windy and too small a site to put my tent up. The wind just howls through and when a big gust comes, it blows right through my bag. Normally when I cowboy camp I nestle under a tree and then I don't get so much dew but tonight that was not possible. This could be a long and sleepless night! If the wind continues like this and the dew hits....brrrrr. The sunset was amazingly red and beautiful. There are some clouds in the sky. If a rain hits, I am in a waterway and will be in trouble. I can always get up in the night and pack up and move camp but that would be miserable. I am counting on a lot of luck tonight. And please wind....settle down a bit! I tried to open my Bot to cold soak my breakfast but the darn thing would not open. I worked on that thing like a stubborn bottle of pickles but could not get it to budge. Finally I had the bright idea to press on the gasket with my fingernail.  A great rushing of air came out and the lid forcefully flew off. I suspect that I closed the lid and then the air pressure dropped (the wind blew in and the change of weather happened) and there was an big pressure difference between the inside and outside of the Bot. Crazy and interesting but man am I glad I got the lid off.

My shin does not feel great. I think I will know more in the morning and I will make a full assessment then. I really took it slow for my 6 miles assessment and I used my hiking poles just like my physical therapist friend told me to. I am praying that is enough to allow my shins to heal while I continue to hike. 

Day 7

Today was a hard day for me. I like to move and sitting is torture. I tried to stay sane by making it my job to care for my leg. I iced it several times and I walked on it a bit with no weight and I stretched. I found that the pain did not occur if I slowed my speed. I also found that I have one speed and that it is fast. I could only walk slowly when I was actively consentrating on it. The second my mind wandered I would unconsciously speed up.

So, the next section is going to be a walking meditation for me. Or as my friend put it...Korinda, you are in "present time" school. So, present time, it feels good to rest. It was fun to sit at the outdoor shop and watch the clerks coach the hikers. I learned tons. I think that tomorrow I will hike just a few miles late in the day to see how my leg is doing. I spoke with a physicial therapist friend of mine and I must use my hiking poles. I find that half the time I just carry them, I guess it is time to actualy use them. In my trial run today I could tell what a difference the poles made.

I am not making any firm plans until I see how my leg feels in the morning.Going slow is the mind game challenge for me.

Day 6

Not much to talk about today. I rested and iced my leg. I have been in touch with some friends for advice and I feel I am treating my injury well but I don't know how long it will take to heal or how I know when I can start hiking again.

I tried to be somewhat productive. I did my laundry and took in my skirt.

this  picture does not do justice to
how filthy the water looked when
I washed my socks in my
"Magic Bucket"

 I sewed the patches onto my pack. I re-drained my blister and it is looking good. James went to my storgage unit and got my larger men's version of my shoes and is Fex Exing them to me. I should get them on Friday afternoon and then I can hike 3 miles down the trail to camp. If I am feeling good then I will continue on the next day. If I am not ready to go then I will have more boring days of rest in store, without the benifit of a room and shower.

Day 5

Whew, what a day. The day was nice actually but last night was killer. I fretted about my situation into the night and woke up at 3 am (to a beautiful full moon) just to fret about it some more. Once I got up and broke camp and entered the day with my plan, everything went just fine. Better than fine in some areas. Today I feel like "I've got this". Last night I was pretty upset and had monkey mind.

The moon was so bright that I had to drape a bandana over my eyes. I could have night hiked...if I could have walked. My right shin is hurting big time. It is even red and swollen and warm. I hiked into town in the morning as soon as the store opened and made sure I got a room. I got a room for 2 nights and I can have it a 3rd night if I need it but on the 4th night, I must go because the entire resort will be full of the Austrailian Olympic marathon running team. So I have until then to heal.

i discovered that I do have cell service in town. It is spotty but I was able to contact my support team and that felt great.

I spent my day in town icing my leg and resting. I visited the camping store in town. It is amazing. they have everything you could need in a tiny little space. You can barely move in there. I just stood outside and told them what I needed and they got it for me. Like serously, there was not room for multiple people in there. I bought a compression sleve for my leg and it feels really good. I also bought some KT Physio tape. This is stretchy tape that therapists use to treat injuries.

They have an amazing service at the store and I got to see it in action today. As the hikers stroll into the parking lot a staff member sits outside and instructs them to empty their pack. they then go through the pack with a fine tooth comb and advise them what they can get rid of to lighten their load. It is so fun to watch. One guy lost 4 pounds and another guy lost 10 pounds. The guy who lost 10 pounds of pack weight still had a pretty big pack...I can only imagine what it looked like before.

the woman is the staff member helping the man sort his pack. Hikers were lined up for this service!

 I have been giving some thought to my own pack and I am going to offload a few items. I am running a pretty tight ship but there is room for improvement. I am definatley going to get rid of my stove. I have not been desiring tea in the evenings and I have been experimenting with my food. I can cold soak my food and it works just fine. I have a titanium Bot. It is both a bottle and a pot. It has a gasket on one side of the lid to make it a water tight container or if Iam cooking I just flip the lid over and use it like a pot lid. If I soak my dinner at lunchtime, then by dinnertime it is soft and ready to eat. It is not hot but when I cook food I usually try to eat it while it is still too hot and I burn my tongue. So, that problem is eliminated! I weighed my pack at the camping store today and with a generous 5 day supply of food and one liter of water it weighed 31 pounds. Not too bad. Not sure what my base weight is...I will check it tomorrow perhaps, without the food.

The hiker boxes are a riot. These are boxes that the stores put out and anything a hiker wants to get rid of, they just pop it into the box and another hiker may pick it out and use it. There was a giant pile of shoes at the camping store. I found a really nice rechargable foldable bluetooth keyboard. This makes journal entries much faster and easier to type.

I went from the store to the cafe and bought myself some lunch.  This is a sleepy little town that does tourist business in the winter and peak of summer. The cafe is usually not open but during hiker kick off season they open every day to feed us. The have a limited menu and it said I was allowed only one entre. I asked her about it and she said "are you a PCT hiker?" I said yes and she said I was allowed 2 entres. I got 2 entres the they  were delicious! I got a ham fritita and an amazing carrot hard cider soup. Both were big winners. I sat at a table of friendly hikers. I mentioned to the woman Natlie sitting next to me that I had chocolate for breakfast (this is the infamous James Curis chocolate I am talking about. He sent me off with an entire batch of it nicely vaccuume packed into bite sized portions), and she responded with "Hmmm, I had gummy bears for breakfast". So, there you have it, breakfast of champions! I got a fresh pear to go at the end of my meal. There is not much for fresh food in this town.

After lunch I went to the post office and she said she can get my bounce box from  Warner Springs by tomorrow. How cool is that? A bounce box is a box of items that I think I may need along the way. I mail it to myself every 3rd town or so. My bounce box contains nail clippers, extra batteries, tampons, electrolyes, nail files, my book of poetry, some first aide that I dont want to carry till I need it. Stuff like that. I was lamenting that my bounce box was not available till Warner Springs because I want to put my stove in it. I will probably pull my stove back out before the Sierrias. So, at least I get to go through my box while I am here recovering. And it costs nothing (as long as the box is not opened, they can redirect it for free)

I got into my room about 3pm and it is a dumpy little place with stained carpeting and 50's decor and it smells like old lady perfume and I LOVE IT! I has a front and back door, a microwave, a mini fridge, and a HOT SHOWER! When you get the room they give you a "courtesy bucket" or a "magic bucket". It is provided so you can soak you feet, haul your groceries, wash your clothes (they even provide a cup of laundry detergent) or what ever you want. I have been icing my leg all day and googling how to best apply the physio tape for shin splints. I have yet to do my laundry.

The old man at the store is a real grump, but I have won him over. His grump is a thin layer really and by the end of the day he was calling me "dear" and when I bought a bag of ice he stopped me and opened a box of ziplocks to give me some. What a softie! I bought a razor today so the physio tape will stick better. Man, I have not shaved my legs in years and years. I certainly did not think I would be doing it for my PCT trip. I did a lot of little things today like I cut all the tags out of my clothes so they wont scratch and so I can wear them inside out. Little things like that. 
My skirt is already too big and I hope to sew it smaller tomorrow. I also hope to finally attach some patches to my backpack. I have had some of these patches since I was a child. I have been moving them from item to item all my life. I want them on my pack for this trip.

I hear that some hikers are posting to their blog daily. I write daily but I don't post daily. I don't have the cell service coverage that they do and even if I did, I am not sure I would want to post. What I do is journal for myself and then I pick and choose what to put on my blog. That rhythem feels good to me.

Because I have service now in this town, I was able to recieve my daily poem. Again, this one seemed like it was meant for me to see it. The last paragraph is the best, if you skip the rest fine but please read the last bit.

When the Shoe Fits  

FROM THE CHINESE OF CHUANG TZU

Chu’i the draftsman
could draw more perfect circles
freehand than with a compass

His fingers brought forth
spontaneous forms from nowhere
His mind was meanwhile free and
without concern with what he was doing

No application was needed
his mind was perfectly simple
and knew no obstacle

So, when the shoe fits,
the foot is forgotten
when the belt fits, the belly is forgotten
and when the heart is right,
for and against are forgotten

No drives, no compulsions,
no needs, no attractions
then your affairs are under control
you are a free man

Easy is right
begin right and you are easy
continue easy and you are right
The right way to go easy
is to forget 
the right way
and forget that 
the going is easy

Day 4

I cowboy camped last night (camped in the open without my tent) and it turned out beautifully. It was a quiet waterless site with no dew.

This was my first view this morning

 A few minutes later, the sun popped over the ridge.

 I took an evening walk last night with my headphones to honor Soulfull Sunday and i dropped a small 2 inch waterproof  cord for my phone. I discovered it was missing this morning and was albe to retrace my steps accuratly enough to find it in the middle of a field. Pretty cool. There was no dew at all. 
I left camp by 8 and walked very slowly to Mt. Laguna. I began to think that my crocks were causing the shin splints so I started off in my sneakers. After a mile i switched back to my crocks. The sneakers aggrivated my blister. I thought i had my shit together and was going slowly enough and i planned to take a day off to be sure i rested and stayed healthy but now i am getting pretty painfull shin splints in my right leg. Yesterday morning my left leg was acting "pre-shin splintish". Now it is fine but my right shin is screaming.  I will have to take it easy and possibly even take a couple of days off. When i got to the campground just outside of town it was still closed for the season and the water was off. There goes my shower and easy resting place!

when i got to the campground, i discovered a
 dumpster with the lid open. It must have blown
 open. The birds had eaten the discarded
leftover hiker food and made a mess. I
 picked up the garbage and hopefuly built
 up some good trail karma.

 I spent way too much time tring to figure out if i could campthere or not. I finally decided not and found a mostly hidden spot just up the hill. i found out later that they will run you out of there so I am glad I took the extra time to find a hidey hole.

 My shin is getting worse and worse with every step. I know i need to rest it but it took me all day to find a hidden camp, set up, walk to town, get my box, visit the camp store, get water, and getback to camp. I think i will need to take several days off here and it is not the best place to do so. I wish i had my bounce box sent here. I need to offload stuff!

The little store is overrun with us hikers. Many of them were enjoying ice cream.

this is the hiker freebe box at the outdoor store. hikers are offloading tons of stuff.  Checkout the pile of shoes!

more disgarded stuff

this next stretch is a bitch with long stretches between water. I want to get to Warner Springs to rest and recoup and get my box but i dont know if i can make it there. I am trying to determine an alernate plan but there is not an obvious good one. An alternate plan means more days and more food needed and this town does not have the best selection. I can't even run around town to do my stuff because my shin hurts so much. There is no cell service here and i really want to call someone. Well, i guess i am getting my trail challenge out of the way early. I am begining to understand the mind games that can go on and the importance of a cool calm head. I do not know how many days this will take to heal. It is easy to say "stop when you feel something is wrong" but sometimes i cant stop because there is no water or camping or i am low on food. I felt that I had to walk the 3 miles to town. I could not have stayed on that waterless ridge for days.

my right shin is visibally swollen and red. I have never seen that before. I an trying some homeopathy but i am also going to try some alieve. This feels like an emergency to me. I think my crocks gave me the shin splint. I guess i need to decide which is worse, blister pain or shin splints.

i think i can walk with blisters...i can not walk with shin splints. So there is my answer, from here on out i use my sneakers. i could panic and get upset but when i calm down and think about it, I have as much time as i need. No worries. I can take stock in the morning and get a lunch at the cafe. Revisit the camp store and ask questions, get a room if i need to. Take the time i need to heal before moving on.

On the positive side, my skirt is working well. I love the pocket that my friend Lavender put in it. It will soon be too big tbough and i will need to take it in.

i have already begun to experience a particular type of trail torture...the wierd song stuck in my head. Today it was "oh ah oh ah come on pretty, tell me about the boys from New York City". What!? I never think of that song. Where did that come from?

This sign is across the road from the
 store. I guess that throwing
 snowballs at through hikers is A-OK!

Day 3

This little guy was so nice to hold still for a picture. there is another lizard out here that moves too fast to be photographed

I rocked the crocs again today. It was so windy today that walking on the flats felt like walking uphill due to the headwind. It kept it from getting too hot but was pretty intense at times. 

Windblown and tired! But not sun burnt...yipee!

I am on an outrageously beautiful lightly treed ridge. The sunset is orange. I am so blissfully tired.
 My blister is getting bigger even though it does not bother me in my crocks. I drained it tonight just to see what happens. I think i will take a zero day tomorrow...or at least a nero. (A nero is a day with almost no miles walked). I have 3 miles to town tomorrow then I can shower and stay at the campground. I experimented with pre soaking my diner and not cooking it. I think i will ditch my stove and fuel in my bounce box.

i felt confident today, like "Ive got this". I am figuring out how to use each phone ap to its best use and cross referencing with the topographic map and the water report. Electrolytes are the key. I drank a ton of water yesterday but was still dehydrated because it was plain water. Today i used electrolyte mix twice and i feel much better. I think last night when I felt so ill, that it was due to hypo naturemia. My food tends to be low salt but I added salty bouillon to my dinners and the salty dinner last night helped me feel better. I am so glad that I brought salted pumpkin seeds to eat. Out here, salt is good! I am getting shin splints in my right shin so l i am most definitely taking a day off.

It was Soulful Sunday today. That is my dance church that i go to most Sundays. I had a feeling that it was today (i already am clueless about the day of the week!) and then my alarm went off to remind me. I danced a slow music-less hip stretching dance at mid day and then danced with music on a pine tree ridge at sunset. What a soulful Sunday!

This was the prettiest scat. I guess this animal can't digest the seeds and just carries them around...to "plant" in new locations.

Day 2

Day 2

I started with a beautiful morning walk on the ridge down to Lake Morena campground. There is no lake, there was no swimming! The big herd of folks who made it the night before were mostly gone, the last few were trickling out. I dried my tent and cooked breakfast. It was sunny and nice to have running water. Took off with only one quart since i had only 4 miles to go to the next water. I left that spot with only a quart too and that was not enough for the heat of the day. My travel in the afternoon was hot and exposed and it sucked all the energy out of me. Due to the rains, the flowers are in full bloom!

 

I finally made it to a beautiful spot with water and camping and I was pooped. I was drinking lots and peeing tons but i had a headache and my thinking was fuzzy like in dehydration. I sponged bathed and ate and set up camp and crashed. That was all I could do. My health inventory in the morning was a blister on my left heel (a pretty big and deep one), a sore left knee, the beginnings of shin splits on my left low leg, bruises on my hips from the pack belt and bruises on my collar bones from the shoulder straps...by the afternoon add too much sun,  dehydration, and one of the worst headaches i have ever had. My left leg shin splints felt just fine by the end of the day though. 

Due to my blisters i rocked the crocks yesterday and they did really well. My feet feel good and I think i will do it again tomorrow. My camp is at a creek (yea) and under some trees. I am figuring out my systems and dialing in some stuff. When i  get to my bounce box, i will offload a few items. A bounce box is a box of resupply items that I mail ahead of myself along the way. I need a lighter pack. I did 12 miles today and will do 9 tomorrow. That will get me to a couple of miles from the trail head and a nice early start into town on day 4.

i need more water than the guide book recommends and i also need to get going in the mornings and shade up in the heat of the day. I just can't take that hot grueling exposure. So far i love my skirt. It is so light and cool. I am on my own tonight and so enjoying the solitude.

My chocolate was melted but i was able too soak
 it in the cool creek and eat some before bed. Yummy!