Day 8 to 10: Pain, tears and unplanned zeros

As soon as I (Ditte) woke up, I could feel the pain. We had camped at mile 84.7 and planned to end the day at the water source at mile 101.3.

My blisters quickly worsened and now covered almost the entirety of my heels, plus a huge blister on each big toe. And that was despite following all the advice Blaze Physio had so kindly given me. I tried my best not to compensate while walking, but the pain in my right hip and knee started to appear as well. I even had both shoulders sore, although we tried adjusting my pack in different ways throughout the hike.

It wasn’t long before we both had to accept the fact that we needed to get out of the way. Again.

Our theory was that my shoes were too big. Whether I wanted to admit it or not, I needed a different pair of shoes (which was also what Blaze Physio had written down as my next course of action) and several days of rest.

The guilt I felt when we came to that conclusion was almost unbearable. Here I was again, slowing us down and costing us who knows how many additional hundreds of dollars. It stunk. One of my biggest fears regarding the PCT is being the reason we, and especially Benjamin, won’t be able to fully experience this adventure and make it to Canada. Not that he’s ever given me a reason to think that way. He is always my biggest supporter and encourager.

I cried a lot during those painful 17 miles we managed to walk before noon on the 8th. Even when we reached 100 miles.

However, it was still a great moment. Last Tuesday we reached the 1 mile marker and this Tuesday we reached the 100 mile marker. Wow.

The kindest trail angel, Kamisha, responded to a Facebook post in the Warner Springs Trail Angels group. He offered to help us find cheaper accommodation, gave us a lift and even let us send my new shoes to his address. Yes…of course, 2 Foot Adventures in Julian did not have the size I needed in stock. We both managed to laugh a little at the “bad luck” feeling when we found out. It helped lighten the mood that everyone in the store at the time was so friendly and brought good vibes.

So yeah, we ended up having three unplanned, but very necessary, zeroes in Julian. We did our best to make the most of it and let my feet heal while we waited for my new shoes to arrive.

The accommodation was really nice, but honestly we would both rather be on the road. Fingers crossed that the new shoes fit so we can continue our hike on the 12th.

In the meantime, we are incredibly grateful for Kamisha’s help and for everyone else (fellow hikers, friends, family, trail angels, and even strangers) who have shown us kindness and shared tips along the way. There are so many good people around us.

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